Rights of Spring

Photo by JER

In the old country blooms a mountain flower that brings beauty to the highlands. " Edelweiss " meaning noble-white, it was worn by hikers to represent bravery and adventure.

This is the New World and as any northern boy will tell you, the Trillium is our wilderness icon. It is the first to appear in spring. On the drab brown forest floor it brings the first greenery to the landscape. As it hurriedly blossoms, before the trees create a canopy to shade out the sun, it ini-dates the countryside.  

It appears in such numbers that a white like carpet blankets the forest floor. When I travel to the rivers , walking through a Trillium Bloom, I think of springs new beginning  and a wonderful season of flyfishing ahead.

Called the Trillium for its three white petals and leaf pattern,  it grows about 10-12 inches tall. Old folklore tells of Jesuits missionaries using it to teach Christianity to the native Americans and referred to it as the Trinity Flower. It lingers for just a few weeks in April and if you don't get that rod out early you will never even know it exists !

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