SPRINGTIME EARLY BLOOMER

The Cutleaf Syntheris was among Mrs. Trowbridge's favorite flowers. Though she had great respect and admiration for it, she didn't realize just how special this high meadow early bloomer really is. In addition to its unusually hardy nature, the Cutleaf Syntheris (Syntheris pinnatifida var. lanugosa) is one of eight "Olympic endemics", rare wildflowers found here and nowhere else on earth.

Imagine being in darkness all winter and well into the spring. Much of Mrs. T's journal work was done by lantern light. They used lupine seed oil for their lanterns because lupines are plentiful, and easy to find. It was the oil of choice in their cooking too. They preferred it over other plant seed oils because it didn't go rancid so quickly.
Here is my photograph of one of the world's rarest wild flowers. Don't look for it on Google Image...this flower is so rare and special, it's hard to find ANY photo evidence of it, not even in the wild flower books. We first encountered the Cutleaf Syntheris on the summit of Blue Mountain, in the north Olympic Mountains. It was Memorial Day weekend...I caught it at the end of its blooming season, long before the other wildflowers had even begun to bloom.