Mayflower
(Epigaea repens)
How quickly the blossoms have gone.
Two weeks ago, I found their buds
hidden in shade in the depth of the woods
but I didn’t come back to see the blooms
(I imagined their beauty in pouring rain)
and now the moment has flown.
No pink and white petals lie on the ground.
Only their evergreen leaves remain
at the tips of each long and slender stem
where they catch the light
as it falls through the trees,
holding the morning’s delicate dew
(as the trumpet-shaped flowers
must have done
when they sprang from the soil
with roots in the snow).
This is the mystery (the anguish) of spring.
Too swiftly each blossom gives way to the next.
We haven’t got time to fall in love
with fragrant Mayflowers
that fade from the earth.
-Suzanne Stewart
Mayflower, Trailing Arbutus or Epigaea repens.
Introduction
The mayflower, or trailing arbutus, is a flowering plant, which means it belongs to the group of plants that produce flowers and then develop fruits. It is also an evergreen plant, which means its leaves stay on the plant, and are green all winter long. The mayflower is native to Nova Scotia and was declared our provincial flower in 1901. It is, surprisingly, not particularly easy to find today.
Appearance and Habitat
The mayflower likes sandy or rocky ground, in open or lightly-wooded areas that are well-drained. ‘Well-drained’ means that rain drains easily from that area and there is no standing water. The mayflower grows close to the ground, often nestled among the mosses, trailing along the ground. It has oval leaves that are green and leathery arranged alternately along the stem. The size of the leaves changes depending on their age; they can be as long as an adult’s index finger. The small, pink flowers develop in early May and are often hidden under the leaves; the flowers soon fade to white. The mayflower is one of the first spring flowers to bloom, usually at the time small red flowers appear on red maple trees.
Relationships
The flowers of this plant are pollinated by bumble bees, one of the first pollinating insects to be active in the spring. After pollination, the flowers develop into small spiky fruits. When these fruits are “ripe” they dry out and the seeds “explode” and are propelled through the air. Ants move the seeds into their anthills, eventually “planting” new seeds. Chipmunks and other small animals sometimes eat the fruit of the mayflower. Like most plants, the roots of the mayflower have an important relationship with fungi in the ground called “mycorrhizae”. The mycorrhizal fungi provide hard-to-get nutrients to plants in exchange for sugars such as glucose. The mayflower is very sensitive to disturbance and if it is picked, or transplanted, or even if the ground is disturbed, the entire plant is quite likely to die.
Human Use
Mayflowers have a beautiful, delicate scent. Traditionally people would often pick a small bouquet of mayflowers for Mother’s Day. This activity can be acceptable in some places but like the risk associated with many of our native flowers, picking them can be extremely damaging. People should think twice before picking mayflowers. Try taking a photograph or sketching them instead. You could do that each year for Mother’s Day.
Scientific Name
The mayflower is known scientifically as Epigaea repens.
~Monica Schuegraf
