Common Wildflowers of the Ivy Creek Natural Area

Discovering wildflowers can open up a new world to the nature enthusiast. As you watch the wildflower canvas change over the seasons, you can learn not only names, but also a flower’s relationship to its habitat and pollinator -- amazing adaptations that developed over millions of years. Even winter brings an opportunity to see beauty in the rich variety of seeds and seed cases, as well as the beautiful foliage of wintering wildflowers.

This guide is designed for the novice with little or no botanical training and is best used with a field guide. It covers only common wildflowers seen easily from the trails. Within each blooming season, flowers are listed by the habitat in which they grow, color, and in general blooming order, although variations may occur. Species are listed by the common name most often used in this geographic area. 

Wildflowers are an valuable ecological component in the web of life. Picking and collecting from the wild and loss of habitat are the greatest threats to wildflower populations. Protected areas such as Ivy Creek are important to help preserve our natural heritage. 

THIS IS NOT A COMPREHENSIVE LIST! A lengthy and comprehensive list of flora can be found in the Vascular Flora of the Ivy Creek Natural Area.

Spring ephemerals are poorly represented at Ivy Creek because their favored habitat was flooded when the Rivanna Reservoir was created in 1965. However, some now grow in the rock garden near the Education Building, and a walk along the Rivanna River will reveal a rich variety of ephemerals, such as Trout Lily, Dutchman's Breeches, Cut-leaved Toothwort, and Spring Beauty.

A close look at an orchid reveals its characteristic features. The “lip”-- a differentiated petal that is larger and of a different shape and color than the others -- serves as an attractant and landing site for visiting insect pollinators. A single “column” in the center of each blossom is in fact the fusion of the male and female parts of the flower. After fertilization, the ovary will produce thousands of tiny seeds, sometimes as fine as talcum powder, that will be distributed by the wind. However, to sprout and grow, orchid seeds must land in a suitable habitat that possesses a specific fungus with which it shares a symbiotic existence. Instead of taking up nutrients through their roots, like other green plants, orchids depend on receiving their nutrients from this fungus. That is why it is virtually impossible to transplant an orchid from the wild.

Hepatica, growing on the Orange trail near the intersection with the Peninsula trail, is so named for its three-lobed purplish green leaves reminiscent of a liver. The flowers, found peeking out among the leaf litter in early March, are usually white at Ivy Creek, although elsewhere variants can be found in pink or blue. It is well worth the search for these harbingers of spring!