WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

May is the season when observant woods-walkers and trail hikers are rewarded with visual treats of all sizes, shapes and colors. Fawns lay motionless in dappled sunlight. Migrating Warblers sing from shrubs, morels emerge and Osprey soar high overhead. In the rain-soaked woodlands of our larger Oakland County Parks, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, perhaps the strangest perennial wildflower of all, has emerged from winter dormancy. Jack has a secret that breaks the rules of botany. Jack is sometimes Jill, and Jill may switch back to being Jack. Confused? Here’s the rest of this flowery tale of Oakland County’s mysterious forest floor hermaphrodite, Arisaema triphyllum. Continue reading →