Day 165: Believe it or not, the majority of people I meet on the trail cannot tell these two plants apart. It should be a no-brainer. One has four petals, the other five. One has shamrock-shaped leaves, the other a small compound leaf with three parts. Yes, they both are whitish (in some cases verging on pink or lavender), the petals of both exhibit darker purple lines, and they emerge at roughly the same time in the spring and enjoy the same types of habitat. The three ladies I met on the South Swofford Trail a few days ago asked me,"What are the little pink flowers?" When I replied, "Which ones?" they could only say, "The ones we've seen growing beside the trail today." Since we were standing in an area where Cardamine substantially outnumbered specimens of Oxalis, it took a little backtracking before I could point out the differences. While some people have a natural gift for observation, it can be learned by almost anyone and honed like any other skill. It just takes practice. Counting petals is a good place to start.
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