Chapter 13 - Wonders of Nature
Wildflowers
Butterfly Weed Lives Up to Its
Name
While hiking across a field near my home, I discovered a cluster of
radiant orange wildflowers. I had never seen this flower before, so I brought
home a sprig for my wife and to compare it to the photographs in a wildflower
identification book. Gert loved the flowers and put them in a small vase
where I photographed them . . . out of the wind and direct sunlight. .
I learned from The Audubon Society Field Guide
to North American Wildflowers that these flowers are in the Milkweed
family and are called Butterfly Weed because butterflies like them, and
Pleurisy Root because Indians used to chew the root to cure pulmonary
illness.
Although the "staged" photo was impressive, I wanted
to photograph this beautiful flower in its natural setting. Two days later
I returned to my secret cluster and discovered the flower was aptly named.
There were orange / brown butterflies on the flowers and they allowed
me to get close enough for a photograph. It wasn't until I studied the
photograph that I discovered a lavender colored butterfly.
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