- Latin Name: Symplocarpus foetidus
- Appearance: The flowering part of this plant emerges before the leaves. The tiny petalless white flowers are on a club-shaped spadix, which is covered with a deep purple spotted hood known as a spathe. After the flower, leaves burst into large cabbage-like foliage. You may smell this plant before you see it because skunk cabbage emits a foul, skunky odor to attract pollinators such as flies, gnats, and beetles.
- When: February - April
- Locally found: Rock Cut State Park, Severson Dells
- Habitat: wet, marshy habitats.
- Fun Fact: Skunk cabbage is usually one of the first plants to sprout in early spring, even through ice and snow! This is because the flower carrying spadix produces heat that can melt the surrounding area for its emergence.
FIELD NOTES BLOG
Spring Wildflower Spotting
Sydney Sherbitsky
April 10, 2025
There are so many signs of spring around us this time of year. The world feels like it is waking up again when you feel the sun on your face, spot birds flying north, and perhaps see the prettiest sign: wildflowers. Between our prairie, forest, and aquatic habitats at Severson Dells and beyond, there will be countless wildflower blooms to discover within a few weeks. To point out these fantastic flowers by name, you will need to know some identifying features. To help you on this quest, you can start by familiarizing yourself with some of the fundamental components of flowers in the diagram below. Once you are a flower anatomical expert, you can read about some of our local wildflowers and how each one is uniquely beautiful!
Skunk Cabbage
White Trout Lily
- Latin Name: Erythronium albidum
- Appearance: Trout lilies have downturned white flowers at the end of a thin stem. The flower has 6 petals outturned from the 6 stamens in its center. The green leaves are sometimes marbled green and brown and are gathered around the base of the plant.
- When: March - May
- Locally found: Along the Kishwaukee River Forest Preserve and surrounding preserves, Aldeen Park, Alpine Park, Severson Dells
- Habitat: damp deciduous woodlands and openings in eastern North America
- Fun Fact: This plant’s name, Trout Lily, comes from the leaf appearance being similar to that of a brook trout.
Wild Ginger
- Latin Name: Asarum canadense
- Appearance: This plant has large heart-shaped leaves that may even cover this interesting bloom. If you have the chance to see the bell-shaped flower, its 3 outturned purple-brown petals will surely make you want to take a closer look.
- When: April - June
- Locally found: Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve, Kishwaukee River Forest Preserve, Atwood Park, Severson Dells Nature Center
- Habitat: Shaded and moist forests in eastern and central North America
- Fun Fact: Its color is meant to look like decomposing flesh to lure in pollinating flies looking for the leftovers of an animal that did not survive the winter. Additionally, its seeds are primarily dispersed by ants, who take them back to their nests to eat the outside elaiosome structure and discard the seed into the soil, where it may germinate into a new plant.
Sharp-lobed Hepatica
- Latin Name: Hepatica acutiloba
- Appearance: This low-lying flower has 6 - 10 small petals ranging from white to blue to pink, with tiny yellow stamens forming a dome shape in the center. Once the flowers disappear, the thick 3 three-lobed liver-shaped leaves appear and stick around all winter. This leaf shape is where this plant gets its other name, ‘liverleaf’.
- When: March to early May.
- Locally Found: Rock Cut State Park, Kishwaukee Gorge North Forest Preserve, Atwood Center, Severson Dells Nature Center.
- Habiat: Shaded woodland slopes in eastern North America.
- Fun Fact: Various colored flowers can occur within a single colony of this plant.
Bloodroot
- Latin Name: Sanguinaria canadensis
- Appearance: The flower has 8 white petals surrounding a bright yellow center. The small flower sits upon a red-brown stem. The large lobed and veiny leaves circle the stem.
- When: mid-March to mid-April
- Locally Found: Roock Cut State Park, Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve, Anna Page Park, Severson Dells Nature Center.
- Habitat: deciduous woodlands in eastern and midwestern North America.
- Fun Fact: Native Americans used the orange-red sap from the rooting rhizomes for dye, which relates to its name!
Dutchman's Breeches
- Latin Name: Dicentra cucullaria
- Appearance: The v-shaped flowers resemble upside-down pants or ‘breeches’ hanging on a leafless stalk with 4- 10 flowers per stalk. These flowers can range in color from white to light pink. The leaves look similar to that of a fern.
- When: March to April
- Locally Found: Kings Bluff Forest Preserve, Flora Prairie Nature Preserve, Severson Dells Nature Center
- Habitat: moist, shaded woodland areas in Eastern North America.
- Fun Fact: Due to this flower’s unique shape, its most effective pollinators are long-tongued bumblebees that emerge in the early spring when this plant blooms.
Virginia Waterleaf
- Latin Name: Hydrophyllum virginianum
- Appearance: Each small bell-shaped flower will have 5 petals and 5 stamens in the center that change from yellow to purple with age. The petals can be white, pink, blue, or purple. This flower grows in groups of 8-20 flowers at the top of a stem that rises above the leaves. The leaves form a triangular shape with 3-7 sections and a toothed edge. The first emerging leaves will develop white spots on their green background that resemble water drops.
- When: May- June
- Locally Found: Oak Ridge Forest Preserve, Rockford Rotary Forest Preserve, Severson Dells Nature Center.
- Habitat: moist and shady woodlands of eastern North America.
- Fun Fact: This wildflower can form large colonies that grow 1-2.5 feet tall.
Prairie Trillium
- Latin Name: Trillium recurvatum
- Appearance: Prairie trillium is recognizable by its 3 leaves and 3 petals. The 3 red-wine-colored, diamond-shaped petals curve toward the center, where there are 6 dark stamens. The three broad tapering leaves have smooth edges but appear wrinkled due to their veins and mottled coloration.
- When: April - May
- Locally Found: Rock Cut State Park, Aldeen Park, Alpine Park, Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve and surrounding preserves, Severson Dells Nature Center
- Habitat: Central and eastern United States in partially shaded woodlands and oak savannas.
- Fun Fact: The word prairie in its name is a misnomer because this plant does not prefer to live in prairies.
Virginia Bluebells
- Latin Name: Mertensia virginica
- Appearance: The small downturned clusters of pink buds change to sky blue trumpet-shaped flowers when they bloom due to an increase in pH in the flower as its acidity decreases. The leaves are smooth and oval. This plant’s stalks grow up to 2 feet tall.
- When: April - May
- Locally Found: Spencer Park, Anna Page Park, Deer Run Forest Preserve, Severson Dells Nature Center.
- Habitat: moist woodlands and floodplains in eastern North America
- Fun Fact: Bluebells are associated with fairie folklore, where they are called fairy flowers.
Common Blue Violet
- Latin Name: Viola sororia
- Appearance: Leaves are heart-shaped with a scalloped edge and connect at the base of the plant. A singular purple, blue, or white flower with a white center stands at the end of a hairy stem.
- When: March - June and sometimes again in the fall
- Locally Found: Rock Cut State Park, Deer Run Forest Preserve, Spencer Park.
- Habitat: Moist, shady areas including woods, meadows, and along streambeds in eastern North America.
- Fun Fact: This is Illinois’s state flower!
Mayapple
- Latin Name: Podophyllum peltatum
- Appearance: This plant is recognizable for its distinctive 2 umbrella-shaped leaves with a single white or light pink flower where the two leaf stems meet. This plant also produces small yellow fruits.
- When: April - May
- Locally Found: Rock Cut State Park, Aldeen Park, Indian Springs at Blackhawk Forest Preserve, Severson Dells Nature Center
- Habitat: Eastern United States in sandy or peaty woods and clearings with acidic soils.
- Fun Fact: The only non-toxic part of the plant is the ripe fruit, commonly eaten by box turtles. However, foraging for Mayapple fruits is not permitted at Forest Preserves.
Cut-Leaved Toothwort
- Latin Name: Cardamine concatenata
- Appearance: This plant species is most commonly characterized by its thin leaves with serrated or pointed teeth-like edges in groups of 3. The small white blooming flowers are approximately 1 foot from the ground at the top of each stem.
- When: March - May
- Found Locally: Rock Cut State Park, Oak Ridge Forest Preserve, Severson Dells Nature Center
- Habitat: In eastern North America, this plant can be found in sloped forests where it prefers a thick layer of leaf litter and organic matter.
- Fun Fact: There is only one known population of this plant in Maine, but it is much more abundant in other areas of the U.S.
Pasque Flower
- Latin Name: Pulsatilla nuttalliana
- Appearance: The bell-shaped flowers held up by fuzzy stems consist of 6 to 8 blue or purple petal-like sepals surrounding the 150-200 yellow stamens in the center. After blooming, this plant develops a feathery seed head. The leaves are silky, fern-like, and have a silvery-green color.
- When: March - May
- Locally Found: Harlem Hills Nature Preserve, Flora Prairie Nature Preserve.
- Habitat: Prairies, open slopes, and woods in the Northern Hemisphere
- Fun Fact: ‘pasque’ comes from the French word for Easter.
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Sources
Ohio Department of Natural Resources - Skunk Cabbage
University of Texas Wildflower Center - White Trout Lily
U.S. Forest Service - Wild Ginger
Grow native Missouri Prairie Foundation - Sharp-lobed Hepatica
Britannica - Bloodroot
U.S. Forest Service - Dutchman’s Breeches
Wisconsin Horticurture - Virginia Waterleaf
The Moron Arboretum - Prairie Trillium
Cornell Botanic Gardens - Virginia Bluebells
NC State Extension - Viola Sororia
Cornell Botanic Gardens - Mayapple
U.S. Forest Service - Cut-leaved Toothwort
Montana Field Guide - Pasqueflower
iNaturalist - Observations Map
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City Nature Challenge is Friday, April 24th- Monday, April 27th As spring becomes in full bloom, every naturalist's favorite time of the year returns: City Nature Challenge! City Nature Challenge is an annual, global, 4-day bioblitz at the end of April, where cities compete and collaborate to document plants and wildlife in and around cities throughout the world and help fight biodiversity loss! Every observation you make of WILD nature is a data point that helps scientists and researchers understand and protect nature for all of us. This event first began in 2016 as a friendly competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco, with the goal of engaging residents and visitors in documenting nature to better understand urban biodiversity. Since then, it has turned into a worldwide competition that over 100,000 people participate in! The goals of this now global event is to engage the public in the collection of biodiversity data, with three awards each year for the cities that make the most observations, find the most species, and engage the most people. Participating in the City Nature Challenge is easy, and it’s accessible to people of all ages and education levels in the sciences! All you have to do is download the free mobile app iNaturalist , take photos of wild flora, fauna, or fungi, and share the photos to iNaturalist to document your observations. If your plant ID isn’t too sharp, don’t worry! iNaturalists automated species identification feature can often help you identify what you're spotting, as well as the community of users on iNaturalist that includes professional scientists and expert naturalists. The observation period is followed by several days of identification and the final announcement of results. In Rockford, we are part of the Rock River Valley City Nature Challenge Team. The Rock River Valley Team is coordinated by Severson Dells Nature Center and includes multiple partner organizations. Any post made in Winnebago, Boone, Ogle, DeKalb, and Stephenson counties counts toward the Rock River Valley Team's total. This means anyone who makes posts in this region is part of our team! Partner organizations include Rockford Park District, Nature at the Confluence, Byron Forest Preserve District, Northern Illinois University, Boone County Conservation District, Forest Preserves of Winnebago County, Natural Land Institute, DeKalb County Forest Preserve District, and Atwood Nature Center.
April showers bring May flowers… and they're already beginning to appear! These newly emerging wildflowers remind us that the season is changing and that soon the lands around us will be in full bloom. With all of the excitement, let’s dive into some of the things that make flowers so incredible! In this month’s blog, we’ll be learning how to ID wildflowers, talk about the shape and arrangement of certain flowers, their benefits to wildlife, and lastly about their colors and anatomy!
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