The beginning of May is a time of rapid flowering. In phenologists, this is called “the middle of spring”, which is very relative, because it is already about to come summer.

This is the period when the earliest forest plants, the first-borns of spring, already faded away, but the latest ones, such as cowberry, rowan, honeysuckle, did not yet begin to blossom. The middle of spring is the time of flowering of blueberries, alder, cherry and many others.For people far from our shady forests, green meadows, we will tell you about some interesting plants now flowering.

The common toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) When aspen and early primroses bloom, white-pink, powerful shoots appear on the soil. Before us is an interesting forest plant called the Petrine Cross. The species of the plant is unusual, there is no green color, leaves, too. Such plants are incapable of photosynthesis. This is one of the few plant-parasites living at the expense of other plants. Its flowers contain nectar, they are readily visited by bees and bumblebees, which produce pollination.

The Violet (Víola mirábilis) In spring, a small plant with pale-lilac fragrant flowers is found in oak forests. The smell is weak, but very pleasant. It is a violet blossom. The plant has a rosette of large basal leaves growing from the rhizome. Fragrant flowers quickly fade, do not form fruits. The so-called flowers are barren flowers. They do not serve for reproduction. But these plants, in addition to them, there are other flowers on which the fruits develop. The fruit of the violet has an oval shape, trihedral, attracts ants.

Spring vetchling (Lathyrus vernus) In the grass cover there are few plants belonging to the family Fabaceae. One of these plants is the Spring vetchling. Its bright flowers attract the attention of everyone who happens to be in the forest in the middle of spring. The flowering of this plant is short. It quickly loses its elegant appearance. This is a perennial plant.

The Wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) The leaves of this plant are like clover leaves. Flowers are elegant. If you chew the leaves, there is a sour taste, like sorrel. They are rich in vitamin C and are quite edible in raw form.

The Sedge (Carex Pilosa) A distinctive feature of this plant is the dense pubescence of leaves, especially noticeable along the edge. Flowers are plain, not very noticeable. The Sed spreads through the forest, capturing new territories. There are almost no other plants in the thickets of sedge, it suppresses them and displaces them.

Not all herbs hurry to flower as early as possible. There are plants that do not hurry with this. Flowers they appear late, already at the end of spring, when the forest is completely covered with foliage and most of the plants have faded. We will talk about them later.