Spring Ephemerals Series #6

Maianthemum canadence

Canada mayflower is another maianthemum. Unlike the other wildflowers in these posts, this one seems to be a new arrival here. I don’t remember seeing it until the year before last, and then I wondered what it was because it was quite small and didn’t flower and didn’t seem to grow into anything (it just faded away as the summer went on, as spring ephemerals do). I suspect they may have sprouted from seeds that year which would explain why they were so small and didn’t flower, but there are several patches of them around that seem to have all come up in unison… So I’m not really sure what the story here is, but I’d like to be able to find out more about it.

This was about the extent of the plants’ growth in the first year.

These wildflowers may be a new arrival to my little patch of woods, but they aren’t uncommon in general, so although I don’t think the ones here have produced any berries yet, I have had opportunities to see and photograph the berries. The berries have a similar spotted look as they’re ripening to solomon’s plume berries, but they grow in smaller unbranched clusters.

This patch of nearly ripe berries is growing among sphagnum moss plants near the shore of Lake Superior. (The berries in the other photograph were also growing near the shore of Lake Superior, among some harder to identify moss.)
Canada Mayflower in full bloom in the woods.

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