Common Celandine - Ficaria verna verna

Perhaps not the very first yellow flowering plant species after winter, but certainly one of the first to flower after winter is Common Celandine, Ficaria verna. The golden yellow flowers immediately stand out in shaded roadsides, roadsides, parks and deciduous forests. The fairly large flowers of about 3 cm in diameter emerge from the plant mat lying on the ground with the first rays of the sun and the accompanying heat radiation. It is well protected in winter when it is covered by snow and benefits from the fact that the bushes and trees in the forest are completely bare and allow all the sun's rays to reach the bottom. Therefore it is considered to belong to the so-called shadow flora, which are plant species that complete most of their life cycle when the higher layers in the forest are still in full rest.
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