Carduus nutans,
Musk Thistle

These plants played a role in saving Scotland from an invasion by the Vikings. As the Norsemen stepped ashore in the dark, they found themselves treading on the painful plants that the Scots had so thoughtfully laid out for their arrival. The cries of the Vikings alerted the Scots, who rushed out to trounce them. The Scots have a very high regard for these plants and subsequently immortalized them in song, made them the national flower, and formed a chivalric order of knighthood in their honor.

Cuscuta cuspidata,
Dodder, Love-Vine

The name “love vine” arose from the practice of hopeful young men twirling around three times with a piece of vine and throwing it over their shoulder. If she loved him, it would grow, and not surprisingly, the vine almost always showed she did.

Lupinus havardii,
Big Bend Bluebonnet

Legends abound about how this lovely flower came into existence. One story has it that the flowers are chunks of sky knocked down by warriors fighting in the Happy Hunting Ground. Another legend tells about an Aztec maiden who was being sacrificed to appease the gods. She dropped her headdress to the ground, and the next day there were these beautiful flowers growing there. A third well-known myth says the flowers arose from the ashes of a doll sacrificed by a little girl to bring the rains back to her tribal lands.

Gaillardia pulchella,
Indian Blanket, Firewheel

An ancient Aztec legend tells that this flower was once pure yellow before the coming of Cortez, but the center became stained with the spilled blood of the Native Americans he conquered.

Callirhoe involucrata,
Winecup

According to a legend from India, these flowers sprang up when a servant was performing a dance to cheer up the beloved king, who had fallen ill. The servant placed a goblet filled with wine in the open palm of his hand and danced on the lawn until he finally stumbled from exhaustion. Everywhere the wine spilled, a flower grew up, having the shape and color of the goblet of wine.