Winter is peak flowering season for many of the amazing wild gingers. We caught Asarum porphyronotum ‘Irish Spring’ in full bloom recently. We remove the old foliage just as they come into flower for better photography. The new foliage begins to emerge just as the flowers fade. Amazing as these are, it requires slowing down to actually notice their amazing flowers, which are pollinated by pill bugs and slugs.
Great plant and interesting specific epithet from the Greek: porphyronotum, meaning notable for porphyra (purplish or reddish dye). Same etymology as the human disease porphyria, which often results in reddish-purple urine because of excess porphyrins.
Great etymology lesson. In this species, the back of the leaf is often purple.