“Purple Pillar”
“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.”
― Anaïs Nin
An unknown butterfly on an unknown flower. It really bothers me not to be able to identify the subject matter of my photos, but I can’t figure out what either is. The purple flowers grow in a small cluster in a single location. I’m wondering if it’s an escapee from somebody’s garden. Standing over a meter tall this plant has six leaves coming from a central node and beautiful stalks of purple flowers. It may be Culver’s Root, but it seems out of place.
The butterfly may be a skipper, but I don’t recognise it from below.
It was, however, a brief opportunity to get a photo of the butterfly feeding on the flower, quickly composed and shot before the butterfly took off and the moment was gone, leaving me with a mystery to solve.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/80 sec, f/16.0 ISO 200
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Is it a Speckled Wood or a Yehl Skipper butterfly?
I’ll have to look them up.
I agree it’s a skipper, but that’s where my flutter-by knowledge ends.
The plant (darn it all) stumped me also!
The 5 leaf thing has me confused. This really looks like a veronica longifolia – speedwell to me. But the leaves don’t match that.
Don’t know if you’re any app lover, however I use a few awesome apps when I’m stumped. All you need is color, month blooming and boom, pix to view. If you know more, you can narrow results.. however, beginners should search wide 😉
Turns out to be Culver’s Root, and it’s native. I live at the northern limit of it’s range. It’s beautiful, so I may need to move a small clump to my gardens.
I really liked this photo. You are quick and professional, while trying to clear up the mystery. 😊
If you look through the comments, the butterfly is a skipper of some sort and the flower is Culver’s Root.