Spring Flowers of Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
Presented by The Friends of the Wild Flower Garden
Thumbnails of many early spring flowering plants - April to early May. Alternate common names for plant are shown in ( ), woody plants designated by "*". Timing of early spring bloom can vary a much as 3 to 4 weeks depending on each year's weather pattern.
Plant names with web links lead to a separate page of plant information and photos on that plant.
Images are arranged by six color groups and then by scientific name within color. Plants listed on our Common and Scientific name list that are not currently found in the Garden are not listed below.
Printable PDF File in Scientific Name Order within Color. Prints at 11 high by 8.5 inches wide, 20 images per page, 13 pages total: Low resolution - 2.4mb. - - - Hi resolution 17.8mb. Best for printing.
Flowers white, whitish, whitish-green
Flowers in pyramidal cluster
Actaea pachypoda
Flowers in domed cluster
Actaea rubra
Much the same on both species.
Alliaria petiolata
Leaves with heart-shape base, coarse teeth.
Amelanchier alnifolia
Leaf- teeth in the upper half, no hair at flowering, rounded tip.
Amelanchier arborea
Leaf has fine teeth, bronze and hairy at flowering time, pointed tip.
Amelanchier laevis
Leaf ovate, toothed, bronze when young, abrupt tip point
Pomes to 3/8”, red to purple-black. Edible. Trunk to 30’ when growing as a tree
flowers the same, leaves different
Anemone acutiloba (Hepatica acutiloba)
Anemone americana (Hepatica triloba)
Anemone quinquefolia
Antennaria neglecta
Stems prostrate, erect only in flower, leaves wooly, flowers dioecious.
Boechera laevigata (Arabis laevigata)
Stem erect, stem leaves long, narrow, curling. Basal leaves obovate
(Water Arum)
Calla palustris
Cardamine concatenata
Stem leaves divided into 3 deeply lobed toothed leaflets such that they appear to be 5 lobed leaflets.
Cardamine diphylla
Stems have two leaf stalks, opposite, leaves with 3 lobes, not so deeply cut.
(Pennsylvania Bitter Cress)
Cardamine pensylvanica.
Terminal leaflet largest. Stem leaf shown. Lower leaf has wider leaflets.
Claytonia virginica L.
Flowers in loose cluster. Basal leaves long & narrow. One pair per stem.
Dicentra cucullaria
Leaves basal, yellow-green, pinnately divided. Flowering scape above leaves.
(Stems red Fall to Spring.)
Cornus sericea
Leaves opposite, entire, whitish beneath, fine hair on top.
Enemion biternatum
Flowers rise from leaf axils. Leaves 2-3 parted. Early Spring bloom.
(White Fawn Lily)
Erythronium albidum
Fragaria virginiana
Fragaria vesca
(Sweet Rocket)
Hesperis matronalis
(Sweet Rocket)
Leaves alternate, lance-shape, toothed. Flowers in loose terminal cluster.
Jeffersonia diphylla
Leaf basal, long stalk, 2 opposite leaflets. Flowers on leafless scape.
Kalmia latifolia
Kalmia latifolia. Jeff McMillian, USDA-NRCS Plants Database
(flowers white to pink)
Lonicera tatarica
Maianthemum racemosum
Top section of plant. Flowers at tip
(Bishop's Cap)
Mitella diphylla
(Bishop's Cap)
Single pair of almost stalkless 3 to 5 lobed leaves at mid stem
Moehringia lateriflora
Leaf - oblong, blunt tip, no stalk, less than 1” long, fine hair.
(American Plum)
Prunus americana
Prunus virginiana
Leaf- Oval, fine teeth, pale under, small glands on leaf stalk.
Sambucus racemosa
Flower clusteer domed, leaf with 5 - 7 leaflets, serrate edges. Leaves appear with the flowers.
Sanguinaria canadensis
Staphylea trifolia
(Heartleaf Foamflower)
Tiarella cordifolia
Leaves all basal, heart-shape base, 5 to 7 lobes, stalks have glandular hair.
Trillium cernuum
Flower nods beneath the 3 bracts. Green sepals reflexed backward.
(Nodding Wakerobin)
Trillium flexipes
Flower droops but remains above bracts. Green sepals partly reflexed
(White Trillium)
Trillium grandiflorum
Largest flower of white trilliums, erect, facing outward. Pink with age.
Trillium nivale
Smallest Trillium, sepals with purplish tones, bracts small and more narrow.
Viburnum lentago
Leaf- egg shape, fine teeth, in opposite pairs, stalks reddish with small wings.
(American Cranberrybush)
Viburnum opulus var. americanum
(Moist area plant)
Leaf 3-lobed, coarse teeth, small stalked glands on leaf stalk. Flowers similar to European Cranberry.
Viburnum opulus
Leaf 3-lobed, with a few coarse teeth, small unstalked glands on leaf stalk. Flowers similar to Highbush Cranberry.
Yellow tinting at petal base
Viola canadensis
Flowers Yellow and yellowish
(Cowslip)
Caltha palustris
Leaves basal & stem, heart shaped, basal on long stalks. Soft hair under
Dirca palustris
Leaves elliptic, alternate, short stalks, unfold after flowering
(Dogtooth Violet)
Erythronium americanum
Littleleaf Buttercup
Ranunculus abortivus
Littleleaf Buttercup
Unique basal leaves
(Hispid Buttercup)
Ranunculus hispidus var. nitidus
Basal leaf - the largest, 3 parts, each part divided. Upper leaves more simple
(Blisterwort)
Ranunculus recurvatus
Lower stem leaf
Ranunculus recurvatus
Stylophorum diphyllum
Leaves - rounded lobes, deeply divided, pinnatifid, most basal.
(Yellow Wakerobin)
Trillium luteum
Some flowers will be yellow-green in color.
Uvularia grandiflora
Leaves pierced by stem, flower stem nods downward. Tepals twisted.
Viola pubescens
Flower solitary from upper leaf axil. Leaves basal and stem.
(Golden Zizia)
Zizia aurea
Basal leaves 2-3 times divided on long stalks.
Flowers yellow-green, gray-green, green.
Arisaema triphyllum
Comptonia peregrina
Leaves long, narrow, lobed, gland-dotted, plant monoecious. Female flower shown.
(Male Catkins)
Corylus americana
Note small female flower on stem to right of the long catkin.
Lepidium densiflorum
Micranthes pensylvanica [Saxifraga pensylvanica]
Hairy lance-shape leaves all basal. Flower stalk with glandular hair, up to 3 feet high.
Rhamnus cathartica
Common Buckthorn leaf - marginal teeth.
Rhus aromatica
Rhus aromatica
(Wild Black Currant)
Ribes americanum
(Wild Black Currant)
Leaf- 3 to 5 toothed lobes, main veins from base. Underside with visible yellow glands.
Ribes rubrum
Leaf with 3-7 toothed lobes, 5 are usual, no glands.
Smilax ecirrhata
Erect, no prickles, flowers in ball-like umbel from bracts on stem below leaves
Smilax lasioneura.
Flowers in long-stalked umbels from the leaf axils. Berries same as upright.
Thalictrum dioicum
Thalictrum venulosum
Leaves of Early & Veiny similar. Early has flower anthers yellowish, Veiny are more purplish.
(Yellow Wakerobin)
Trillium luteum
Some flowers more yellow-green in color.
Zanthoxylum americanum
Leaves pinnate, 5 - 11 leaflets, twigs aromatic with prickles. Thorns on twigs, seed capsules red.
Flowers blue, bluish and bluish-pink
Caulophyllum thalictroides
Leaf - 3 to 4 3-parted sections, each section with 3 parts (27 leaflets per leaf)
(Eastern Waterleaf)
Hydrophyllum virginianum
Leaves stalked, 3 - 7 lobes, larger have tip and base lobes separated.
Mertensia virginica
Leaves basal & stem, elliptical, smooth, basal larger & floppy.
Phlox divaricata
Leaves opposite, sparse, clasping, fine hair, no teeth.
(Greek Valerian)
Polemonium reptans
Plant under 20 inches high, leaf- 7-17 leaflets, smooth edges, frequently reclining.
Scilla siberica
(Running Myrtle)
Vinca Minor
Creeping stems, leaves glossy, evergreen, flowers solitary.
Viola sororia
Leaves ovate to heart shape, rise from root on long stalks, form rosette. Flowers on separate stem.
Viola sororia forma priceana. Considered a color variation - leaf the same.
Flowers pinkish, rosy, pink-purple and deep purple
(Canadian Wild Ginger)
Asarum canadense
Leaves - 2 per plant, hairy stalks and underside, up to 6” wide. Stem prostrate.
Asparagus officinalis
Stem erect, branched, pseudo-leaves (cladophylls) tiny sticks on side branches
(Spring Fumewort)
Corydalis solida
Leaf pinnate, deeply cleft, dense, terminal lobe with crenations
(Pride of Ohio)
Dodecatheon meadia
Flowering scape held above basal rosette of oblong leaves.
Erythronium propullans
(Spotted Geranium)
Geranium maculatum
Basal leaves palmately divided, 5 - 7 lobes. Pair small leaves on flower stem.
(Sweet Rocket)
Hesperis matronalis
(Sweet Rocket)
Leaves alternate, lance-shape, toothed. Flowers in loose terminal cluster.
xheucherella tiarelloides
Garden hybrid with Foam Flower; more pinkish color. leaves all basal in a clump.
Lonicera dioica
Thalictrum thalictroides
Flowers rise from stem, not from leaf axils. Leaf-like bracts directly under flowers
(Sissileleaf Bellwort)
Uvularia sessilifolia
Leaves clasp, but don’t pierce stem. Flower solitary, drooping, tepals flare at tip.
Symplocarpus foetidus
Symplocarpus foetidus
Trillium cuneatum
Leaflet to 6" wide, flower to 3" high.
Trillium cuneatum
Sweet Betsy and Toadshade have similar but different size leaves - no leaflet stalks.
Trillium erectum
Flower facing outward, color variable, petals & sepals of equal length.
Trillium recurvatum
Flower erect, petals not spreading, green sepals hang downward.
Trillium sessile
Leaflets to 3" wide, flower to 1.5" high.
Sweet Betsy
Sweet Betsy and Toadshade have similar but different size leaves - no leaflet stalks.
Flowers reddish, orange, brown
(Red Columbine)
Aquilegia canadensis
Leaves divided into 3-leaflet groups, each leaflet cleft at tips.
(Male Catkins)
Corylus americana
Note small female flower on stem to right of the long catkin.
(Female flowers)
Male flowers in hanging catkins, female is small buds - both before the leaves.
Leaves oval, double-toothed, dark green, pale under, hairy stiff stalk
(Old Man's Whiskers)
Geum triflorum
(Seed-head stage)
Geum triflorum
