Lords and Ladies

In my last post- about Cowslips- I mentioned that I had an exciting day today. Well, the other thing that made me ecstatic was finding the perfect example of a "Lords and Ladies" (or "Arum Maculatum"). I find them totally magical, and the absolute epitome of an Art Nouveau painting or sculpture. Now, these plants are by no means rare- the woodlands are full of them- but this Spring I have been unable to spot the perfect specimen to photograph- and this afternoon I found one that was particularly exotic. It's "hood", instead of the usual pale green, had wonderful purple veining on it. So here it is- as you can see, I could not stop taking photos, and these are only a few of them!