Bloodroot and Squill on the Trail

For our Friday walk, we decided to drive to the part of the Riverwalk Trail by the arena. We were hoping that some wildflowers might be appearing.

It was Sue who first spotting small white flowers down  a little offshoot path from the main trail.

My bending low shots have been pretty poor lately, but this is what bloodroot looks like, or at least what it looked like on Friday morning. Apparently, when it opens, it will resemble the third photo, below, which I am obtaining from Wikipedia. (My bend down photos are terrible again. I will try to do better.)

Wikipedia

Sanguinaria canadensis, bloodroot, is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant native to eastern North America. It is the only species in the genus Sanguinaria . . .

Plants are variable in leaf and flower shape, and have been separated as a different subspecies due to these variable shapes, indicating a highly variable species.

In bloodroot, the sap is red and poisonous. Products made from sanguinaria extracts, such as black salve, are escharotic and can cause permanent disfiguring scarring. If applied to the skin, the extract sanguinarine may cause a massive scab of dead flesh where it killed the cells, called an eschar. (Wikipedia)

Farther along the trail, sharp-eyed Sue, spotted purple. I remember this patch of squill from last year. Once again, my bend-down pics failed, so I am not going to post them.

They were right beside the main trial on the right.

You'll have to bend better than that, AC.

Scilla siberica, the Siberian squill or wood squill, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to southwestern Russia, the Caucasus, and Turkey. Despite its name, it is not native to Siberia.

Many parts of the plant such as the flowers, fruits, leaves, roots, sap, seeds, and stem are poisonous to eat for some animals. (Wikipedia)

One more thing: the swampy area on that one spot along the trail was ... um ... very swampy.