For me it’s an annoyance, but the Agrimonia seed knows how to get around.
It’s like a little conical piece of velcro, that gets stuck on my clothes when I walk in the woods, and embedded in the sheep’s wool when they graze in the back pasture.
It was Karen who identified the flower that it comes from. She sent me an email last year, and when I looked up the name I recognized the pretty little yellow flowers that grow opposite each other on the tall green stem.
But the more I read about Agrimony, the more impressed I was.
It has many medicinal purposes for us humans. Among other things, it has been used to treat diarrhea, inflammation of the lungs and bleeding disorders.
It was also believed to be used by Witches to ward off hexes and curses and keep away evil spirits.
I don’t admire Agrimony just for what it can do for us humans. Not only is it stellar at getting its seeds distributed, but if the bees and flies, who usually pollinate Agrimony don’t, it will pollinate itself.
As I was discovering all this information about this plant, and seeing the seed pod up close in the photo I took, I just kept thinking how “smart’ it is. Not smart in the way a human might be, but in the way a plant is.
I can easily see the beauty in Agrimony, but now I feel like I’ve been invited to see its intelligence too.
Nature’s intelligence is just astounding to me. We too are a part of nature, and yet sometimes it seems we lack the good sense to know our purpose in nature, despite (or because of) having independent thought.
Oh LoisJean, so well said. I do believe the thinking can get in the way.