Jane: Spring Wildflowers

I was going to call this post "pants on the hillside," but I thought it might be too obscure. . . .
But maybe not. We went for a walk at Pallisades-Kepler State Park and found lots of Dutchman's Breeches--pants--on the hillsides!

I love these amusing, whimsically-named flowers! They're one of the earliest spring ephemerals, and I often miss seeing them. Today, they were all over, up and down the hillsides.

They're from the dicentra family, like bleeding hearts. You can see the resemblance. And the resemblance to pantaloons!
We saw other flowers, too, including just a few bloodroots. It's early for them. There will be more later.
There were a few hepatica left, but most were almost done blooming.
I think my favorite part about these flowers is the patterned, lobed leaves. Some of the ones we saw had almost purple leaves.

There were a few wild oats (yes, their real name) to add a touch of yellow.
And there were spring beauties (lots!)


and rue anemone,
Here some with some wild ginger, which is looking like it just came up.
Rue anemone looks really similar to spring beauties except for the leaves. In case you're wondering, rue anemone have columbine-like leaves, while spring beauty leaves are long and grass-like.

I hope to go wildflowering again later this month to see if I can spot trilliums, more bloodroots, wild ginger flowers, and mayapples.

Thanks to Robbie and Bruce, who accompanied me on today's walk, and put up with me stopping frequently for photos!