Wild Ginger
I found a large patch of wild ginger this afternoon in a deciduous forest! The plants are softly pubescent, especially the leaf petiole and flower. The flowers are located at the base of the plant - lying adjacent to the ground.
The flowers attract small, pollinating flies that emerge from the ground during early spring looking for a thawing carcass to munch on. It's position on the ground allows it to be readily found by the emerging flies. The color of the flowers are similar to that of decomposing flesh. So, the flies enter the flowers and feast upon the pollen. Some of the pollen attaches to their bodies and is taken with them when they visit the next wild ginger flower.
"Asarum canadense", commonly known as Canada wild ginger, is a herbaceous, perennial plant which forms dense colonies in the understory of deciduous forest throughout its native range in eastern North America, from the Great Plains east to the Atlantic Coast, and from southeastern Canada south to around the Fall Line in the southeastern United States.
