For the past two weeks we have passed the most amazing wildflower I’ve seen on the island so far. My dichotomous keys convince me it is a globe-thistle, but sometimes I land on the Southern Globe-Thistle and sometimes it is the Blue Globe-Thistle and sometimes it is yet another. I am not so great at keying out flowers… but I also think some books make it unnecessarily obtuse. I am looking at you, Wildflowers of New England!
But the globe-thistle… It seems otherworldly, doesn’t it? A cross between a flower from Krypton and Whoville. Look at those spiky petals!
The flower grows in bunches, and the sturdy stalks are three feet and up. You can see in this photo a couple of leaves in the fuzzy background. They are deeply lobed with pointy-sharp ends. Some of the larger flowers near the top of the bunch are yellowing, and I am not sure if the flower is beginning to fade, or if it is pollen. If you have lavender, you have seen a similar phenomenon.
I have only seen this flower in one place on the island — in a thin patch of salt meadow between Green Head Road and Allen Cove. So many of our purple flowering plants are spring bloomers (lupin, lilacs, purple violets, Siberian squill and in my wife’s garden, muscari - aka grape hyacinths) that it is almost a shock to see these poke up among the tiger lilies and brown-eyed susans.
Almanac
Today’s Forecast: Sunny conditions will continue for the rest of the day. Wind gusts are up to 10 mph.
| Weather | ||
|---|---|---|
| Low Temperature: 62 | High Temperature: 78 | Precipitation (in): 0 |
| Wind Direction: SSW | Max Wind (mph): 10 | |
| Sunrise: 5:36 | Sunset: &:43 | |
| Lunar Phase: Waning Gibbous | Days to Next Full: 26 |
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