Monthly Meeting and Public Program Spring Ephemerals of Florida

Facilitating, Chapter President Janet Grabowski 

Lunch and Learn Film by Lilly Anderson-Messec, Director of North Florida Programs at Florida Native Plant Society

For our March meeting we visit our northern neighbors virtually to learn about species that we may have not met in person. Lilly Anderson-Messec will explore the spring ephemerals that can be found in Leon County and throughout the Florida Panhandle. Beauties such as trillium, trout lily and columbine are bursting from the forest floor!

Spring Ephemerals, as a whole, are plants that take advantage of the brief time when spring sunlight brightens the forest floor before deciduous trees leaf out and shroud them in shade. These species typically occur in moist deciduous forests which are sunny in winter and spring with rich soils fed by decaying leaf matter. These perennial woodland wildflowers develop aerial parts like stems, leaves and flowers early each spring and then quickly bloom and produce seeds. The leaves then wither leaving only underground structures such as root rhizomes and bulbs for the remainder of the year.