The milk thistle erupts from the ground like the maw of a ravening beast.
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This formidable member of the ecology is beginning its journey once more.
From deep underground, the latency of life is unleashed into this brighter domain.
It will take another two months though until its full statuesque potential is reached.
Then it will act as a beacon for the springtime pollinators; the butterflies, bees and hordes of others.
For our aboriginal ancestors, they would also have rejoiced at its reappearance, as to them this was medicine chest as well as a floral companion upon the mountain.
For now though it lies close to the birthing earth, protected from the storms of winter and the hungry mouths of the herbivorous that live hereabouts.
Photo: Milk Thistle at Saladaviciosa. Courtesy of the author.