Pic(k) of the Week: Vernal celandine poppy

A native yellow wildflower —celandine poppy— blooms in an early-spring woodland.

Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA.
2 April 2025.

Stylophorum diphyllum —commonly called the celandine poppy or wood poppy— is an herbaceous plant in the poppy family (Papaveraceae), native to the eastern United States and Ontario in Canada. Its typical natural habitat is moist forests over calcareous rock, particularly in ravines.

In spring, the deep yellow flowers of the celandine poppy appear as a brilliant display on the forest floor. The flowers have 4 yellow petals, two soon falling sepals, many yellow orange stamens, and a single knobby stigma. They appear singly or in umbels of two to four flowers from early spring to early summer. The flowers issue from between a pair of leaves at the top of the flowering stems. They produce pollen but no nectar.

After fertilization, a bristly blue-green pod hangs below the leaves. Seeds with white elaiosomes ripen in midsummer and the pod opens by four flaps.

— Wikipedia

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Maurice Ravel: Mother Goose Suite (The Fairy Garden)

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• Live perfomance: 20 October 2020 (Hamburg, Germany)
  • Esa-Pekka Salonen – conductor
  • NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
  
  
• Every year, I eagerly anticipate the arrival of celandine poppies, perhaps because these vibrant yellow flowers were beloved native wildflowers of my brother, Albert Cizauskas, Jr. (1951-2025).

  Albert taught me to appreciate many things: nature, music, literature, history, photography. Today, I post this image (and music) in his memory.



• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays.
• Photo 14 of 52, for year 2025. See a larger, hi-res version on Flickr: here.
• Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.


• Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II
• Lens: Olympus M.40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R
• Settings: 74 mm; 1/250 sec; ISO 400; ƒ/5.6


• For more from YFGF:
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  • Follow on Bluesky: @tcizauskas.bsky.social.