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.
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Wildflower Rainbow
Day 281: While Team Biota does spend a lot of its time on its respective hands and knees (figuratively in the instance of Joe, who is recovering from surgery), we do occasionally step back to take in the wider view. In this case, a scree slope above Cayuse Pass was painted with every colour of the rainbow, from tiny purple Boecheras (Rockcresses) and indigo blue Larkspurs to red and orange Castillejas supplemented with "damn yellow daisies" and a broad palette of green foliage in between. It is summer in the mountains, and these plants have only three months to complete their reproductive cycles before the long cold season settles in. Here, the undiscerning observer sees only beauty, not the intense struggle for survival which compels the display. It's serious business being a plant.
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