T
his
is the beginning of our 23rd
year of looking at wildflowers
in Cook County, MN. We are three
senior women who just love to
get out and explore and learn
new things. We are even getting
together all winter but don't
find too many flowers at that
time, but no matter.
Wednesday, May 5, 2004
Our friend Beryl told us that
she saw Bloodroot
blooming. This is the first this
year and it is very exciting. We
followed her directions, go to
Schroeder, go west on #1 to the Superior
Hiking Trail parking lot,
then go east about 1/4 mile. At
first it seemed that she must be
joking
because we didn't see anything
but white, small pieces of birch
bark until we came to a
large patch of them. They were
harder to see because they were
not open, probably because the
sun was not out. We saw more on
the way back and also foliage of
Dutchman's
Breeches, Spring
Beauty, Round-leaf Pyrola, Linnea,
vine & seedpods of Purple Clematis
and either foliage of Meadow
Rue or Columbine
or both. It was a lovely, beautiful maple woods. We must
come back.
We then went up the Two Island
River Road, turned right at the
600 rd, up the Sawbill Trail to
have lunch at the Temperance
River Forest Campground where we
saw leaves of many One-flowered
Wintergreen (aka Pyrola), some Pipsissewa
and more Pyrola. Then east on
the Honeymoon Trail, south on
the Caribou Trail. As we drove
along we stopped and walked some
forest roads and stopped and
looked at others. They all
looked so intriguing. We also
saw lots of Prince's Pine and
Running Club Moss. It feels so
good to see the first flowers of
Spring!!!
Click
here for the most recent report!
Here
are some early bloomers to look
for in the
area:
Anemone,
Wood - Anemone
quinquefolia
Arbutus,
Trailing - Epigaea repens
Bloodroot
- Sanguinaria canadensis
Dandelion,
Common - Taraxicum
officinale
Dutchman's
Breeches - Dicentra
cucullaria
Early
Sweet Coltsfoot - Petasites
palmatus
Hazelnut,
Corylus
Marsh-marigold
- Caltha palustris
Pussytoes, Field - Antennaria
neglecta
Red
Maple
- Acer rubrum
Spring
Beauty - Claytonia
verginica
Strawberry,
Common - Fragaria
virginiana
Violets
Be sure to stop back
throughout the spring and
summer 2004 to see our weekly
wildflower reports from
Lorraine Anderson of Grand
Marais, Minnesota.
