Round-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica americana)

 

  It has an indian name : "The one who keeps an eye on  maple trees." Now you know where it grows.  Do you know the "Doctrine of Signatures"? The Ancients believed that some resemblance of a flower with a human body part was a sign of a special curative power on that part. For example the Hepatica leaf has the look of an hepatic lobe (liver). Consequently it is good to cure liver diseases. A red flower would be good for blood disease...and so on. 

                              Spring Beauty ( Claytonia virginica )

 This flower also lives in maple groves. It has quite the same size and shape as the Hepatica. But it has many differences.  For example, more than one flower on a stem, brightly colored pistils and stamens, rose stripes on the petals and above all the elongated leaf. ( Which doesn't show here.)

                                      Forget-me-not (Myosotis scorpioides)  

This flower grows around lakes and streams. It forgot it was a blue garden flower. It is now white, blue and rose.  

Wild Columbine ( Aquilegia canadensis )

  

Easy to identify. Flower and  leaf   have very distinctive shape and colours. It is very elegant. The generic name refers to its capacity of holding rain water.

If it were that big, everyone would be in love with it !

                        

         Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)

The generic name (Asarum) means "unpleasant." I don't agree ! The plant is very special. It has a modern cup-shaped flower and a pair of large leaves heart-shaped. The root has a strong ginger-like odor that recalls me the ginger biscuits of my childhood ! Being there very early in springtime it looks spectacular.

                                                                  Purple Trillium ( Trillium erectum )



It has a majestic bearing. There are no other flowers around it.  According to the "Doctrine of Signatures" it was used against gangrene because it has a foul smell.