When someone points to either of these common roadside plants and says, "It's just a weed," I get as perturbed as I do when a person says, "Evolution is just a theory." That word "just" is meant to be dismissive and to render the subject unimportant or even evil. Click on each of these photos for a close-up look. I defy you not to see them as beautiful. The top photo is a common roadside member of the mint family called Henbit Dead Nettle. The shape of the flower as well as the square cross-section of the stem are clues that it's a mint. I'm seeing them at the side of the road leading into Feather River College as well as at the edges of most of the roads around American Valley and on Highway 89 all the way to Greenville.
The second photo is of Filaree of which there are several native and non-native species in California. It is sometimes called Storkbill. It's always one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring. I hope I have time tomorrow to report on further details of yesterday's and today's photography excursions. Today's findings include Elegant Rock Cress by the Greenville Y, Dusky Horkelia on the Old Keddie Highway leading to the Keddie Cascades trailhead, and Milkmaids on the property of a new friend just east of Greenville. The weekend was too short!!!
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