Joann Merritt's Essays

Consider The Lilies Of The Field
June, 1984

The preacher is reading Matthew 6:26, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.” Now this is a verse I don’t have to be admonished about! The May 1984 rains were followed by June’s wildflower display of beauty and color. Come with Lorene Woodruff and me early one morning as we drive south on Midkiff Road.

The pastures glow with Goldenwaves, Slender Greenthread fills the ditches, Star Thistle takes over the bog area, both white and yellow Evening Primroses are showing their faces and Yes! The Bush Morning Glory still wears its Lady’s nightcap blooms. Rounded bushes of Pink Penstemon are covered with deep-throated blooms while “scatter rugs” of Prairie Zinnia dot the landscape. Wildflower books state that Lazy and Sleepy Daisies open at noon, but nobody informed them of Daylight Saving Time so we’ll have to wait a while for them to show their faces. It is well worth the wait, for on the east side of the road white Lazy Daisies are like drifts of snow and on the west side yellow Sleepy Daisies carpet the pastures. We observe red Indian Blanket, purple Tansy Aster, white Bird’s Nest Carrot, orange Copper Mallow, blue Dayflower, orchid Flowering Straw, yellow Rain Lily, Brown-flowered Psoralea and pink Sensitive Briar as we walk along the roadside. Down a side road Climbing Snapdragon was living up to its name as it climbed and covered the mesquite bushes. “Amen” to Matthew 6:29, Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

In The Pits Don and I observed a lovely pitscape. There was a veritable meadow of Pinks, and growing among some caliche rocks we found delicate looking plants which were about two feet tall with fernlike leaves and clusters of small white flowers at the top of the stems. We thought we had found a new flower for Midland but Burr makes that difficult to accomplish with his complete records for the county. He identified this one as Chaerophyllum tainturieri, or Chervil if you prefer the common name as I do, especially when pronouncing it! I read that tainturieri is from a French word meaning delightful leaf and that description fits.

As a friend and I drove on Salt Lake Road we identified 55 species of wildflowers, a few of which are Frog Fruit, purple Ground Cherry, Englemann’s Daisy, Jimmyweed, Bluets, Milkwort and Dodder. Dodder is a parasitic plant that looks like tangles of rusty threads and has tiny white flowers. It comes up from a seed, then attaches itself to a host plant whereupon its own root system dies. It is also known by the name of Strangle Weed or Love Vine, depending upon the mood one is in, I suppose.

Lady Bird Johnson expressed it best when she said “Wildflowers have enriched my life, fed my soul and given beautiful memories to sustain me.” These are some of my beautiful memories but I need more sustenance than this, my soul is still hungry!