The Scarlet Pimpernel growing on the sides of the trail at Fort Hill are absolutely stunning this year! (Click on blog link for other photo.)
I have seen a few of them over the years at Fort Hill, but only small, little clumps of them with 2-3 flowers. As you can see in the 2nd photograph, this was a pretty big bush of them.
Two interesting facts that I Iearned: 1. “The Scarlet Pimpernel flowers open only when the sun shines, and even close in overcast conditions.” 2. “If consumed, it can be toxic to livestock and humans. Toxicity level ranges from virtually nontoxic to fatally toxic and appears to correlate with summer rainfall levels.”
Have you seen the Scarlet Pimpernel at Fort Hill?
Literary connection 🙂 : In the 1905 novel of the same name, set in 1792 France, the Scarlet Pimpernel is the alias of an Englishman who rescues French aristocrats from the guillotine. His signature is a drawing of a scarlet pimpernel. He evidently has two identities, like the flower that is open in sunlight but closed and hidden otherwise.
Wow! Very interesting!
Wow….That is a fascinating connection between this gorgeous scarlet pimpernel and the novel of the same name.
Thank you both, Mel and Linda!