For the second part of our exploration of spring ephemeral wildflowers this week I want to talk about ~pollination~. Being the first wave of flowers to emerge after winter dormancy, spring ephemerals naturally have an outsized significance to many insects. If you had just spent almost half the year vibrating for warmth in your hive, or had your body turned to goo and reconstituted into a wildly different form since the last time you ate, you’d probably have pretty strong feelings about the first food you could get your mouthparts on too.
The pollination arrangements of spring ephemerals mirror the world of flowers more broadly, in that some invite a broad range of visitors to their tables (set with pollen and/or nectar), while others have co-evolved into quite specific arrangements. On the more generalist side, there are the bell-shaped flowers of cutleaf toothwort, a native wildflower in the mustard family that attracts a variety of bees species, as well as early-season butterflies and flies.1 Somewhere in the middle would be hepatica, which blooms so very early (possessing waxy, boundary-layer-dwelling leaves which tend to survive the winter) that it has given up making nectar to attract butterflies entirely, and focuses instead on intense pollen production. Carpenter and sweat bees, which feed their larvae on copious amounts of pollen, are its ideal visitors for April-blooming hepatica.2
More delightfully specific are the pollination requirements of Dutchman’s breeches—which, incidentally, also rely on myrmecochory for seed dispersal, like the ephemerals I highlighted last week. Each of their flowers have two hinged segments, similar to the lower jaw on snapdragons, which may be prized apart by bees of sufficient strength to access the nectar hidden at the top of the petals.3 The predominant bee out and about in early spring with that kind of brawn and a proboscis (tongue) long enough to reach the nectar is a bumblebee queen ✨👑✨, the only member of the colony to survive winter. The Dutchman’s breeches nectar feeds the hungry queen, and the pollen provisions the new hive she’ll make now that spring has come. As she delves into flower after flower, each bee will become coated in pollen and transfer it plant to plant.4
Last but oh-me-oh-my not least I present to you jack-in-the-pulpit, one of my very favorite ephemerals due it being a triple threat: beautiful, odd, and an indicator species for ~morels~ 👀. Though it’s a bit hard to see in the photo below, what appears to be the sheath-like flower covered by a graceful flap is really a modified leaf, called a spathe, which encapsulates the spadix, a rod bearing a proliferation of tiny flowers.5 Jack (spadix) in the pulpit (spathe) is in the same family as the common houseplant, peace lily (Spathiphyllum sp.), which displays similar morphology with less mystery.
Jack-in-the-pulpit uses a clever bit of dupery to attract its main pollinator, the fungus gnat. Far from smelling like roses, this understory flower offers up a faintly fungal aroma that dupes the little gnats down the spathe thinking they’ll be able to lay their eggs on a mushroom (after hatching, fungus gnat larvae eat their mushroom host), but instead become disoriented. Jack-in-the-pulpit is dioecious, meaning any given year a single plant grows either male or female flowers. In the male flowers, there is a small opening at the bottom which a fortunate gnat may escape through, pollen-laden. In the female flowers, however, no such retreat exists, and visiting gnats tend to die there, duty discharged.
To close, I’ll restate the obvious fact that our native ephemeral wildflowers are not only a sight for sore eyes on a spring ramble, they are also important servants of the forest ecosystem. And of course (broken record here), almost all of them are impacted by habitat loss and fragmentation from human development as well as the spread of introduced species like multiflora rose, garlic mustard, and wineberry. If you have a shaded bit of garden to tend, perhaps consider adding native ephemeral wildflowers as a small, lovely act of stewardship. In the Catskills region, I strongly recommend the Catskill Native Nursery as a reliable source of plants as well as sage garden advice.
As a separate invitation for folks in the area, I’ll be co-leading a nature walk on May 26th with Molly Adams (founder of the Feminist Bird Club) and Zoe Keller (the unbelievable wildlife artist) in Woodstock, NY. The moment for ephemerals will likely be past by that point, but I am quite sure we’ll find plenty to delight! Besides sharing knowledge and enjoying the forest together, the walk is intended to raise awareness of the many, varied, and wonderful lifeforms supported by wetland habitats, and encourage community members to stand against luxury development of our remaining forests.
https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/cutleaf-toothwort-cardamine-concatenata/
https://cornellbotanicgardens.org/plant/pointed-lobed-hepatica/#:~:text=Instead%2C%20the%20plant's%20nectarless%20flowers,lilies%20%2D%20Erythronium%20spp.).
http://www.restoringthelandscape.com/2013/06/pollination-of-dutchmans-breeches-royal.html
http://www.restoringthelandscape.com/2013/06/pollination-of-dutchmans-breeches-royal.html
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=276310
Cannot wait to go on this nature walk!
Fascinating! I have always loved Dutchman's Breeches, but didn't know the bit about bumblebees, not that Jack-in-the-Pulpit could point to morels, though it does make some sense.