Latin name: Claytonia virginica
Bloom time: April through June in Michigan

Spring Beauty grows naturally in the woodlands of Michigan and is one of the earliest signs that spring has arrived. It produces small, star-shaped blooms that are white to pink with pink veins, growing about 3 to 6 inches tall. Spring Beauty is a true spring ephemeral — it emerges, flowers, sets seed, and goes completely dormant before the tree canopy closes in late spring, completing its entire above-ground life cycle in just a few months.

Spring Beauty has its own specialist pollinator: the Andrena erigeniae mining bee, which collects pollen almost exclusively from this plant, making Spring Beauty essential to that bee's survival. The plant's small underground tubers are edible with a sweet, chestnut-like flavor, and were used as a food source by Native Americans and early settlers. Spring Beauty is among the wildflowers protected by Michigan state law.