Many spring ephemeral wildflowers like Bloodroot rely on myrmecochory — seed dispersal by ants. The seeds of spring ephemerals bear fatty external appendages called eliaosomes (white worm like material attached to these seeds). Ants harvest and carry them back to their nests and eat them. The unharmed seeds are thrown into the trash bin and eventually germinate. A single ant colony may collect as many as a thousand seeds over a season. Unlike seeds dispersed by birds or wind, on average, a seed is only carried about two meters from the parent plant. With such short distance dispersal, forest fragmentation is a threat to the survival of spring ephemerals. Once these plants are gone from the forest, it is rare that they return.
The heart-shaped flowers of Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis) is one of the heralds of spring. Similar species is Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), it has similar leaves but more pointed flower spurs giving them the appearance of updside-down trousers.
