05.10.2021 Macro Monday Marsh Marigold

Nothing challenging about that alliteration.

As the name implies, these grow in some wet conditions and, in this case, swampy.  Several times my boots got sucked deep into the muck, fortunately they are “Muck Boots”, and I almost had to pull my feet out of them to get free. Once a particularly resistant hold ended up with my knees in the muck and I had to ride home mucky, not lucky…and a bit stinky.

Marsh Marigolds-Caltha palustris are members of the Buttercup family which they more resemble than Marigolds and causes one to wonder why not Marsh Buttercups…which of course would have killed the four-part harmony of the alliterative title.

I’ve never picked on so have no idea how good they are at predicting whether one likes butter or not but they do have a buttery glow.

Many of us as a child had a buttercup held under our chin to tell whether we like butter…who doesn’t? And they do reflect their yellowy glow. But as with everything in nature, there is more to what a particular organism does than meets a child’s eye…or an adult’s. This article explains why the reflection and how the plant potentially uses this quality to attract pollinators.  I suppose I owe it to science to pluck one and try it out.

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