80 Degree day to view the snow trillium

In the Minnesota River Valley, we are having a late spring. With a record snow storm only happening 10 days ago, having it be 80 degrees on April 11th feels odd. But as someone who has spent the last winter cooped up and has been needing the warmth, i'm not gonna complain. The snow trillium is a rare species and is not common through most of its range. Its name comes from that fact that the snow doesn't stop the flower from blooming in those early spring weeks. No snow was found on this south facing bluff along the Le Sueur River in Mankato. This population was probably only open for a day or so and the open blooms were quite small. Probably saw over 100 growing on one bluff.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/trillium_nivale.shtml
The usda have some information about this species and some good description of the morphological differences of this trillium species.

Posted on April 12, 2023 03:29 PM by mnprairiegal