Erigenia bulbosa
Apiaceae

I started this blog on April Fools’ Day, 2014, noting that I couldn’t remember a colder winter.  Well, guess what?  2015’s been pretty damn cold, too.  The plants are off to an even slower start this year.

But I did find harbinger-of-spring yesterday (it was my first Flower of the Day feature last year). Not a bad way to start the season. This tiny plant in the carrot family can be very difficult to spot amongst the leaf litter, as it stands only a few inches tall; each cluster of flowers measures only a quarter inch across.

To put that into perspective, note the medium-sized maple leaf lying next to the plant.

Next up, a really strange plant that is, as far as I can tell, the earliest blooming one in the area.