Spring wildflowers abound in Backus Woods

White trilliums, which serve as Ontario’s floral emblem, were on full display during the Norfolk Field Naturalists’ Mother’s Day Wildflower Hike in Backus Woods.

Lisa Timpf

Advocate Contributor

Wildflowers both familiar and less so were on display in Backus Woods for the Norfolk Field Naturalists’ Mother’s Day Spring Wildflower Hike on Sunday, May 11. 

Bernie Solymar, NFN President and Field Events Coordinato, led a small group along the Backus Woods trails, providing wildflower identifications and discussing the plants’ life cycles, noteworthy features, and pollinators. Trilliums, wild phlox, and three varieties of violets were in full bloom, and participants also got to check out Bishop’s cap, jack-in-the-pulpit, toothwort, foamflower, and other woodland wildflowers.

Many of the wildflowers are spring ephemerals, which appear only for a brief time while the sunlight still comes through the trees. Spring ephemerals must sprout leaves and flowers, get pollinated, form seeds, and store energy in their roots, bulbs, or corms in a short time period before the forest canopy fills out. With such a compact window to work with, it can take years for certain plants to mature. 

Depending on when they flower, different plants are set up to attract different pollinators. Jack-in-the-pulpits give off a fungus-like smell to attract the fungus gnats they rely on for pollination. Skunk cabbage emits a carrion smell to attract flies and carrion beetles, and red trilliums, which are pollinated by bottleflies and carrion flies, are perfumed accordingly. 

Long-spurred violets rely primarily on bumblebees for pollination, while trout lilies are pollinated by small solitary bees. 

Many of the spring ephemerals spread by underground roots and bulbs. For wider dispersion, they rely on help from insects and animals. The seeds of some flowers are encased in or attached to fruits, which are carried away by ants or eaten by deer or other creatures. New plants spring up where the seeds are deposited. 

Solymar’s guided hike provided a deeper appreciation of nature’s long cycles. A trout lily colony, a collection of smallish leaves and spent flowers, didn’t look like much, but the colony had likely been in existence as long as the trees that towered over it. 

While wild phlox and white trilliums provided showy splashes of colour, some other wildflowers were small and unassuming in appearance. As delicate as some looked, they had a dainty and dignified beauty in their natural setting, with dappled sun shining through the still-growing leaves of the surrounding trees.

Though the hike’s focus was on wildflowers, other examples of nature abounded. Rose-breasted grosbeaks, vireos, a scarlet tanager, a wood thrush, and an industrious pileated woodpecker were seen and/or heard along the walk, and a few small garter snakes also made an appearance.

Backus Woods is owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and is home to some of the oldest living trees in Ontario. Backus Woods is one of the best remaining examples of Carolinian forest in Canada. 

With several public trails, Backus Woods is open to the public year-round. Those wishing to see its springtime splendour for themselves can find information at www.natureconservancy.ca. To learn more about upcoming Norfolk Field Naturalists’ activities and events, visit norfolkfieldnaturalists.org.