Flower for the Day May Apples 5-5-19

Yesterday we climbed the hill to  a concert in the Kirkwood Park Amphitheater. It was a pleasant

concert with music from the 70's by the band, Rosewood.

On the way down the trail we noticed a huge colony of may apples (Podophyllum peltatum). 

These plants are easy to identify because of their sheltering leaves which resemble a ducks foot. The flower comes off at a branching stem and blooms in May while the eponymous  fruit matures later in the summer.

 Close up I find the simple bloom enchanting.

 

          Mandrakes

Down in the shady woodland
Where fern fronds are uncurled,
A host of green umbrellas
Are swiftly now unfurled.
Do they shelter fairy people
From sudden pelting showers
Or are the leaves but sunshades
To shield the waxen flowers?

Minnie Curtice Wait