olga volchkova

tealemon

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right_swallow

left_camus

right_camus

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right_building

florae animalia

These are plants with animal names.

Saint Bearberry

Saint Bearberry

Bearberry or Kinnikinnick or Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi ... "According to an Anishinaabe legend, after Bear and Otter pushed the first tree of life from the underworld up into the surface world, Bear was curious about the newly unfurled animals living on the surface. When he approached a group of them, they all scattered, leaving only an infant behind. Bear studied the infant, noticing that it did not have a berry hanging down in the back of its throat. Bear knew that this part of his anatomy helped to keep all the berries that he consumed from coming back up. So Bear looked around and found a short mat of vine-like plants with shiny green leaves and red berries. He plucked one of the berries and put it into the baby's mouth. In so doing, Bear ensured that the people would be able to keep their food down and not starve." - from Iwígara, by Enrique Salmón

Saint Larkspur

(in private collection, Minnesota)

Larks are lurking in the airy woods of the middle Spring. You can hear them singing somewhere between the earth and the sky. The edge of the forest sparkles with cobalt blue bird-like creatures that fly with the wind and create the forest fabric - a very complicated living canvas in the woods. I always feel they can hear us, like angels can listen to what we are talking about through the ribbons on their heads (in iconography they're called “gossips”- “slukhi”).

Saint Foxglove

(in private collection, Oregon)

There are some rumors that foxes like to dance at night wearing gloves and other accessories ... I love that idea about this plant. Foxglove is the native name for this British flower and heart medicine. But I think of it as Digitalis Purpurea, because the name is closer to the Russian name I know - naperstianka or thimble flower. Of course this comes from the shape of the flower, which was perfected by thousands of years of natural selection to be a passage for the most preferable pollinator - the bumble bee. What an admirable goal! Foxgloves are always arching, heavy with pollinators and blooms, while the Fox is quietly sewing together healthy hearts with her magic thimbles ...

Saint Cattail

The glow! The glow of the cattail at sunset reminds me of a cathedral of glowing nimbuses under a sky dome. She is a mother of many. She protects and cares, she gives food, and provides shelter. Her son is an otter, her daughter a water lily ... and her neighbor is a mountain lion, who likes to pass by, brushing her with his soft cat tail.

Saint Sorrel

(in private collection, Oregon)

Plants are good to animals. And animals are good to plants. They figured out how to live in harmony and benefit each other. We have the ability to observe all their processes, and make the right decision: to participate in this smart system. We can make our existence more fair, helpful, and enjoyable for other creatures. No one gets hurt. It’s magic.

Saint Rabbit's Foot Clover

Saint Rabbit's Foot Clover

(in private collection, Oregon)

Some plants are stronger and braver than the others. Who wants to live next to a polluted dirty road, and constantly struggle with low nourishment? Who wants to help and clean this mess? Rabbit's Foot Clover! He is always at our feet, friendly and fluffy, offering wonderful tea, and taking care of our mischief ... We should say thank you to him, and bow to his existence and generosity.

Saint Crabapple

Saint Crabapple

(in private collection, Oregon)

It’s called a “crab” apple because of the way the tree grows: it’s spikier and stiffer than a normal apple tree. The shape and idea of of these crabby branches made me dive into the underwater world of real crabs. If you think about it, everything comes from underwater. If you go far enough back in evolutionary time, you find the crab and the crabapple to be relatives, as are all creatures ... we all come from the ocean.

Saint Rattlesnake Plantain

Saint Rattlesnake Plantain

(in private collection, Oregon)

I walked in the woods near Alsea Falls in late January, trying to find the last winter chanterelles, or maybe hedgehog mushrooms. Suddenly I see this robust green mandala-like plant, with an intricate white animalistic pattern. Huge, probably centuries-old tree stumps, were glowing around me in a second-growth forest, like sad grave stones ... Like monuments of the destruction that happened to this land. Rattlesnake Plantain was my portal to earlier times, when those trees where still growing and people understood them.

Saint Cuckoo's Tears

Saint Cuckoo's Tears

Some plants have a very quiet presence, but very romantic names, and I have memories of them. Cuckoo’s Tears (briza grass), is a plant I used to collect and dry for the winter’s bouquets, because even when it’s dry it has this quality of shivering and trembling, like it’s still alive. Like most grasses, the small heart-shaped flowers of Cuckoo’s Tears hold water drops in a special way, as if they’re dripping with tears. I always wondered: why are cuckoos crying? They have an unfortunate reputation in the nests of other birds. But all of them are orphans, abandoned by parents who were also orphans, so the trauma continues. Maybe that’s why they’re crying. They never had their real mother’s love.

St. Catnip and Her Disciples

St. Catnip and Her Disciples

(in private collection, Oregon)

Nature provides soothing treatments for all its creatures. I noticed that in my garden, in one particular corner, I always have the heaviest cat traffic. After investigating, I found the cause of this communal gathering. Catnip, or catmint (nepeta cataria) was growing wild. Instead of going to psychiatrists, cats relax in catnip corners, to take the edge off, and lower their anxiety about the modern world.

Saint Fawn Lily

Saint Fawn Lily

(in private collection, Oregon)

What is hiding in the forest floor? What does the forest let us see? How could these plants be so incredibly sophisticated, with patterns and survival mechanisms so rational and so beautiful? The fawn lily is next to fawn tracks - they've lived with each other for such a long time ...