April 1, 2026

Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)

One of the native plants that bloom in early spring. Native to eastern North America from southwestern Ontario and Pennsylvania, down to Georgia and Alabama, out to Michigan and Missouri.

There are two common names for this plant, Celandine Poppy, and Wood Poppy. There is another Celandine (similar in appearance) that I know of as a highly invasive, non-native plant, Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus). Since I don’t want that plant with the bad reputation getting confused with the native, I choose to use the common name of Wood Poppy.

Wood Poppy is one of those interesting plants that relies on ants to distribute their seeds in a mutualistic partnership called myrmecochory.

Nature always manages to amaze me.

_______________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!