Wildflower walk

Dicentra cucullaria

Last weekend Oliver and I and some friends took a walk through Niquette Bay State Park. It was a warm sunny day and timed perfectly to give us a view of tons of early spring wildflowers. There are many wildflowers that bloom just in these early spring months when the forest canopy hasn't yet filled in. I love the delicate, intricate, shy nature of these woodland plants. I don't know all their names, but this one is familiar: Dutchman's Breeches. I looked this up and was surprised to find that it's also called bleeding heart. It certainly looks like bleeding heart, but the species I think of as bleeding hearts have flowers that are shaped somewhat differently. I had never connected the two species before.

At left is a flower that I've seen quite a lot, but I don't know what it is. I guess I need a wildflower identification guide. Some of the flowers are white, some blush pink. The leaves have an interesting three-lobed shape that makes them easily identified ... if one only knew their name!