Spring leaves

The forest floor is covered w/ leaves - the tree leaves of last year that are breaking down and the new plant leaves that will soon put out blooms. The main spotted leaf in this picture is one of my favorites - Virginia Waterleaf. When it first emerges in the spring, each leaf is uniquely spotted. As the plant grows, the spots will disappear. The other spotted leaf to the right is a yellow trout-lily. My grandmother referred to them as "deer tongue" because she said that is what they resembled. Having never actually seen a deer's tongue, I took her word for it. In the upper left is a smooth bright green ramp leaf. Only when all of the ramp leaves die back does the plant will put out spikes of white flowers. The lobed leaves are anemone and the single spike in the lower left is a spring beauty. I must be getting better at identification stuff if I can recognize plants by just seeing their leaves. Now if I could only remember people's names....