You Knew That!

 

Tigers have stripes. Leopards have

spots. You knew that. Everyone does.

We can safely assume that the botanist

who named the ditch lily for its propensity

to grow in ditches knew what he was about.

On the other hand these are lilies known

as Tiger Lilies, and beautiful they are.

Large, bright orange and certainly not

striped. But they are dotted. Leopard lily

would appear to make more sense but

Tiger lily they are. A wildflower so very

familiar to those living in rural settings

where they grow spontaneously as all

wildflowers tend to, wherever the soil

and the exposure suits them; around and

about barnyards, open fields and on the

verges of forests. Recalled as a familiar

sight, a beautiful appearance, tall and

regal, sharing an orange pigment with

tigers, true, but no stripes. Cast your mind

back and think: did you as a child ever

harbour the urge to pick them and bring

some happily to your mother? That reminds

me almost sixty years ago my son did just

that and was angrily reprimanded by a

woman whose cottage was close by. A

nearby field full of these wonderful orange

flags and she chose to natter at a small

child that his naughty behaviour was ever

so offensive. Oh, the things we recall on

viewing the friendly face of  the familiar.