*Indian Warrior, originally uploaded by wind_dancer. (Pedicularis densiflorus)
A legend I heard years ago about these unusual flowers, was that whenever an Indian Warrior was killed in battle, his blood soaked the soil, and these flowers bloomed.
I don’t like the way the color turned out on these. The flowers are actually between red and maroon. I played with the white balance on my camera, and still couldn’t get them quite right. Notice the fern-like leaves on these flowers.
I found these in the burn area of the Chalk Fire today.
I have seen these flowers at the nursery listed as a California native and drought tolerant, but never caught their name. I’ve always found them beautiful and remind me of garnets. A rare beayty. 🙂 Great pic Kate.