NCC: Land Lines – Fleeting forest beauty: The spring ephemerals

April 11, 2025 | by Sean Feagan

Fleeting forest beauty: The spring ephemerals

As winter lingers on, it’s reassuring to know our forests will soon be carpeted with beautiful wildflowers known as the spring ephemerals. These plants, including trout lilies, trilliums, bloodroot and Dutchman’s breeches, among others, make the most of the short period when abundant sunlight reaches the forest floor before the deciduous trees above leaf out and cast their shade.

Quick to bloom, quick to fade

Spring ephemerals are not a specific group of related species, but rather a life history strategy shared by different plants — one that is short and sweet. After the winter snows recede, these perennial plants pop up from underground and grow rapidly when light, nutrients and water are abundant. They grow leaves, flower, seed and die back all in as little as a few weeks.

During their growth phase, they direct energy into root structures like bulbs or corms, which sustain them through dormancy until the following spring. Due to their rapid growth requirements, these species are confined to the fertile, nutrient-rich soils of forests.

The degree of “ephemerality” varies among species and populations. Some disappear completely by the time the forest canopy emerges, while others begin dormancy a bit later. This flexibility helps them adapt to different forest conditions across their ranges.

Hidden connections beneath the forest floor

Spring ephemerals aren’t just beautiful; they play a crucial role in forest ecosystems. Many have partnerships with mycorrhizal fungi in soil, which help them absorb water and nutrients in exchange for providing the fungi with sugars. Through these underground fungal networks, spring ephemerals interact with other plants, including the towering trees above them.

One study found that yellow trout lilies share carbon with young sugar maples in early spring, helping the young trees to leaf out. Later in the year, the trees return the favour, sending carbon back to the lilies before they go dormant, helping these ephemerals survive the winter. This reciprocal exchange is just one example of the fascinating and complex interactions among our forest species.

Early food for insects

Blooming before most other flowers, spring ephemerals provide an early source of pollen and nectar for pollinators like solitary bees, bumblebees, hoverflies and beetles. These pollinators support not only the incredible plant diversity in our forests but also crops, like fruits and berries, that life would be far less delicious without.

Carry this for me?

Some spring ephemerals enlist ants for seed dispersal through a strategy called myrmecochory. Their seeds have nutrient-rich attachments called elaiosomes, which ants collect, carry to their nests and discard, helping to disperse and plant the seeds in the forest’s fertile soil. Ants, ever amazing, have been shown to carry trillium seeds up to 10 metres away from a parent plant.

Challenges and conservation

Despite their resilience, spring ephemerals face growing threats from invasive species, which outcompete them for light and nutrients. Garlic mustard, for example, invades forest ecosystems rapidly and releases chemicals that disrupt the soil’s beneficial fungi, making it harder for our native plants to survive.

Conserving forests means protecting these delicate wildflowers and the species they support. By conserving Canada’s forests and preventing the spread of invasive species, we can ensure future generations will continue to witness the fleeting magic of our spring ephemerals.