Even Wildflower Hikes Are Not What They Seem!

Things are not what they seem.

Each time at this switchback, wet from springs, I look for them. Slender stems supporting a cluster of six-petaled creamy white stars.

The soil will dry later and support only the low-growing juniper.

Today it’s lush, a skillfully arranged Japanese garden with prostrate juniper, one or two purposefully positioned boulders, and striking white blossoms.

The white clusters caught my eye a few years ago, and I didn’t know what they were. Six-petals and exquisite markings usually point to the Lily family. Petals of the stars are outlined in a fine green line with green dots in a circle around a center greenish-yellow, heart-shaped decoration. The blossoms, keep in mind, are tiny, less than an inch across, and yet their design is intricate.

The sun was shining at my back and I could have taken a picture but didn’t have the camera. That means another hike in the morning.

I’ve seen them other times in the Rubies. The small white clumps make them conspicuous. Beautiful and delicate, but they are not what they seem.

They’re Death Camas. They’re poisonous.

All parts are poisonous. My guidebook says very poisonous, especially the bulb.

I hike and habitually sample berries along the trail: Servis berries, my favorite, Chokecherries, aptly named for their smoky “choking” taste, Currants, Rose hips, with their vitamin C, and prickly Gooseberries. I’m careful to sample only those I know well.

Things on the trail and events in my life are not what they seem at first. Traumatic incidents are not what they appear when first you’re rudely slapped ‘longside the head. Often, like death camas, real growth and deep learning is hidden in what seems disastrous.

Death Camas is not what it seems at first glance. Below its obvious beauty lies the sinister.

If all opposites, good and evil, white and black, hot and cold, are no more than gradations on a sliding scale, then are both extremes essential for balance in our universe?

Is Death Camas beautiful because is blended with beauty?