A Naif in the Forest by Darrell Berger

Wing Tips to Hiking Boots: Musings of a New, Full-Time Poconos Resident 

The first day that snow was on the ground I noticed a plant standing tall and strong when every other splash of green was either on the limb of an evergreen or limply hanging onto a branch like overcooked kale. It is a Lenten Rose. 

I knew the Lenten Rose was the first sign of green and color in the spring. Its first flowers pop through the snow well before the more heralded crocuses.  It is so early I have come to think of it as a harbinger of false spring. There will be more snowfalls after this bloom and real spring lags well behind. It is helpful, however, to those with Seasonal Affective Disorder, to whom false hope is better than none at all. 

Now I discover the same plant that brings the first bloom of spring also lingers longest into the winter. This is like an athlete winning both the hundred meter dash and the marathon: a constitution requiring the both the fastest speed and the greatest endurance. What kind of super plant is this? 

The Lenten Rose is one of several species of Hellebores, an herb whose name comes from the Greek words meaning, essentially, “bad food.” Aptly named, every part of the plant is poisonous. Rabbits and deer won’t eat it. Touching any part of the plant invites an allergic reaction. It was used in ancient Rome and Greece to treat a variety of ailments, none successfully. 

It is classified as an herb, though it doesn’t fit easily into any category. Herbs are usually medicinal or enhance the preservation and taste of other plants. Herbalists over the centuries have used Hellebores to both cure and induce madness. As late as the twentieth century an expert on the plant suggested that hellebore cuttings tossed in the air or spread on the ground and walked upon would induce invisibility. I intend to try this in the spring, remembering to wear gloves while scattering.