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"And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day" (Genesis 1:31)
This is an endangered wildflower and should not be picked
or dug up.
(click on the photos or links to enlarge)
(Bloodroot - 06) The leaf of the bloodroot
is wrapped around the flower bud as it emerges from the ground in early spring. The
leaf doesn't fully expand until after the flower has bloomed. Pictured is a newly
opened flower with its petals not fully expanded, as is the flower in the next
photo. Since all of the bloodroot don't open at the same time, we always look for
the leaf to confirm our identification of the flower.
(Bloodroot - 01) The bloodroot is a member of
the poppy family. Its single flower can have from 5 to 9 lobes or petals and can be
as large as 4 cm. (1-1/2") across. The pictured bloodroot flower was only
about 2 cm. across. The short-lived bloom only opens in full sunlight.
(Bloodroot - 02) This fully matured
bloodroot flower has completely filled in the space between its petals, as compared with
the immature flower in the first photo. The bloodroot, an endangered wild flower, in
this particular area were nearly destroyed by workers trying to give the park a more
"manufactured beauty" than the one that God had given it. These were the
first bloodroots we had seen in this area in many years. We cannot improve on God's
work!
(Bloodroot - 03) The bloodroot has a
solitary leaf and is relatively easy to spot in the early spring. Once we find the
flower and locate the bloodroot leaf, we try to look at it once a day until blooming
stops. This one does not appear to have had a flower, or it was picked before it
matured. Most of the bloodroot leaves we have observed have been about 3 inches
across and very close to the ground; however, the literature says that they can grow as
tall as 12 inches.
(Bloodroot - 04) The bloodroot has a single
flower and stock which begins as a bud close to the leaf stem, as pictured in this matured
plant. The root of the bloodroot has a reddish colored juice, which gives the plant its
name, for when it's cut it appears to be bleeding. The Native Americans used the
juice as an insect repellant, for the treatment of fungus infections such as ringworm, and
for the treatment of rheumatism. In early American medicine, the blood root was used
as an expectorant in treating bronchitis and asthma. Let us strive to preserve these
wonders of God's creation for all future generations.
(Bloodroot - 07) One of the first spring wildflowers that we see is the bloodroot. They push their way up through the fallen leaves of last autumn.
(Bloodroot - 08) The white petals of this bloodroot are dark veined. The still curled leaf can be seen in the background.
(Bloodroot - 09) This is the first time that we have been able to take a photo of the bloodroot flower as it opens from the top of the cone shaped wrapping of the leaf.
(Bloodroot - 10) This is a side view of the bloodroot flower after it has fully emerged from the leaf wrapping. The leaf has also unrolled but has not fully opened.
(Bloodroot - 10a) This is a close-up side view of the center of the bloodroot flower with its single pistil and many stamens.
(Bloodroot - 11) Since the leaf of the bloodroot develops slower than the flower, it is easy to mistake which leaves belong to this flower. Note the deeply lobed leaf in the shadows to the right of the left flower. This is the bloodroot leaf; the other leaves belong to another plant.
(Bloodroot - 12) This is a closer look at the bloodroot flower in the previous photo and it's distinctive deeply multi-lobed leaf that is growing among another plant's leaves.
(Bloodroot - 13) We spotted this patch of newly opening bloodroot along the side of the road in the early spring of 2007.
(Bloodroot - 13a)
This is the first time we've been able to photograph a bloodroot with more than
9 petals. Previously we had reported
that the literature stated that bloodroot have between 5 and 9 petals, but as
we can see in this photo, the bottom bloodroot flower has 12 petals. We are amazed at no matter how much scientists think they know,
God always has a way of showing His presence by presenting something new, just
as we are told in Romans 1:20.
(Bloodroot - 14) This is another look at a bloodroot with 12 petals.
(Bloodroot - 14a)
In this bee's eye view of the bloodroot flower, we have a better view of the stamen and pistils.
(Bloodroot - 15) This is another look at the bloodroot.
(Bloodroot - 15a) This is another bee's eye view of the bloodroot stamen and pistils.
| Wild Flowers of SHL: Photo Identification, Common Name, Scientific Name | Art and Photos |
Presented here are just a few of the countless components of God's creation. Just as we cannot have human and animal life without water and plants, neither can we have lasting peace without love and compassion. It is our hope and prayer that this series will motivate people to live and act in a cruelty-free manner; that we would no longer hurt or destroy each other, the animals or our environment.
If you would like to contribute a photo to
these series, please contact;
Frank L. Hoffman flh@all-creatures.org
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The themes of these All Creatures Art and Photo Journals and Galleries Directory cover such subjects as - creation, earth, environment, ecology, plants, flowers, birds, trees, creature, animal, animals, fine arts, watercolor, painting, paintings, pic, pics, pictures, photos, vegetation, restoration, preservation, vegetarian, vegan, cruelty free, love, joy, peace, kindness, compassion, humor, poetry, quotations, lifestyle, Bible, recipes, sermons, stories, human, animal rights, God, Jesus, Christ, Lord, Holy Spirit, Jewish, Christian, Judeo Christian, health, ethical living, meditation, Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)