Harbinger-of-Spring, Erigenia bulbosa is a cheery little member of the parsley family that usually blooms in April, although I have seen it in March on occasion. Look in rich, moist deciduous woods, floodplains and river banks in the southern half of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula were it can be locally abundant. This small but attractive flower can be found within a few weeks of snow melt in the woods. Emma Cole in the “Grand Rapids Flora” lists it as our earliest spring wildflower which “appears even before the snow has left the shady nooks”. It can be hard to see when it is growing up out of the leaf litter in the woods but is well worth the effort. Once you find one, carefully look around and you will most likely find many more.
The individual flowers are not more than a quarter of an inch across. Each consists of five narrow white petals with five blackish-red anthers which give it the name of Pepper and Salt. They are born in umbels consisting of one to four umbellets with one to six flowers in each umbellet. A small leafy bract can be found at the base of each umbellet. Each compound leaf is irregularly cleft into about 3 narrow oblong lobes with entire or smooth margins. Leaves appear soon after the flowers begin to bloom. The plants are very short at first, but by seed time the plants are 3 to 10 inches tall.
The Cherokee Indians used to chew the bulb for toothache relief. The small, round bulbs are deep seated a few inches down but are said to be eatable if you could get enough to make it worth your while.
Harbinger-of-Spring is blooming today with Cut-leaved Toothwort close behind.