I don’t know what these “weeds” are called. Some people around here call them Maypops ( but that’s not right. These are Maypops) They pop up all over the place in April. (I suppose “Maypop” sounds better than “Aprilpop”)
I had never seen them before we moved here and I immediately thought they were rather interesting – about 8 to 12 inches tall, just a single stem with one or two large leaves, like little umbrellas. But there’s more. Underneath the leaves, hidden from the eyes of adult humans is a very lovely little flower. It’s about two inches across. Each plant has only a single flower.
I think this is a perfect illustration of the fact that, while we may enjoy flowers, their purpose is not to please humans. This flower is pretty enough to be a garden plant but it never will be. This one is just for the bugs. And the fairies, of course.
Update: The common name is “Mayapples”. (See the comments.) Maybe I was thinking “Maypops” because they seem to pop up overnight.
April 27th, 2011 - 12:14 pm
Mayapples. Scientific name is Podophyllum peltatum.
April 27th, 2011 - 2:40 pm
Thanks!
April 27th, 2011 - 6:42 pm
I was going to try to link to a picture of an actual “maypop”.
…But all the tires on my truck, my Polaris, my Kawasaki, and even my dirt bike have too much tread to fall under that classification. I think the front tires on my truck could be considered “Indian Tires” at this point, however.
April 27th, 2011 - 6:45 pm
I always called them umbrella plants. I used to love lying under patches of them when I was small enough to do so.
April 27th, 2011 - 8:19 pm
Hippie – Hah!
Nicole – I like “umbrella plants”. That’s how I think of them even though I’ve never heard them called that.