Monday, August 18, 2008

The purple mystery flower

I've been wanting to know the name of this flower for a while now. Internet searches along the lines of "purple wildflower Europe" didn't get me anywhere. I can't even put them into a wide family group. Also, I just can't get a good enough photo with our camera. These flowers are a beautiful purple that lasts really well when we press them. They're something like airy, graceful violets with a tail or hat or trumpet added to them. We see them all around, and they've been blooming for quite a while already. The main place that I notice them is along paths; shade or sun doesn't seem to matter too much.

Yesterday I finally sat down to draw them. This is a full-sized sheet of paper, and I only had crayons to work with. The shape is very complex and hard to capture. The final result is rough, but hopefully someone will be able to recognize these beautiful flowers and solve our mystery. Maybe clicking on the photo of Raia holding them and looking at the larger version will help, too.

(By the way, that's an interesting art/nature assignment: sketch a little wildflower to fill up a whole sheet of paper. Use whatever you have around to do it, and you only get a few minutes out of your busy day to work. Anyone else want to show me what they come up with?)



Update, August 29: It's a Forking Larkspur, Consolida regalis! Now can you see the shape I was trying to describe and draw? There's a little more at the Russian Wikipedia article. The botanical drawing there is great.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Minus the trumpet/cap I might have suggested something similar to blue-eyed grass. A quick glance through our wildflower book reveals nothing; flowers that look most similar do not seem to have the delicate surrounding structure I see in the photo with Raia. Someone else will have to solve the mystery.

Your artwork is gorgeous! Always you amaze and delight me.

Happy, happy birthday!
Much love....

Anonymous said...

Such a pretty little mystery flower! and so sorry for your heat wave--we'll pray for relief and endurance! We had 31 days last summer over 100 F and virtually no rain, so this summer with more moderate temps and good rain has been wonderful. Of course, we have A/C when we're inside. I remember when we were first married living upstairs in our house w/ no A/C and 100 degrees--it was not fun, so we sympathize! Come on Fall, we're ready for you!

much love, D/B/G

Allie said...

Your drawing was beautiful! I have no idea what the flower is, but I like looking at them nonetheless. :)

Allie said...

p.s. I love how little ones hold things in a fist, with the thumb tucked inside the palm and fingers. Cute!

Debbie said...

Wow, I didn't realize you were such a great artist. You did a great job with so little to work with. I can't imagine how nice it would have been if you had more to work with.

Hindsfeet said...

Hi Phyllis, my MIL says it's Larkspur. Delphinium consolida in the Ranunculaceae family. It's slightly poisonous and used to get into grains a lot, but through the use of herbicides it's not as common in western Europe any more. I hope that helps! :)

JennyBeth said...

Is this the flower?

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Campanula+patula&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

God Bless.

Phyllis said...

No, that's not it. Funny, someone had already suggested that, so I'd been through all kinds of photos from that family. The color is right, but they all have a really regular, symmetrical flower shape. I can't find anything with this shape. Thank you for trying to solve the mystery!

Phyllis said...

Hind's Feet!!! I missed your comment, because I was out of town when you wrote. That's it! Your MIL deserves a prize! Please tell her THANK YOU. I'm so happy to have my mystery solved!

Anonymous said...

I was rather hoping it would be something like common Russian purple flower. Alas.