If you look along the edges of wooded trails, where the land rises up slightly from the level of the path itself, you may notice low mats of rough, sand-papery, hairy, evergreen leaves. Although younger leaves are a brighter green, they become rust-spotted with age, eventually browning and dying on the stem, leaving patches of rather worn looking vegetation by early spring. This low, creeping shrub is trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens), also known as mayflower. One of Cape Cod’s earliest blooming wildflowers, it has small trumpet-shaped white or pink five-petaled blossoms on terminal or auxiliary flower clusters on hairy stems. The name “mayflower” is said to date back to the Pilgrims, who took these early flowers as assurance that their first terrible winter was over. Centuries later, people in this area are still enamored with this plant. In fact, in 1918 it was designated the state flower of Massachusetts. 

Once pollinated, the flowers will develop into small fleshy, 5-chambered, many-seeded capsule-like fruits that split open at maturity. The seeds are then dispersed by ants that bring them back to their nests with the goal of feeding upon the soft tissue surrounding the seed itself. 

In researching additional information about trailing arbutus, I found one description not only entertaining, but quite true: the Virginia Native Plant Society referred to the mayflower as a “belly plant”, meaning you must essentially lie on your stomach to truly see the flower clearly or smell its fragrance. Truth be told, I was pretty close to lying on my stomach while photographing these plants on Sunday.