March 19 marked the first day of spring, and with it, the turn of a season. While warmer weather and longer daylight hours are much appreciated features of the new season, my favorite aspect is the emergence of spring wildflowers. After a long winter, seeing the pops of color makes me feel like Earth is waking up, sparking inspiration and excitement.
In this post, I’ve compiled a small collection of my favorite native wildflowers that can be found in April, a little information about why they’re so cool, and some insight into where you might find them. You can treat this blog post as a scavenger hunt, with the objective of learning a little bit more about Missouri’s natural heritage.
While out on your hunt, I highly recommend this resource from the Missouri Department of Conservation, which is a helpful guide that covers spring wildflowers. If you find any plants you’d like to identify that aren’t on this list, you’ll likely find the answers in that guide.
Wildflowers to Look Out for:
Toadshade
First on the list is an interesting-looking plant, the toadshade (scientific name, Trillium sessile).
Unlike many plants, which produce bright, sweet-smelling flowers to attract pollinators, this plant takes a different approach. Toadshade is pollinated by bugs that typically prefer dead or rotting things, like flies and beetles, and therefore, has a rather fetid smell.
If you can get past the smell, seeing this plant growing on the forest floor can be exciting. The leaves are arranged in the shape of a palm, satisfyingly symmetrical, and the single flower is long and dark. As the name implies, it looks like an umbrella made perfectly for a toad to relax under.
