Tag: Flower

YELLOWSTONE COUNTRY “FAIRY SLIPPER”

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“FAIRY SLIPPER” THE CALYPSO ORCHID | YELLOWSTONE COUNTRY
Yellowstone Caldera

At a whopping 15cm tall these pretty little mountain orchids can be tough to find. I’ve stumbled on them randomly only a few times during my travels. Each instance I can’t help but to feel very fortunate for the opportunity. These tiny orchids have stunning details and a mind-boggling array of vibrant colors, if you take the time to look. There are lots of fun facts surround these delicate Orchids. A few of the highlights are nature’s natural medicinal use. The Thompson Indians of British Columbia used the Orchid as a treatment for mild epilepsy. The bulb would be chewed, or the flowers sucked upon to help reduce seizures. The tiny bulbs are also used as a food source.

A few weeks left to stumble on these cool little flowers around here, who knows, maybe I’ll be lucky enough to find another.

Location: Yellowstone Caldera, Idaho

Fairy Slipper_Calypso Orchid_Bryan Gregson_Idaho

 

ELEPHANT HEADS IN MONTANA

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ELEPHANT HEAD PLANT | MONTANA BACKCOUNTRY
Rocky Mountain Flowers

I’ve seen these colorful pink and magenta plants my entire life, but I kinda like this image in black-n-white. For no other reason than I needed to kill 5 minutes between downloading hard drives, I decided to study up a bit about this peculiar plant. I proceeded to “Google it”. Besides the usual techy data stuff, where they are found, what type of temps, how much water, and a lot of scientific wording I can’t actually pronounce or remember, I found out some really fascinating information.

Natures Medicine:
It is widely known that the Cheyenne made it into a tea to break up a cough. It’s also a mild tranquilizer, muscle relaxant, aphrodisiac, and sedative. It’s used for muscle, back and joint pain, along with sprains, nighttime cramps and insomnia. You can also apply it to fevers, use it as a general sedative, against anxiety, and some herbalists give it to hyperactive children.

Magic:
Remarkably, upon further research I discovered the Elephant Head is also used magically for preparing for astral travel or clairvoyant states. So if any of you are planning on attempting astral travel anytime soon or maybe you need to practice up on using your third-eye, it sounds promising, might want to give it a try.

To this today I can’t walk past them without stopping for a moment to appreciate these animal designed flowers. When I’m viewing them through my macro lens I also tend to wonder, with a smile, what the hell nature was thinking… how bizarre, how grand.

Elephant Head Plant_Bryan Gregson