Of all the native plants, Corema conradii, the broom crowberry, has one of the earliest spring blooms on the Outer Cape if not the very first. It’s a rare plant, common only along the shores of the Northeast and in the Pines of New Jersey, and at risk because of habitat loss and because its seeds seem to germinate only after a wildfire.
Which isn’t to say they aren’t trying: The male plants in bloom along Marconi Station Road in Wellfleet, pictured here, are covered in pollen; brushing the plant releases a plume of smoke. Wind will carry the pollen to the females, and ants will disperse the seeds when they eat the tiny fruits come summer. Mature plants are pleasingly mounded, about two feet wide, but the needle-like leaves and flowers are minuscule. It would be beautiful as a native heath to complement your bearberry groundcover, if you didn’t have to light your garden on fire to grow it.
