What is it Wednesday: March 25, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

March 25, 2020. 

And the answer is....

This is a newly emerging coltsfoot flower. 

Coltsfoot is one of the earliest flowers of spring, and one of the few flowers that emerges before the leaves of the plant develop. (It is sometimes called son-before-father because of the this.) In this photo, the flower hasn’t opened yet. Just two days after this photo, with some warmer and sunnier weather, the bright yellow dandelion-like flowers were fully open all over the place. 

One feature of the coltsfoot flower that is very distinctive, and helps distinguish it from dandelions, is the shape of the stem. The stems of the coltsfoot flowers have alternating “scales” reaching up the stem - these are very visible in the initial picture. Dandelion stems are smooth green, hollow, and when they break a milky sap oozes out. Coltsfoot stems are not hollow and do not have milky sap.

Coltsfoot are among the wildflowers known as spring ephemerals - plants that flower briefly early in the spring. Most spring ephemerals take advantage of the opportunity to flower on the forest floor in early spring because there are no (or very small) leaves on the trees, which allows far more sunlight to reach the forest floor than later in the summer. Coltsfoot flower in the same time frame, and briefly, but are usually found on the edges of forests in open spaces and on recently disturbed ground, rather than in full forest. 

Coltsfoot is a sure sign of spring – we hope you are finding ways to enjoy the natural world, and hope to see you sometime soon at Lutherlyn. Check out www.Lutherlyn.com for more on all our programs. 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!