Podophyllum peltatum (mayapple)
 
Every spring, before you've had a chance to do much of anything in the garden, the mayapples have already taken over. They form dense colonies in open deciduous woodlands, pushing up in waves of folded green that unfurl into something that looks genuinely prehistoric — palmately lobed, umbrella-like leaves up to 15 inches across, each one carried on a single stem like a tiny canopy.
 
Here's the part people don't know until they crouch down and look: a single nodding, waxy white flower hides under the leaves — showy, but almost entirely concealed beneath the leaves. Only the two-leafed stems flower. The one-leafed ones are just there for the foliage, which is honestly enough. Mayapple has been classified as obligately mycorrhizal, meaning it depends on a symbiotic relationship with soil fungi — a good reminder that what's happening underground is as interesting as what's happening above it.
 
Plant two feet apart in shade to partial sun, and it will creep to form a solid ground cover within a couple of seasons. It goes dormant in summer, which some people find frustrating and other people find refreshing. Either way, it will be back next April, right on schedule.
 
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photo by Fritzflohrreynolds