Location: Woodland Trail
In Bloom: March and April

Lesser celandine, Ficaria verna, is an invasive spring ephemeral native to Europe and western Asia. It favors habitats near running water, though it will also spread on lawns and forest floors. The plant's shiny green leaves and cheerful yellow flowers are an early sign of spring in the mid-Atlantic. The dense green mat of lesser celandine's foliage suppresses many native spring wildflowers. Like other spring ephemerals, it's only around a little while. It thrives on the sunlight that reaches the forest floor before the tree canopy fully fills in with leaves. It begins blooming in March, and it has usually completed its flowering lifecycle by the end of April. It stores energy in dense networks of thick roots that look like tubers. It is these little tubers (along with seeds) that help make the plant so invasive. At Glenstone, lesser celandine can be seen along the Woodland Trail in early spring, covering the ground of the stream-side woodland.