I’m not by any means a ‘plant person’. I have more of a black thumb than green. But I do enjoy the wildflowers that grow on the hills in the summer, the colorful arrays along the roadside, and the occasional wildflowers we might find in our travels.

As a photographer, I have found myself learning all kinds of new things we find along the way. iNaturalist is certainly a helpful tool I carry on my phone to assist in the identification of something I am unfamiliar with, as it did for these knotgrass we found at the Lake.

Knotgrass is a perennial plant that grows in clusters that spread along the base. It is enjoyed by the small insects and birds along rocky wet soil. Knotgrass or knotweed is a type of water smartweed, which I mentioned here … https://kritterspix.com/2023/07/13/smart-weeds/. There are actually 6 species of this Persicaria plant in Arizona.

For us, it made an attractive backdrop during our day at the lake.

Summer is wrought with widespread weeds, evasive and native. I often find weeds are a matter of perspective. Webster’s Dictionary defines a weed as “a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth”. Yet wildflowers, by their very nature, are indeed weeds. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.