Marsh Marigold opening number

In advance of the public walk I'm scheduled to lead at the Babcock Ridge Preserve on Saturday, I did a private walk—just me—to look for interesting faunal and floral developments I could highlight for the crowd I hoped would appear. There were lots of candidates, from frogs to emerging fiddleheads, but my favorite was this spring's abundant crop of Marsh Marigold blossoms. Caltha palustris is a wetlands-loving member of the Buttercup family, and while it bears part of the same common name as the garden marigold, the two plants are only very distantly related. Marigolds, in fact, belong to the Aster family, so the connection between the two species is essentially this: both are dicot plants. They also probably garnered the name because of the brilliant color of their blossoms, which were offered as a tribute to the Virgin Mary in medieval-and-earlier church ceremonies. Think Mary's Gold, and you get the idea. Whatever the etymology, the blossoms are certainly a fitting offering to Mary, or any other worthy lady. Without a doubt, they're also a grand sight for this gentleman-observer's weary eyes—and lens.