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Winter flowers

by
Gart Bishop

     This past weekend I was briefly exploring with some friends a section of the coast of Maine not far from Freeport. We parked on an open headland that doubled as a parking lot for summer house. No trace of snow was visible as we began to make our way to the shoreline. One friend mentioned the presence of the mineral mica sparkling up from the smooth, flat lying rock outcrop that was sporadically covered with weedy plants and grasses and was being maintained as a 'lawn'.

      As I knelt down to observe the rock, I noticed numerous small, pinkish rosettes of leaves, each smaller than a quarter. Looking more carefully I thought, incredulously I was looking at a very small white flower. And indeed I was! As I gazed about me, there were several other colonies of this plant growing on the thin layer of soil. Uncertain as to their identity, I collected a couple of plants in a sandwich bag.

      Examining the plants at home under the microscope, I discovered them to be tiny members of the mustard family called Vernal Whitlow-grass (Draba verna) which I had previously been shown by Jim Goltz in the campground of Lakeview Park on Grandlake. (see NB Naturalist / Le Naturaliste du N.-B. 1996 Vol. 23 (3) pps 70-71) Jim calls this plant and others 'campground weeds' as they thrive on the compacted sandy soils of campsites. They are best looked for in late April and May and have mostly finished flowering by the time campers begin to set up their tents and trailers. These plants (native to Europe) are usually buried under snow at this time of year, but the warm spell has spurred them to bloom in February. I sort of wish that I had found them in New Brunswick so I could have the distinction of seeing the first provincial bloom of the year in what is a friendly race, most commonly won by Cecil Johnston and his secretive patch of Coltsfoot.

      As I continued to awaken to the presence of this flowering botanical oddity, I noticed a dull brown/gray moss in small clusters at the margin of the soil and rock. It looked very much like a small fern-like plant considered very rare New Brunswick, called Rock Spike-moss (Selaginella rupestris). A closer look confirmed my suspicions. I checked in the newly published Flora of Maine and found that Spike-moss was not rare in Maine, but found occasionally on exposed rocks and rocky barrens. Once again, my first sighting of this plant had with Jim Goltz on a bluff near Sussex. I was pleased that my memory had functioned so well that I could recognize it on my own when unexpectedly discovering it in late February.

      Plants surround us year round, though I think too often I only really look for them during their normal flowering period. However encouraged by sighting the Whitlow-grass and Rock Spike-moss I collected a few shrubby twigs which looked intriguingly unfamiliar. When I make time, I will try to identify them and perhaps surprise myself further. Botany need not be only a summertime endeavor.