Make Time for Flowers
Ever since I moved to the eastern slopes of Mount Tamalpais a few years ago, spring for me has been marked with the arrival of two wildflowers: Douglas iris and warrior’s plume. These two plants are among the first to bloom along the trails near my home, offering up bright patches of purple and red and signaling the other buds soon to follow. This year, I first spotted them a few weeks ago. But until I sat down to write this note, I hadn’t known the name of warrior’s plume. Every time I saw it, I appreciated its sturdy stem and maroon petals. But my inability to identify it nagged at me — though not quite enough for me to actually look it up. I had this same frustrated feeling last weekend during a walk near the Pacific coast where wildflowers are now in full bloom. I could identify the bright blue lupines, the orange California poppies, and magenta wild peas. I noted, with some sense of satisfaction, that I could recognize and name the small white wild strawberry flowers, the purple wild lavender, and the pale pink of morning glories. For others I couldn’t identify, I felt a bit annoyed with myself for not knowing what they were. This got me thinking about the value of names. The most obvious is ease of communication. I can try my best to describe a monkeyflower, a bright yellow bloom I spotted on my latest walk, but detailing the curve of a petal or the shape of a leaf is difficult. Without a name, it is also hard to learn more about a species — such as the fact that purple western morning glories are endemic to California, or that the eye-popping orange and yellow harlequin flowers were introduced from South Africa. And it would make it near-impossible for scientists to track species over place and time, or implement plans to protect them. Names, I think, can also offer a point of connection, another way to appreciate and acknowledge flora that can be so easy to take for granted. I’m not saying that we need to ID everything all the time. I’m not about to bring my phone along on every walk to identify each unknown plant I encounter. That would distract from my experience, from the rejuvenation these hikes offer me, particularly during these challenging times. But my intention moving forward is to start building more mental images, so that when I return to my computer and the vast amount of information at my fingertips, I can put a name to and learn about at least a few more of the plants I share this mountain with.
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