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?