The earliest of the early

Through the Woods by Aaron Horrell, March 8

The morning of Feb. 29 was clear and bright with temperatures in the upper 20s. A light frost covered short vegetation. It was a calm, crisp morning, and I knew late February into early March was a good time to go in search of one of springtime's earliest bloomers.

I was looking for the harbinger-of-spring in hopes of finding one with frost on the flower. Within 20 minutes of searching I had found one. I photographed it and then found several more. Later, when I sat looking at the photographs, I noticed the linear seed pod to the left of the cluster of flowers in my photo here.

This proves that the harbinger-of-spring is capable of blooming an producing seed in late winter, even when nighttime temperatures fall below freezing. The harbinger-of-spring is a flower native to Southeast Missouri.