Hairy Puccoon?

Hairy what? Does it crawl or bite? Jump or squeak? I just love this name! Would you believe that with its brother, the hoary puccoon, we have a pair of the most strikingly beautiful dune flowers to surprise you when you are on a dune hike? They have a bright yellow flower cluster on top of 18 to 24 inch stems. They surprise you because they grow in the scorched, elevated, and dry area immediately behind the flat beach. They are perennial flowers, which means that they come back year after year from the same roots once they get started from seed.

To my mind wildflowers like the hairy puccoon are the frosting on the cake of the creation. As if the normal flora and fauna were not beautiful enough, our Creator has adorned His handiwork with the myriad colors and shapes of wildflowers. They are His paintbrush. Each one a stroke that together paint His beauty. Once you spend time in the creation they become old friends who greet you with little surprises of joy on your pathway.

The names are fascinating and expressive, but, you have to sound them out loud to get the full idea of them. Say them with me: cardinal flower, golden rod, blue gentian, blood root, jack in the pulpit, trillium, wormwood, little bluestem, Joe-pyeweed, browneyed susan, dutchman’s breeches, goat’s beard.

As expressive as these names are, can you imagine what it would be like to see the particular revelation of God in each plant that Adam saw? What a wonderful ability we will have when we enter into the new creation. Now, because of sin, we can only just begin to see God’s revelation in creation. Yet, we must strive to see God’s revelation of Himself in the creation around us. Why? Because, it glorifies God. Sure, it leaves a witness to the wicked to leave them without excuse. But, who can better understand the things are made (Romans 1) than a child of God? We should be the best naturalists and conservationists. We should give expression to our wonder at His handiwork and teach it to our children at home and in our schools. I can’t understand how our science and biology classes can sometimes be the most dry and boring in the curriculum. If you’ve never gotten the goose bumps when beholding His handiwork-wake up and smell the roses. (Sorry, I had to say that.)

Read the Psalms. You will find that King David learned to see the wonder of God in the creation by sitting for many lonesome hours with the flocks of his father upon the hills of Judea. With our greatly increased knowledge we should appreciate God’s handiwork even more than David. Also, God’s handiwork in the creation is a starting point in our witness to the ungodly as in the example of Paul on Mar’s Hill.

Take a walk. Look at His handiwork. Find a wildflower. There’s one just around the corner. Marvel at His glory!