Turtlehead, Henne

Last year, when the edge of a nearby wetland was "improved" in an overzealous project, I feared that I had lost a patch of a very special wildflower that I used to see and delight in every September. Turtlehead gets its common name from the fancied resemblance its blossoms bear to the head of that shelled reptile, and the taxonomists have gotten into the turtle act: the genus name, Chelone, is Greek for tortoise and was derived from the name of a mountain nymph who lived on Mount Khelydorea and, as punishment for refusing to attend the wedding of Zeus and Hera, was turned into her namesake animal and forced to forever carry her home on her back. Fortunately for my mental health, I found a new patch of this wonderful plant. Chelone has been given refuge in a wetlands stretch in the back of the Henne Preserve. All "turtles," botanical and otherwise, rejoice.