Our next stop on the wildflower tour was the beautiful wooded hillside along Rocky Fork road in Scioto County. There, we were hunting out the very rare Golden-star, Erythronium rostratum...
Golden-star, Erythronium rostratum, makes a valiant attempt to open despite the overcast and cold conditions.
...raindrops bead up on a leaf of Erythronium rostratum.
...working harder! We had high hopes that the sun would push through and coax the blossom open.
...anthers carrying pollen.
...makes me think of a sleeping dog opening one eye to make sure all is well.
The sun didn't come out until later in the day, so we didn't get to see this incredibly rare wildflower fully open.
A remnant raindrop magnifies the dotted pattern on the Erythronium rostratum leaf.
To get an idea just how rare this plant is in Ohio, and to learn how to tell Erythronium rostratum apart from the much more common Yellow Trout Lily, Erythronium americanum, (plus read about the newly discovered population in the Edge of Appalachia Preserve), hop over to this post on The Natural Treasures of Ohio Blog. This afternoon I took a walk on the Little Miami Trail and found Erythronium americanum growing there! It definitely looks different...its flowerhead was drooping down and the petals were all reflexed (curving back) like the White Trout Lily in this earlier post.
P.S. I just visited Jim's blog, and he's posted on this beautiful flower too, so if you haven't already seen his post, make it your next click!