Native lilies beginning to show their stuff

With spring wildflowers finally popping up, lilies are on my mind. Last weekend, some friends and I journeyed to the botanical wonderland of Adams County, along the Ohio River. There, we could find a much- needed botanical antidote to the seemingly endless winter.

Spring rolls north at a clip of 17 miles a day, leaving a trail of spectacular wildflowers in its wake. That means Adams County is about a week ahead of Columbus, but sheltered areas in the Ohio River Valley burst to life even earlier. Our trek took us to some of the glens and glades that we knew would have wildflowers aplenty.

Hostas, day lilies, snowdrops — these non-native lilies of the garden have their charms, but they don’t hold a candle to most of Ohio’s 44 native species of lily. Unfortunately, far more people are probably familiar with the introduced garden lilies than they are with our gorgeous natives.

One of our first wildflowers to push from the ground is the white trout lily, and we saw plenty in bloom during our foray. Their flowers are ghostly white and impossibly delicate, as if crafted from bleached rice paper. In stark contrast are its tough leathery leaves, which are dappled with maroon spots. Legions of newly emerged pollinators, mostly native bees, visited the trout lilies’ blossoms. We also found a far more extroverted trout lily in all its glory: the endangered goldenstar. This rarity sports brilliant yellow flowers tinged with orange, and the only Ohio population occurs in one small valley on the Adams-Scioto county line. Soon to follow is the goldenstar’s far more common relative, the yellow trout lily, which can be found in Columbus-area woodlands.

As spring progresses, ever more lilies will paint the landscape. Collectively, they encompass a rainbow palette of colors. Brilliant blue flowers of wild hyacinth form breathtaking carpets in damp woods. The lemon-yellow flowers of our three species of bellwort dangle below their leaves, almost hidden from sight. Once discovered, however, they are sure to elicit a favorable reaction. Solomon’s seal is another common woodland lily of spring. Its creamy flowers resemble upside-down cups hanging from threads attached to the underside of leaves.

Perhaps no other group of woodland wildflowers garners more attention than trilliums. Eight species have been found in Ohio, and the vanguard of this crowd is the snow trillium, which is already in bloom. Soon after comes the spectacular large-flowered trillium, our state wildflower. Less conspicuous but equally interesting are the maroon flowers of toadshade trillium.

Lilies, even the natives, are mostly flowers of spring. Yet summer sees the emergence of stunningly conspicuous exceptions: the giants in the genus Lilium. The sight of 6-foot-tall Michigan or turk’s cap lilies, terminated with ornate candelabras of fist-sized orange-red flowers, won’t soon be forgotten.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first and third Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jimmccormac. blogspot.com.

cdecker@dispatch.com

Further afield

Wildflower hikes will take place at Blacklick Woods and Blendon Woods metro parks next Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Both parks host many of our native wildflowers, including trout lilies. For more information, call 614-891-0700 or visit www.metroparks.net.