It's our earliest wildflower, the one with the unlovely common  names, Slink Pod and Fetid Adder's Tongue, Scoliopus bigelovii.  I recently found one blooming in our forest. You can see its leaves are just peeking up at the base of the stem.

This is what we look like trying to find one of these tiny wildflowers. This photo was taken by C'Anna Bergman-Hill a few years ago, the very same place I found them last week.

Craig Tooley took this close-up photo, which is in our book, Mendonoma Sightings Throughout the Year. Yes, it's a MUCH better photo than mine! The leaves of this member of the Lily family are distinctively mottled. If you find the leaves, which can grow to 12 inches long, you know where to look for the earlier-blooming flower next winter.

Thanks to C'Anna and Craig for allowing me to share their photos with you here.