What spring has in quality, fall has in quantity when it comes to wildflowers. The meadow is wall-to-wall with flowers. Most individual flowers are small, even tiny, but there are so many of them. Every blooming plant has hundreds of blossoms. Here on the edges of the meadow, and into the shade of the forest, the white snakeroot dominates (Ageratina altissima; I learned it as Eupatorium rugosum.) It is very common locally. Its claim to fame is that it likely killed Abraham Lincoln’s mother. The plant is poisonous. If diary cows eat it, the poison enters the milk to sicken those who drink enough of it. It took some time for early immigrants, unfamiliar with this native North American plant, to associate it with the disease; thousands died in the meantime. Image taken with Tokina 11-16mm ultra wide angle lens on a Nikon D90.

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