Harbinger of Spring

(Erigenia bulbosa)

 

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of Steven J. Baskauf - University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa)

Identification: A small, inconspicuous plant. Flowers white, in an umbel subdivided into a number of small umblets. Base of umbel with a divided, leaflike bract. Leaves thin, highly divided with rounded lobes. Base of leaf strongly sheathing the stem. A round bulb present at the base of plant. Plant 4 to 10 inches in height.

Distribution: A rare plant found from southern Canada southward to the southeastern United States and westward to Minnesota and Kansas.

Habitat: Harbinger of Spring is found in a variety of forest types.

Flowering period: February to May.

 

Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa)

Similar Species:

The small size of Harbinger of Spring as well as the rounded, highly divided leaves and the bulb at the base of the plant are distinctive features of this species.

Similar Species

No Similar Species