Spring ephemeral
Spring ephemeral
Spring ephemerals, called 'the fleeting life of spring,' are plants that bloom in early spring (March-April), wither above ground in summer or fall, store nutrients in underground stems and bulbs, and bloom again the following spring.
A member of Spring Ephemerals
The flower stalks break through the snow just after the snow melts to produce a single flower. It is called "spring ephemeral" because it blooms before other flowers and heralds spring.
From March to May, a single white to light purple sepal petal blooms flat open in a diffuse inflorescence extending from the stem end. What looks like a flower is a calyx with 12 to 15 sepals, 2.5 to 4 cm in diameter. There are numerous stamens. It flowers in spring, photosynthesizes with its leaves until summer, and stores nutrients in the underground stem and the thin fruit (seed) that forms after the flower.
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