April Flower Friends
By Selena Eon, IATC Board Member
Spring is officially here, and soon we’ll be spotting our flower friends along our favorite trails. Flower peeping offers a beautiful opportunity to practice looking closely at nature, but always be careful to avoid trampling too close to flowers, as they can be very delicate. I love to be present with the flowers in the forest, noticing the unique details of each leaf and bloom.
Trillium ovatum; photo courtesy of Selena Eon.
April is one of my favorite months for flowers because it’s when they begin to appear in the Issaquah Alps! I recommend learning the look of the flowers and their leaves to help you spot where to expect blooms, even if they haven’t opened yet. Here are three beautiful flowers you’re likely to see in April. Start by looking for the leaves and stems first, and you may notice flower buds-in-waiting that may have bloomed by your next hike.
Trillium ovatum
Trillium, also known as the Easter Lily, typically appears around Easter along moist, wooded trails. The Latin root “tri” means “three,” which makes sense when you spy the three leaves and three petals of a trillium. Trillium features a showy single white to pink or purple flower on a short stalk with three generously rounded to deltoid leaves just beneath the flower. They usually bloom brilliant white and mature into a pinky-purple later in the season. A trillium can grow as tall as 18”, with leaves splaying up to 12” across, so they aren’t a shy flower! Trilliums are pollinated by beetles, moths, and bumblebees. After flowering, the plants completely disappear from view, only to return the following spring.
Trillium ovatum; photo courtesy of Selena Eon.
Trillium ovatum; photo courtesy of Selena Eon.
Claytonia sibirica
Claytonia, or Pink Purslane, are abundant in the Issaquah Alps, but with their tiny pink and white candy-striped flowers, you may have missed them in the past. To find Claytonia, look for some of the first tiny flowers along moist wooded trails in the spring. Unlike the short-lived trillium, you may find Claytonia’s diminutive flowers all summer long. Claytonia can grow up to a foot tall, with fleshy stems emerging from a basal rosette (stems arising from a central point with leaves that are usually delta-shaped or long). The flowers are white with pink stripes, about ⅓-¾” across, with many flowers per plant. Claytonia is known as “Miner’s Lettuce” because it is edible—even the flowers. While not as delicious in this author’s opinion as the Claytonia perfoliatum found in sunnier, rocky habitats in WA state, they are still fun to snack on and can boost your dinner salad with slightly bitter spinach flavors.
Viola sempervirens
Native violets in the Issaquah Alps are a cheery yellow hue. They just start peeping this month and provide a wonderful opportunity to spot their distinctive leaves forming mats on the forest floor before the flowers bloom. Violets prefer a moist, partly sunny spot alongside the trail, often mixed with other flowers like twinflower. The leaves are lush green, heart-shaped, and thick-leathery. Violet flowers resemble the violets you might see in a garden but are yellow and about ½-¾” across. Violets grow very low to the ground, up to 2.5” tall, so if you’re not looking carefully, you might miss them. But they’re perfect for ants, which are their primary pollinators.
Viola sempervirens; photo courtesy of Selena Eon.
When you find spring flowers on your next Issaquah Alps hike, be sure to tag us in your Instagram stories so we can join you in delighting over your find!
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