365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Orange Agoseris, Agoseris Aurantiaca
Day 261: Orange Agoseris is not a rarity. In fact, it's hardly even something you'd bother taking a minute out of your hike to photograph. It looks for all the world like an orange dandelion, and when it crops up in a meadow painted with lupines and castillejas, you'd walk past it without a second glance, dismissing it as a weed as opposed to a wildflower. Nevertheless, it's one of my favourites because my initial encounter with it was on a trip through the same area in which I'd taken my first serious hike at age 9. Every time I see it, I am reminded of the event which charted the course of my life, a memory which no other wildflower jogs so strongly. It is for me a "medicine plant," one with which I have a spiritual connection, a figure of significance in my animist theology. I never pass one without acknowledging it, even if it's just to say, "Hi, Agoseris!"
So how do you say, "Hi, Agoseris" correctly? That's a matter of some dispute. The guidelines for classical Latin say that the emphasis should be on the antepenultimate syllable, in this case "a-GOS-er-is," but there are those who would debate the issue. Many botanists will pronounce the name "a-go-SER-is," but again, not all agree. My preference is "a-GOS-er-is," but then, I say "litch-en" instead of "like-en." Who ya gonna trust?
Labels:
Agoseris aurantiaca,
MORA,
Orange Agoseris,
Paradise
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