I'm getting ready to go off on book tour. But there's still time to enjoy the Indian paintbrush, one of the prettiest little flowers around. Most people like looking at big fields of them, appreciating the sweep of color. I'd rather get down on my knees and look at them up close, where I can see that the scarlet "flowers" are really bright-colored leaves surrounding the tin red and yellow flowers. The paintbrush is partially parasitic, since it must establish itself on the roots of grasses in order to grow--and like any good parasite, it has its favorite grasses. (It seems to love the curly mesquite grass in our front yard.) Native Americans made a tea of the bracts to treat rheumatism and used it as a contraceptive. In some tribes, the leaves and bracts were mixed with bear grease to promote hair growth. And of course, the hummingbirds adore them. There's nothing prettier than a ruby-throat dipping his long bill into the scarlet cup of a paintbrush.
Reading Note. "If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change."--attributed to the Buddha