The Colors of Faoilleach

By Ellen Gawarkiewicz –

We’re in the middle of faoilleach – the Gaelic season comprising the last three weeks of winter and first three weeks of spring. Before you groan over the absence of green, and wish yourself in the lime lighting of a June forest, take time to notice and celebrate other colors that hint to the great awakenings of spring.

Magenta

Beneath their pearly coats, the emerging catkins (spikes of single-sex, drooping, petal-less flowers) of the pussy willow glow magenta. Their presence is a cherished ritual of the seasons, Sigurd Olson writes, “In a world seething with mistrust, suspicion and clashing ideologies, pussy willows may be vital to the welfare of man and his serenity”.

Burgundy

Look for the deep burgundy color in the male catkins of speckled alder as their flowers begin to develop. As the male catkins begin to expand, the color brightens. Eventually the burgundy shifts toward yellow as the pollen develops. Note the smaller scarlet female catkins nubs above (these will transform into the cone-like structures that persist throughout the winter).

Ivory

Ivory hairs gleam in newly opened shadbush buds. They help insulate the flowers from spring cold snaps. Soon clusters of 5-petaled propeller-like white flowers will emerge. The flowering time is an important seasonal clock – marking when shad swim upstream to spawn (hence the name) and the period when colonists who died over the winter were buried, hence another name—serviceberry.

Auburn

Look for the bursting auburn flowers of silver maples lining streets and rivers, especially noticeable against a bluebird sky. This fast-growing and short-lived species carries its male and female flowers separately, although sometimes on the same tree.

Silver

Catkin tips shine silver as they emerge from flower buds of trembling aspen. Male and female catkins are found on separate trees. Despite millions of fluffy seeds produced, strict germinating constraints limit the success of these seeds. Thus aspens rely on root sprouting clones to earn their title of most widely distributed tree in North America.

Crimson

Spring sun vividly reddens Red Osier Dogwood in early spring. The brilliance of color, generated by anthocyanin pigments in the bark, is determined by light intensity. In shaded areas, its stems and branches still grow, yet in greener tones.

If you’re impatient for the mints and emeralds, limes and jades, you can force the color. Simply place a twig in a jar with water near a window and be comforted by the return of green that will reveal itself outside in time.

Ellen Gawarkiewicz is a first-year graduate student in the Field Naturalist Program.