WRITTEN BY STEPHANIE BOUCHARD
If you’re walking woodland trails in early spring, you may find a tropical-looking plant emerging from wet soils, especially near streams. This is the skunk cabbage, so named for its strong odor. As one of Maine’s earliest wildflowers, it is the herald of what’s to come as spring progresses: a bounty of wildflowers.
Wildflowers, flowering plants that grow freely without the aid of humans, can be seen from spring to fall, but their prime time is spring to summer, said wildflower experts Kate Garland, a horticulturist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Bangor, and Clare Cole, a Maine Master Naturalist who’s MMN capstone project was on the wildflowers found in Bangor City Forest.
One of Maine’s earliest blooming wildflowers is not native to the area. Resembling a dandelion, coltsfoot is native to Europe and parts of Asia.
While many of us assume that wildflowers must be native to Maine, or at least to North America, many are not, Garland and Cole said.
“There are countless examples of introduced wildflower species,” Garland said.
The variety of black-eyed Susan that most of us are familiar with is a non-native introduction. (There is a native variety but it is rare.) So is the ubiquitous, and much loved, oxeye daisy.
These plants were introduced to the area by immigrants to North America, as well as insects and birds, and sometimes were brought in to solve problems, such as for erosion control along roadsides, explained Cole and Garland. They aren’t necessarily “bad.”
“There are many non-native species that are wonderful and provide a lot of ecosystem services, meaning that they provide food for wildlife and are great for pollinators and a variety of insects,” Garland said.
Sometimes, wildflowers may be “escaped” cultivated flowers, said Cole. You may see snowdrops or daffodils growing along roadsides or in tall grass that are likely to have been deposited by squirrels or come from old garden soil that was dumped, she said.
Familiar native wildflowers include asters and goldenrods, which appear later in the season; bluets, which appear in spring and last into summer; and the ephemerals, so called because they appear before deciduous trees leaf out, such as trout lily, Canada-mayflower, and starflower.
If you’re seeking out wildflowers, Cole and Garland say the Bangor area offers plenty of options, including Bangor City Forest and the University of Maine’s Eastern Maine Native Plant Arboretum.
Land trusts, public reserved lands, and local, state, and federal parks are also good places to see wildflowers, said Cole, and some of these locations offer specific programming about wildflowers, including wildflower walks.
Good resources to help you identify wildflowers (and provide information on edibility and toxicity) include Lawrence Newcomb’s “Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide”, Native Plant Trust’s Go Botany online identification tool, and apps such as iNaturalist.
While you’re out admiring wildflowers, you may be tempted to pick or dig up wildflowers to replant in your home landscape, but Cole and Garland caution against doing so.
“We really kind of in general discourage picking the wildflowers because they obviously are serving as a resource for the wildlife,” Garland said, “[and] it also disrupts the seed production cycle and the reproduction cycle.”
While the state of Maine doesn’t prohibit collecting wildflowers, many places, including state and national parks, have restrictions about doing so, said Cole. Check with the property owner before collecting wild plants.
Luckily, you can find some wildflower varieties for sale at garden centers and plant sales, or you can purchase seeds and grow them yourself. Check out Maine-based Wild Seed Project for a list of places where you can buy native plants and seeds.
