Spring beauties are one of the early risers of the spring wildflowers.
Their nectar and pollen come none too soon for small native bees that are waking up.
In the deciduous forests, spring beauties line the edges of trials with their delicate pale pink and white blooms.
The plant is a perennial that survives the winter thanks to its tuberous root. The slender leaves are shaped like a lance and the flowers are about a quarter to half and inch wide with five petals. The petals are a combination of pink and white but some didn’t get the memo and are just white or pink. However, most petals are a pink-ish white with bright pink lines almost like arrows pointing to the stamens and ovary.
The neat thing about spring beauties is that the pollen is pink.
Bright Barbie pink.
The flowers grow on a raceme with the oldest flowers closer to the base of the plant. The flowers are only active for one day but the plant will flower for a while from March to May.
Spring beauties are tiny plants and are easily missed if you are moving too fast through the woods. They are abundant throughout Eastern North America and are especially common along the edges of trails and forests. Here is a good guidebook.
If you find spring beauties, take a close look around as you might also be treated to trout lilies and Dutchman’s britches.
Besides looking for spring flowers along the edges of trails, also look for them near fallen trees.
I tend to find the best clutches of spring flowers right along the shaded edge of a fallen tree as well as at the base of American beech tress.
