Bloodroot photographed near my home yesterday
Maurice McClew, a Steuben County attorney and avid Indiana Naturalist of the past century once quoted Isaiah 52:7 in his journal, “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings”. He was not referring to your typical messenger, but to the wildflowers of spring that announce the coming of spring.
Yesterday, my wife and I spent an hour or so walking through a nearby woodland and noticed the spring wildflowers, some that are only with us for just a very short time. Yet their arrival each year remind us that regardless of how cold our winters may or may not be, God is faithful and His creation reminds us of that. The markets may not return at the rates we would like, people may even disappoint us, but God demonstrates His reliability through the spring arrival of these marvelous beauties.
One of my favorite springtime wildflowers, a native to the Midwest, is Bloodroot or, sanguinary canadensis. It’s not a surprise that this glowing white flower is a member of the poppy family as its bloom is much larger than many spring wildflowers. Blooming from late February until May, it tends to grow in clusters or colonies.
So where does it get its common name? Well in the 1600s, French explorer Samuel de Champlain observed that the root makes a crimson dye. In fact, if you break one of its stalks, it will produce red juice.
Ants collect, eat and spread its seeds, butterflies seek its nectar but find none, but along with flies and beetles they help pollenate the plant.
So if you haven’t been for a walk in the woods yet, get out there. These marvels of springtime won’t last for long.
