Hydrophyllum canadense

Description

Just like H. virginianum, H. canadense is also rarely cultivated. The white flower buds with ciliate calyces resemble an exquisite lace work; pity that they are hidden under the leaves. The leaves are silver spotted in early spring before changing to green, at the same time when Erythronium americanum is in bloom.

Recognized by pollination ecologists as a very valuable species because it attracts a large numbers of native bees; the flowers are often foraged, long after their prime, by bumblebees. Useful as a ground cover in difficult shady areas (moist) and for naturalization projects.

The population in the image was growing at the edge of a deciduous forest in part-shade, in quite a dry location (Ontario, Canada). Not very often seen, and in a few U.S. states is listed as extremely rare or threatened.

Germination update: deep simple epicotyl dormancy – meaning that the root will emerge in late fall after a warm stratification and the shoots growth will begin in the following spring (after cold stratification). If the sowing is done too late in the fall/winter, then germination will complete in the second spring after sowing.