I generally park off-campus on the side kitty-corner to where I need to be, instead of going with the nearest parking. The 3/4 mile walk on and off of campus ensures that I get at least 15 minutes of moderate exercise per day (I know, pitiful!)
It’s a walk I almost always enjoy. Sure, my ever-laden bags start to get heavy after a while–but the distance there is great for reciting my memory verses in quiet rhythm with the staccato of my feet on pavement. And the walk back is perfect for offering the day’s burdens to the Lord in prayer.
I vary my route every so often, and once I found myself walking besides the most unusual flowers.
Huge clusters of pink flowers soaring high above the mulch, with nary a leaf in sight!
The first time I saw them, entirely by accident, I merely stopped in shock and then resumed my walk.
On my return trip I took the same route and snapped a picture.
How can they live like that? I thought. Flowers without leaves?
How do they gain their nourishment? They have no leaves to gather energy from the sun.
The next day, I had my answer. They don’t live long.
Today they are merely dead heads on swaying stalks–
A flower without leaves
can’t last long
Aren’t they interesting flowers?! I remember my first time noticing them; I had to convince myself they were real because they looked so odd. I heard that the name of that flower is Naked Ladies, and I just tried to do a Google search because your post intrigued me and I wanted to find out some more info about these flowers…but I couldn’t, because we have our Internet controls set to block the word “naked.” :)
They are Naked Ladies, as Davene said. Also called Belladonna Lilies or Amaryllis Belladonna. Their leaves appear in the spring and then die back. The flowers appear later.
Pretty, aren’t they!
Thanks for the information, Nancy. I wondered if they didn’t have leaves that die out before flowering.
They are pretty!
(And Davene, I’m cracking up at the idea of Googling “Naked Lady”. I’d imagine you’d get a bit more than you bargained for!)