The emerging mayapple

Shown here is a newly emerging mayapple as it looks a day or so before its leaves fully open.  I found this one in early April at night.  It is growing against the base of a tulip tree where wind had blown away dead leaf litter revealing the mayapple's rhizome.

Mayapple plants propagate by growing a tangled system of shallow underground rootstocks called rhizomes.  Buds appear at varying intervals on these rhizomes and in spring new mayapple stems sprout up.  Because of this method of reproduction, it is common for mayapple plants to colonize and densely cover small areas of the springtime forest floor.

The small green "apple" fruit of the mayapple does not appear in May.  The beautiful white flower appears in May and the "apple" in June.  This has led to the mayapple being called the mayflower. It also is known as the umbrella plant because its leaves appear much like an umbrella.

Through the Woods is a weekly nature photo column by Aaron Horrell. Find this column at semissourian.com to order a repreint of the photo. Find more work by Aaron at The Painted Wren Gallery.