I took a walk this morning, out of the house, down Route 22, up the dirt road to the path through the woods, then into the woods themselves.
I stopped on the path in the woods to look at the crystals that were released from the earth in the spring rain.
That’s where I found the moth. It was dead, but still beautiful, it’s wings the color and texture of lichen.
Everywhere are the buds from the maples. High in the tree tops a smoky red, on the ground like drops of life blood.
I stepped off the path and into the woods. Like an affirmation, this pretty purple flower greeted me. I’d never seen one like it before. It was one of three in a cluster.
I looked it up when I got home and I think it’s Hepatica. The flower grew on a long fuzzy stem and the leaves, also lined with fur, look like part of the petals.
Already warm and muggy, the insects were out. Tiny ones flying into my eyes, moths fluttering along the path, and this slug on a mushroom growing from a hole in a tree.
The woods have turned green in a day. Grass sprouts like mushrooms from under the decaying leaves. The sedge is blooming.
Back in our woods, I went looking for trout lilies. There are lots of leaves, but they’re not blooming yet.
Along the stream I did see the marsh marigolds getting ready to flower.
I agree. Thos appears to be hepatica americana commonly known as liverleaf or liverwort. Lucky you to have so many wildflowers in your woods.
Good to have the confirmation Jill. I never even knew that wild flowers grew in the woods until my friend Mary Kellogg showed me the ones in her woods. I don’t remember the kinds I saw that day, just that I was in awe of them. It was such a gift.
The purple wildflower is beautiful. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it before.
It was the first time I ever saw one too Dana.