That's Just Dandy

Whenever I post pictures of Dandelions I ask myself the question "are these weeds of wildflowers?"  

Looking at these beautiful images the answer is clear, to me at least.

Sunburst

Canon 100mm f/ 1: 2.8   ISO 100   f/5.0   1/200 sec

This beautiful flower is a Lesser Celandine and it is like a little burst of sunshine in the shady woodland. It is such a fantastic shade of yellow but where it catches the sunlight it appears white.  It really is a wonderful plant and if you look closely you can see a darker corona emanating from the central stem outwards along the petals providing a strong background to the jewel like pollen bearing centre.

Dewdrops

Walking along a path alongside a meadow the grass, shrubs and flowers were all laden down with raindrops from an earlier downpour. The petals of this yellow flower were particularly heavy with droplets giving the petals the appearance and texture of tissue paper.

I was glad that the rain had stopped because it meant I was able to get some great pictures.

Cows and Skunks

So when you saw the title of today's post were you expecting mammals? 

Well the first shot is of some emerging Cowslips one of my favourite wildflowers. They used to be extremely rare and I remember the first time I saw them growing on the bank of a dyke in Lincolnshire back in 1979. It was lovely to see these growing in the meadow at Ness Gardens.

The next flower is a Marsh Marigold, so no animal reference there but what a lovely flower it is and a great close up of the centre. As the name suggests these flowers grow in wet boggy ground and I got wet feet in order to get this close.

The final shots are of North American Skunk Cabbage, these are really interesting looking plants which also prefer a wet and boggy setting on the fringes of ponds and streams. Apparently these plants were used extensively as a medicinal plant, seasoning or magical talisman by some tribes of Native Americans. It is not edible raw as the roots are toxic and the leaves can burn the mouth but the leaves can be dried and used in soups and stews. However the name Skunk Cabbage gives a strong clue to the fact that these plants smell absolutely disgusting so even if they add flavour to soups and stews you would need a strong stomach to get over the smell. Best just to admire them from a safe distance.