Here's a couple of flowers that are really easy to overlook...as a matter they are very hard to spot because they're so small! But one of them is small but mighty!
The first is so small that I wasn't able to get a close enough look at it to identify its subspecies. But I can say that it is of the Lappula family. It might be Lappula Redowski, or Houndstongue. It's considered a weed.
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| Lappula |
These flowers are so small that they look like the barest spot of color when you see them. My camera has auto-focus, and I had a hard time getting the camera to recognize that there was something there to focus on! I couldn't find any uses or warnings about this plant...I just think it's amazing that the smallest little detail of nature still has such beauty associated with it! This is very comforting.
The next plant is also very small. As a matter of fact it's so small that I couldn't get a good picture with my camera. Here's what I caught of this Pineapple Weed:
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| Pineapple Weed (out-of-focus blossoms) |
...and here's a much clearer shot of the blossoms:
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| Pineapple Weed |
For something so small, this plant has an incredible range of uses. According to the
RAEMS Alberta website, Pineapple Weed may be eaten as a tasty snack or added to a salad, and makes a calming tea when steeped in hot water. The crushed leaves, stems, and flowerheads can be applied to the skin as an insect repellent or to relieve itching and sores. A wash made of pineapple weed will remove greases from the hair and act as a general shampoo and natural hair tonic. It is also thought to be a treatment for diarrhea, stomachache, flatulence, colds and menstrual cramps. This makes me wonder -- how do people find this stuff out? Is there a test lab somewhere that tries every kind of plant on every part of the body?
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