April 15 - Wild Geranium, Canada Violet

Once April got here, the weather got cooler and then unpredictable. On Easter (April 8) it was warm with a cold wind, and then it snowed on April 10! So there weren't a lot of new wildflowers blooming for a while. And to be honest I got busy.

These flowers may have bloomed earlier -- I'm just learning to distinguish between one kind of pretty pink flower with five leaves and another kind of pretty pink flower with five leaves. So that's why I almost missed this one. It's a Wild Geranium, and in some ways it looks a lot like a Spring Beauty. Well, from a distance anyway. But you can tell it's a Wild Geranium because of the leaves, which have 5-7 lobes that are coarsely toothed.

Wild Geranium

The root of the Wild Geranium, called Alum Root, has a lot of health uses, although taking too much (more than 15-20 grams at a time) is very bad for you. Anyway, used in a tea it's supposed to stop bleeding gums, ulcers, diarrhea and dysentery. Dried and powdered Alum Root stops bleeding of external wounds on contact. You can find out more at http://voices.yahoo.com/the-health-benefits-alum-root-1817241.html?cat=68.

Another wild flower I nearly missed is the Canada Violet, because it's a little white flower similar to the  Wood Anemone. Again, its leaves are what distinguish it. The Canada Violet has heart-shaped leaves. These are not the greatest shots of them. Canada Violets have beautiful yellow centers. The day this photo was taken, the air was chilly and the flowers were a bit withdrawn. I will try to get a better shot later.

Canada Violet

Canada Violets are endangered, so do not pick them.