Queen of the Prairie

Queen of the Prairie at Nachusa Grasslands in northern Illinois [1]

Family Rosaceae – Rose Family 
Filipendula rubra

Some might argue this is our most beautiful wildflower. I am one of them.

Quite by accident one sunny summer day at The Nature Conservancy’s Nachusa Grasslands in Franklin Grove, Illinois, I happened upon this lovely patch of the pinkest flowers I’d ever seen. I was stunned. What is this wondrous beast with the feathered headdress throwing purple sprays of fireworks into the sky? And so many of them! The effect of all that color in one place is a spectacle to behold – I rate it right up there with the best the natural world has to offer, and I’m reminded of  Jesus’ words concerning the lilies of the field, “..even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

References

1. Queen of the Prairie photos taken at Nachusa Grasslands 07-04-2014 by Bruce Marlin
2. Floyd Swink & Gerould Wilhelm, Plants of the Chicago Region, ‘Filipendula rubra’
3. Wikipedia, Filipendula rubra

Family Rosaceae – Rose Family; Fruit Trees
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