Yellow Mandarin or Fairy Bells,
Prosartes lanuginosa (formerly Disporum lanuginosum)
Liliaceae or Lily Family
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Herb with greenish or yellowish flowers, growing singly or in small clusters at the ends of the branches. The flowers have six long-pointed tepals (a petal or sepal on a plant where they can't be told apart). Leaves are long ovals with long points and prominent veins. Fruit a red berry, maturing in early fall as the leaves die back for the winter.
Common early spring flower in the woods, especially on the western slope of the Park.
The flowers are distinctive and are the best clue to identification. Large-flowered bellwort, which grows and blooms alongside fairy bells, has similar leaves, but does not branch and has yellow flowers.
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