The only wood-sorrel in Maryland to have a purple bloom, the violet wood-sorrel (Oxalis violacea) can be spotted blooming along the Woodland Trail in April, sometimes into May. The plant is pollinated by bees and is native to eastern North America. With shamrock-like leaves growing close to the ground, the violet wood-sorrel only reaches heights of about six inches when in bloom. The plant has a tendency to cluster in open spots in damp woods (at Glenstone it colonizes a slope between Andy Goldsworthy’s Clay Houses (Boulder-Room-Holes), 2007, and Simone Leigh’s Satellite, 2022.  

–Kevin McDonald