The Trailing Arbutus

Early spring wildflowers can be easy to miss. They are often not very showy and have to bloom pretty quickly before the trees leaf out and block all their sun.

But there is one particular blossom worth seeking out right now: the trailing arbutus.

To really appreciate this plant, you have to get down on your hands and knees so you can take a deep whiff of its waxy pinkish-white flowers. Perhaps someday we'll have radio with Smell-o-rama, but for now you'll have to take my word for it! The flower smells heavenly- rich and perfumey, and yet somehow still quite delicate.

You can find trailing arbutus growing in dry woods dominated by oaks and pines. It is a very low-growing plant, with leathery oval leaves that stay green all year long. It is one of the very first flowers to bloom in late April or early May.

Once upon a time, trailing arbutus, which is known as mayflower, was heavily collected by street vendors. They would sell endless bunches of these fragrant posies in cities and towns all over New England - in fact, they nearly wiped out the plant in their enthusiasm to celebrate spring while making a little cash. A group of women from Boston decided that this lovely wildflower needed to be protected, and lobbied to make it the state flower of Massachusetts. It soon became a crime to collect mayflowers, and the plant has greatly recovered.

Those 19th century plant activists went on to form the New England Wildflower Society, a conservation group that is still going strong today. So I guess it is thanks to those long-ago Bostonians that we can now meander through the woods, drop to our knees and inhale the lovely fragrance of trailing arbutus that so beautifully greets every spring.