Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Scarlet Pimpernel
Up until the time I came across this plant, I had concentrated on photographing the surprising beauty I found in common flowers with which I was familiar—at least at a distance—such as Red Clover and Queen Anne's Lace.
This was the first lily that I came across that was completely new to me, probably because I just hadn't got down on my knees to see its beauty!
This is simply because, standing upright, the average, unaided eye can't easily resolve anything as tiny as these exquisite bright-red blossoms: one must draw closer to see more than a reddish smudge at one's feet.
And this is why I spend a good bit of time on my lily rambles crawling around with my nose to the ground.
Fortunately, most often I am alone as I consider the lilies of the fields. So far, no one has called the police to report an inebriated old man crawling around, so drunk he can't stand up!
Late in the summer of 2004, as I continued to look for more wonders from my back yard, I came across this jewel one morning.
(To see the scale of this miniature blossom: The green stalks in the lower foreground—and in the image above—are blades of fescue grass, about one- to two-inches tall!)
Note cards featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel wildflower are available in the new Gallery Shop.
Click HERE to visit.
I was struck by its subtle beauty then, and it has remained one of my favorite wildflowers ever since. When I opened the Gallery, I chose an image of one of its blossoms for the first page.
A member of the Primrose (Primulaceae) family, this hardly immigrant makes itself at home in what seems to be very inhospitable soil, such as unmaintained lawns—like mine—and edges of gravel driveways.
It is interesting, too, in that it is in bloom only from mid-morning to mid-afternoon on a sunny day. (Other ephemeral bloomers in the Gallery are Chicory, Blue-eyed Grass, Asiatic Dayflower, Virginia Spiderwort, and my favorite by name, Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon .)
Beyond the shortness of the daily bloom, all Anagallis—other members of the family sport blue or white flowers—are also very sensitive to the intensity of the sunlight: a change from bright sun to an overcast sky will cause them to very quickly close their blossoms.
This particular characteristic has caused the Pimpernel to be called "Shepherd's Barometer" and "Poor Man's Weatherglass" in the UK.
Here is an image I caught of a 1/4 inch-long female Sweat Bee (Halictus rubicundus) visiting a blossom.
On this particular day larger flowers, such as roses, had several much larger honeybees collecting nectar from a single blossom at the same time.
But there is room for only one of even this tiny bee on this miniature Anagallis arvensis blossom.
Once again, let us say, as Issac Watts tells us in his beautiful hymn:
Lord,
how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.
There’s
not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there.
Amen!
Any thoughts, pro or con? Why not drop me an anonymous note at the Comments page?
OR
Go back to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.