Seeds in my Soul

Flowers bloom inside of me

Seeds in my Soul

Up and out of my wounds and pores
Flowers bloom inside of me
In laughter, petals erupt from my mouth
Nectar flows down my cheeks in tears
Who showed me how to fill my life with nature's greens and golds?
Who sowed these seeds in my soul?

My tangled hair glows with Starflowers
My veins embrace the pulsing roots of Goldthread
They wrap around my bones and weave me into the ground
Wood Anemones nestle naked in my chest
Who showed me how to fill my life with nature's greens and golds?
Who sowed these seeds in my soul?

Time has told me who to thank for these seeds
My mother and my father and the spirits in the trees
And everyone I know, everywhere I've been
Every bird I've heard
And every bit of moonlight that I let break through my skin

Up and out of my wounds and pores
Flowers bloom inside of me
In laughter petals erupt from my mouth
Nectar flows down my cheeks in tears
You showed me how to fill my life with nature's greens and golds
You sowed these seeds in my soul
You sowed these seeds in my soul

I chose to highlight these flowers in this song of gratitude because they have a quiet and humble beauty which I very much admire. They have helped me to slow down, pause, and take the time to crouch down and appreciate the forest’s first flowers.

Wood Anemones, Starflowers, and Goldthread are all considered spring ephemeral wildflowers.

Bryan Pfeiffer

writes beautifully about them in “Trade Wars and Spring Wildflowers”:

In a class of their own, “spring ephemeral wildflowers,” as some of them are known, have a strategy that’s probably suitable for all of us: Life is short so don’t waste your time in the sun. For the flowers (not necessarily for us), that means pollination, often with help from bees, flies, and other insects. Basically, these plants complete their business of reproduction before the tree canopy leafs-out overhead to shade the forest floor. Even while patches of snow linger in the woods, these blooms are early bursts of color, form, and function. They’re like rainbows or shooting stars, only much more reliable. I don’t know anyone not charmed by these flowers.

Wood Anemone / Anemonoides quinquefolia / credit: Bryan Pfeiffer

Wood Anemones have a fascinating relationship with ants. Once the flowers have been pollinated and the seeds develop and drop, ants retrieve the seeds and bring them to their colonies. They eat the fatty appendage (elaiosome) of the seed and then dispose of the leftovers, helping the anemones spread. However, less than half of the seeds are fertile; Wood Anemones mostly spread by rhizomes which create colonies.

Goldthread / Coptis trifolia

Goldthread’s name comes from the thread-like yellow roots. As you can see in the background, the leaves are in groups of three (trifolia). Goldthread is one of the first ephemerals to grace the forest floor in the spring. But their glossy leaves are evergreen and are a delight to see shining among the dead leaves and pine needles in winter. Goldthread and Starflower (below) also mostly grow in colonies created by rhizomes. This means that the flowers in a colony are clones.

Starflower / Trientalis borealis

Starflowers can have 7-10 petals, which are fun to count while out on a walk. They do look like stars and their leaves, in a whorl partway up the stem, look like green stars. I usually see them here in Maine after Goldthread and Wood Anemone have bloomed. Right now is a prime time to find them in the woods.

Ephemeral flowers provide an important food source for early pollinators. And of course, they benefit from the pollinators as well. Giving and receiving is a benefit to us all. Every time we breathe in and out, we are receiving from and giving back to our plant kin.

Thank you for taking the time to listen and to read. I hope you get to see some of these amazing woodland flowers.