This photograph from Wikipedia Commons shows the real Indian paintbrush.
Big error in the post last Wednesday about the wildflower called Indian paintbrush. Everything I wrote about it is accurate (as far as I know), but the photograph accompanying the post is of orange hawkweed, not Indian paintbrush.
I discovered my mistake by perusing the guidebook mentioned in Saturday's post and wondering why the illustration it carried of Indian paintbrush looked nothing like that of the flower I had photographed. A few pages later the orange hawkweed -- not even distantly related to Indian paintbrush, although it's often called "devil's paintbrush" -- cropped up, and it's a ringer for the photograph I took.
Pretty as it is, orange hawkweed, an immigrant from Europe, is considered a noxious alien in backyard gardens. It's not palatable, but it isn't poisonous, either. So much for being a potential murder weapon.
Sigh.
Don't be too hard on yourself. Everyone up there calls that hawkweed an Indian paintbrush. And maybe you can substitute lily of the valley for it as a murder weapon. BTW, you sure about that strawberry blossom?
ReplyDeleteAbout that strawberry blossom, I'm starting to get a little worried, but absent an authoritative correction, I'll stick with it.
ReplyDelete