Friday, April 25, 2008

The color of rain

What color is the rain,
that softly falls on a quiet morning
from a colorless sky?


And bursts from fountains, tumbling.


Till all that remains
is a gossamer veil,

dancing in the gentle wind of spring.



I think it must be green.










First photo: Female Box Elder, pistillate flowers
Second photo: Male Box Elder, staminate flowers
Third photo:
Flowering Box Elders reflected in pond
Fourth photo:
Female Box Elder, leafing out


Excerpted from Wikipedia:
"Acer negundo is a species of maple native to North America.

Box Elder, Boxelder Maple, and Maple Ash are its most common names in the United States. Other variant names include Ash Maple, Ash-leaf Maple, Black Ash, Cut-leaved Maple, Negundo Maple, Red River Maple, Stinking Ash, Sugar Ash, and Three-leaved Maple.
Unlike most other maples (which usually have palmate leaves), it has pinnate leaves that have three to seven leaflets (usually three).

...And, unlike most other maples, A. negundo is fully dioecious and both a "male" and "female" tree are needed for either to reproduce".



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9 comments:

Tom said...

Beautiful post as aways... I will find the time to read up on Box Elder.. I have heard of Elder before but not Box Elder.

Tom

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Interesting question. I think rain is silver as it reflects all colors.

cestoady said...

Such a serene,reflective post --- one Monet would have enjoyed.

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Lisa--I love going out after a rain and taking pictures because, as you say, it intensifies ALL colors--but, this morning, especially, the overnight explosion of green just can't be overlooked--it's almost directly proportional to the amount of rain we receive!

Janet said...

Love your poetry and pictures!

Mel said...

That's a good question..

Kerri Farley said...

Ah, it is GREEN! My favorite color!

Marvin said...

Green is good.

Bevson said...

What a beautiful poem and a thought to ponder. Flowers take on the color of water as every child knows having experimented with red dye and white carnations. Thus the color of rain must indeed be green since most of nature is that color. Brilliant.