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a plant

20200502_113149

so….ok.   lets look.    at  this Plant.    I have long liked saying  "plant people",   most often,  "grass people".    I need to change that.    To give them the identity of  "people" to me now is to demean them…..to reduce what they ARE  to something like myself.  Why would i do that?    

i have no idea what this Plant is…OR is called.   Identified as     by human beings.      What the name it might have been assigned by human beings might be.    All i know is that it has grown,  two seasons now at the top edge of the B Garden.   And i recognized it as being different.    And this season around,  because it has continued to grow there,  it is showing me more of itself,  and i am seeing it.    It's unlike anyother plant i know.   Totally.   It has EVOLVED.   to be what we see here.  Over maybe countless iterations?   I don't know.  I cannot know.  But it's stunning in its  form,  its complex but spare elegance.   

if it were asked:   If it came to this…..Which life form should be spared?   and there would be a pic of me…..next a pic of this Plant.   i would choose the Plant.   I would.

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14 responses to “a plant”

  1. Jacqui Avatar
    Jacqui

    Dear Grace, the plant is white Horehound:
    “White horehound is used for digestion problems including loss of appetite, indigestion, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, and liver and gallbladder complaints. It is also used for lung and breathing problems including cough, whooping cough, asthma, tuberculosis, bronchitis, and swollen breathing passages”
    I am digesting the Stephen Jenkinson interview that you spoke about, so very, very interesting. Thank you for passing it on.

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  2. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    Did you listen to Ocean Vuong’s On Being interview where they talk about the importance of the words we use?
    https://onbeing.org/programs/ocean-vuong-a-life-worthy-of-our-breath/

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  3. Liz A from Texas Avatar
    Liz A from Texas

    thanks for the plant ID … I thought it might be in the mint family

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  4. Mo Crow Avatar
    Mo Crow

    (((Grace))) horehound is a weed here in Australia, it thrives in poor soils, is drought tolerant and seeds profusely with sticky burrs that cling to animals and clothes on people. I would choose you as there is only one of you and this plant has distributed itself all over the world!

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  5. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    This plant first made an appearance on your blog on March 6th, Hilda identified it as some type of horehound. When I first saw it, I had no idea what it was…
    https://windthread.typepad.com/windthread/2020/03/my-entry-5.html
    With all of the plants and vegetation that you have growing on the Hill, it has to be hard to know and remember all of them. Here I’ve taken to bringing my camera on walks because I am always finding something new growing that I don’t know about. After almost 7 yrs here, I can identify many plants,weeds and natives grasses growing here but there are still many unknown. Using my photos, helps me identify what I have found when I search on the Internet or in some of my plant books. I used to just write some descriptions and try to sketch what I saw but I am not good at sketching and some of the descriptions seemed so similar that the camera was the best way to learn to identify them. Nature just keeps on giving us gifts because when we think we are getting a good grasp on what is growing around us, there is always more to learn and to be able to learn new things in my 70’s, is one of the things that keeps me “young” and going!

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  6. Michelle Slater Avatar
    Michelle Slater

    I did

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  7. Mo Crow Avatar
    Mo Crow

    PS if it was in my garden I would harvest before it seeds

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  8. jaime Avatar
    jaime

    I wrote a long post last night when I read this. It disappeared. The most important thing I said was that I would choose you. Love hoarhound but love you best.

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  9. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    i was so ambivelent about him for a long time. But now.
    i see his gift of bringing MYTH to this Time….and all
    Times need Myth.
    I find the welcoming of the Rough Gods comforting.

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  10. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    i clicked this link this morning.
    THANK YOU…SO SO very much

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  11. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    i am one of humanity that has also distributed itself
    all over the world to do so much more harm than horehound

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  12. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    i went back through the stenographers notebooks and found
    that this morning…Hilda’s words
    i was unsure at the time, but with the flowering now…
    it IS horehound.

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  13. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    i wish your long post was here. I need long posts now.
    I sigh and smile. To be loved more than horehound….

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  14. Mo Crow Avatar
    Mo Crow

    (((Grace))) horehound is a useful herb but is considered a serious enviromental weed in many places around the world including California. “Mature plants can produce in excess of 20,000 seeds per year, although the more numerous and smaller plants produce about half this number. Anecdotal evidence indicates that the seeds can survive in the soil for 7-10 years.”
    https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/Horehound_CRC_bpmg.pdf

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