Greetings!
As much as I love the rain and know that we need it, the endless gray skies over the past few days were getting to me. So on Sunday—you know, the recent one we had with no rain and lots of sun—I took the opportunity to explore my yard. It was the type of day that gets you excited about going outside and searching to see if any early blooming plants are poking up through the soil. So, I walked around and around the property, down to our stream, and up a small incline to discover that our chocolate lilies (also called checkered fritillaries; Fritillaria affinis) were just beginning to bloom.
Chocolate lily is a native bulb that grows in oak or pine scrub in shady areas. The genus Fritillaria has two different sets of leaves, one single bulb-leaf or resting leaf during its non-flowering stage, and a range of cauline leaf types (sessile, alternate, subopposite, or whorled) when flowering. The flowers are a beautiful chocolate color (really a mix of purples and reds), mottled, and nodding. I love checkered fritillaries because of their rich color and for the fact that they let me know spring is on its way.
Other delights on my walk included various rocks and tree trunks with bryophytes and fungi growing on them. These various non-vascular plants are an amazing world all unto themselves. I hope you all will take the time to attend this month’s Chapter meeting to listen to Scot Loring talk about bryophytes. Scot is a bryophyte specialist and will be leading a workshop prior to the meeting, and then following up on Friday with a field trip. ~Amy Henderson, President
Photo taken by Amy on January 28, 2024.