“Prairie Smoke, the Bloom Plume”

Just maybe, this was the original inspiration for Dr. Seuss’s ‘truffula tree.’ Its nom de plume has also been “Old Man’s Whiskers,” “Old Man’s Beard,” and “Three Flowered Avens.” This native perennial blooms in April along with Pasque flower to June in dry fields and prairie. It has three flowers per stalk on hairy stems with a pair of lobed leafy bracts at the base of the cluster and flower stalk.

Each flower is 3/4 to 1 inch long, red to reddish pink, purple, or brown, and nods down/remains bud-like until pollinated. Bumblebees are the only pollinators strong enough to open the bud and pollinate this flower, and once pollinated, it opens its feathery plume of ‘smoke.’ Grows to a height of 6 to 16 inches.

Original mixed media on raw stretched canvas with maple float frame.