False Solomon's-Seal, Smilacina racemosa

This member of the Lily family can get quite large, attaining heights of near 3 feet.  Later in the season it will be possible to take a picture of fully mature all-white flowers that are then followed by red, round berries.

Small-Flowered Blue-Eyed Mary, Collinsia parviflora

I found these small flowers growing at Lucia Falls County Park in SW Washington on a mossy rock outcrop.  They are a native annual.

Vanilla Leaf, Achlys triphylla

Late afternoon sunshine really lit up this plant- I hope to find plants with flowers later in the season.  Dried leaves have a vanilla-like fragrance.

4-23-2014 update:  picture of an immature flower.  I didn't know until I took this picture that the flowers are on a separate stem from the main plant.

5-5-2014 update 1:

 

5-5-2014 Update 2:

5-30-14 update:

4-11-15 update:
Growing near the top of Bells Mountain in SW Washington, these plants are just starting to emerge for another season.

5-1-2017 update:
Same location as above location but the leaves are slightly more mature.  It is interesting to note that all three leaves are folded up into one 'fan' and will be unfurling in the next week or so.

Ground-ivy, Glecoma hederacea

I was disappointed to learn that this new-to-me flower is native to Eurasia and has escaped cultivation to become widespread in North America.  Also known as Creeping Charlie, it is taking over sections of Lucia Falls County Park in SW Washington.

Baneberry, Actaea rubra

All parts of this native plant are extremely poisonous.  Red berries are present later in Summer.

Immature flowers:

Mature flowers:

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Snowflakes

Recent snow was followed by a very brief period of sunshine; I grabbed my camera and tripod and utterly failed to capture the exquisite geometric patterns that are visible to the naked eye.  Hopefully, subsequent attempts on my part will result in better pictures!

Steamy tree

At first glance this picture looks similar to the previous post except this time it is steam instead of smoke.  Recent rains have gotten everything pretty wet, including the trunks of trees.  Even though the air temperature was in the 30's bright sunshine brought enough warmth to vaporize the water in the bark.