This will likely be my last status update on wildflowers at The Pocket this season. The overstory is filling out, and the leafy understory is blocking what sun makes it through the leaves on the trees, so the spring ephemeral season is drawing to a close. From a species count – this time I counted 39 species blooming – it seems to be active, but most of those are in definite decline. This would be a particularly good time to come if you want to catch some of those species in fruit. The massive display of Bent White Trillium (Trillium flexipes) is still on, but it and most other species are past their peak.

White Baneberry – time to be transitioning to the Doll’s Eyes common name – Actaea pachypoda

Here is what I found blooming more or less in order of finding it. Again this time I didn’t look north of the parking area due to time constraints.

• Dogwood (Cornus florida)
• Blackberry (Rubus species) – not sure which species.
• Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) – Crossvine is putting on the best show I’ve ever seen, I think.
• Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) – Waning, but still quite a few around.
• False Garlic – (Nothoscordum bivalve)
• Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata) – These lovelies are still plentiful.
• Sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum) – Fewer than a week ago. Maybe harder to see in the understory.
• Trailing Trillium (Trillium decumbens) – Also harder to find than a week ago.
• Trillium flexipes – These are just past peak.

Bent White Trillium – Trillium flexipes

• Canada Violet (Viola canadensis) – Still plentiful
• Rue Anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) – A few scattered around.
• Sweet Anise, Aniseroot (Osmorhiza longistylis) – These are just starting to bloom.
• Heartleaf Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) – Still looking good.
• Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia) – Violets were harder to find in the leafy understory.
• Virginia Bluebell (Mertensia virginica) – Just a few hanging on.
• Wild Hyacinth (Camassia scilloides) – A significant presence.
• Broadleaf Toothwort (Cardamine diphylla) – I think I have these identified correctly.
• Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) – Just a few scattered around.
• Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera) – Still quite a few around.
• Purple Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida) – Well past peak.
• Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) – Many Jacks if you can spot them in the understory.
• Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens) – Scattered around.
• Roundleaf Ragwort – Still plentiful.
• Bishop’s Cap (Mitella diphylla) – Many in bloom. They’ve grown taller, so they’re easier to find.
• White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda) – Almost time to start calling these “Doll’s Eyes” instead of “White Baneberry.”
• Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) – Still lovely. If you want to see these, now is the time.
• Woodland Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum) – I called peak a week ago, but they look peak now.
• Bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) – Still blooming; not inflating.
• Solomon’s Plume (Maianthemum racemosum) – Starting to bloom in that big colony just above the falls on the cliff trail.

Solomon’s Plume – Maianthemum racemosum

• Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) – The blossom is so tiny, I couldn’t tell whether they had opened or not, and with the surrounding poison ivy, I didn’t try to photograph.
• Plantainleaf Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia) – Mostly gone to seed.
• Meadow Parsnip (Thaspium sp.) Blooming above the falls. Seemed to be Thaspium trifoliatum.
• Dwarf Crested Iris (Iris cristata) – It had been a rainy, overcast day, so these weren’t showy. I suspect they also are in decline.
• Robin’s Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus) – Many are still blooming along the horse trail (Pocket Loop Trail.)
• Cumberland Spurge (Euphorbia mercurialina) – A few of these unobtrusive plants still blooming along the horse trail.
• Squawroot (Conopholis americana) – These are blooming now.
• Long-spurred Violet (Viola rostrata) – Well past peak, but still plentiful.
• There was another Thalictrum species besides Rue Anemone blooming, but I don’t know which species.
• Gallium is blooming. I’ve been ignoring it up to now, but it has become so obvious I had to give it mention.
• Hispid Buttercup is blooming. No offense intended to you Buttercup afficionados, but this isn’t one of our prettier buttercups.

Closing out the season with a new find for me at The Pocket – a species I’ve only previously seen in Idaho, Orobanche uniflora, One-flowered Cancer Root.

One-flowered Cancer Root – Orobanche uniflora