The first of the Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) — up and blooming. A spring ephemeral native from Nova Scotia to Florida and west to Alabama, Arkansas, Nebraska, and Manitoba, that grows prolifically up here in the Blue Ridge.

As the leaf and bud push up through the soil, that leaf will envelop the bud, protecting it as it emerges, to meet the light of day.

And certainly unique, that leaf, multi-lobed, deeply veined, with an undulating edge, basically round with a deep indentation where it joins its petiole. Here with the still growing seed pod.

Each flower lasts just a couple days. With a little luck this just discovered bloom may last until Sunday, just long enough to greet astronomical spring.