Yesterday at around 5pm, I decided to visit my sit spot. It was raining, so, I put on my slicker and headed to my sit rock. As I was making my way to my sit spot I saw something stunning! There were, glistened with raindrops, several stands of a new pink wildflower I have never seen before! I couldn't very well get photos of them in the rain, as I didn't want to expose my camera to so much moisture. It was raining quite hard. I had guessed correctly that they were a type of columbine and sure enough after googling "columbine", I found Alice's Pink Columbine! Wow! Alice is my deceased grandmother's name on my father's side! My father just passed last week, and now there is a flower here to remind me of my father's dear sweet mother, whom he has recently joined! I'm thrilled and delighted to get to know this lovely wildflower. Light Pink Alice's Columbine, a reminder of my grandmother Alice Johnson! The underside of Alice's Pink Columbine. Notice the famous 5-pointed star pattern found repeatedly throughout nature. Alice's Pink Columbine is actually called European Columbine, with Alice's being the pink variety. I found out that columbine is a dicot in the ranunculales order, same as buttercups! Here is direct information from my giant two volume set, Wildflowers of the United States, Volume One: The Northeastern States: "The name columbine come from the Latin columb, dove; the five spurred petals were apparently thought to resemble as many doves, clustered perhaps around a fountain. The Latin name is likewise of doubtful origin; it is sometimes derived from aquila, "eagle"; but why?"
I'm fascinated by this volume's eloquent writing! Isn't it just cunning? There's more too. "The columbines are familiar and beautiful garden flowers of many colors. Their distinctive feature is the hanging or horizontal flower whose five petals have long tubes - "spurs" - extending upwards or backwards. The sepals are brightly colored, like the petals or of a contrasting color. There are many stamens and five pistils. The ovaries become pods (follicles) which open along their inner sides. The leaves are much divided into small, stalked segments which are usually roundish and notched."
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AuthorI'm Natureglo, founder of Natureglo's eScience! I'm an avid nature lover, photographer, hiker, full time camper and an online teacher. Categories
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