by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org

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Like a bird incubating eggs, Bunchgrass growing on sunny hilltops protects and warms the ground for many ephemerals like Ranunculus glaberrimus.

Lithophragma parviflora (Little Woodland Star) and Antennaria dimorpha (Cushion Pussytoes) often appear very early in sheltered areas warmed by west-facing stony outcrops. Tachinid flies are early-appearing pollinators of these flowers.

Dodecatheon conjugens (Shooting Star) and Lomatium triternatum (Nine-leaf Desert Parsley grow in an old pasture where grass will be two feet tall in another month.

Balsamorhiza sagittata (Arrowleaf Balsamroot) Ranunculus glaberrimus (Early Buttercup) and Erythronium grandiflorum (Glacier Lily) are so precocious that sometimes they get covered with snow while in full flower and recover as if they had welcomed the extra gift of water.

Oops! One of those surprises you can get while looking at the ground in search of early flowers! Recently emerged from hibernation, this garter snake was coiled around the stems of a young Serviceberry shrub in a sunny patch of soon-to-open Early Buttercups!

Cladonia pleurota (Red fruit Pixie cup lichen) Claytonia lanceolata (Spring Beauty)

Carex concinnoides (Northwestern Sedge) and a wonderful discovery of the first appearance of a Calypso bulbosa(Fairy slipper orchid) plant, a little plant that will blossom in May!