“Alien yet familiar, careful observation shows us things we had not expected.” – Ed Lehming

Blue Cohosh is one of the first wildflowers that made me begin to better understand the natural environment around me. When I started spending more deliberate time in the forest, starting to see it as a participant rather than a casual observer, I could not help but notice this purple-blue plants that emerge with the rest of the spring flowers but standout because their colour is so different.

Among the bright greens of the surrounding plants, these appear very out of place. As a botany newbie, I had no idea what they were, so I set out to find out what I was seeing. This simple act started me on a path to learning much more about my environment than I had thought possible. My standard routine now is to constantly seek out and study new finds.

Back to the Blue Cohosh. For the longest time, I did not even think they have flowers, because they are so small; as with many other plants, you need to look closely to see details that are at first not obvious or easily observable to the naked eye. The Blue Cohosh looks almost alien when you get close up. Bear in mind, these blossoms are tiny, less than a centimetre across and they are a deep purple-blue that makes it difficult to observe details. This is the first one of the season and not quite as plump as others I have seen, so I’m hoping to collect a few more images before this year’s bloom is finished.

Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
1/400 sec, f/10.0, ISO 200

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