I recently went on a hike in Washington State, in an area well-known for its wildflowers. One of the earliest species is Olsynium douglasii, or the grass widow.
While I was there, I viewed thousands upon thousands of individual plants. Nearly all of the plants had flowers that were pinkish-purple.
Whenever you are able to look at that many plants at once, you are bound to find some mutations and variations. Several years ago, I saw a white-flowered form. This time, I was not able to find it, which made me sad. Luckily, I found another one in a different location.
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My favorites, of course, are the pale forms. this one was just barely pink.
The best one of the day was this one. It had a lovely pink star in the center of the flower.
I would be tempted to collect seed of these forms, and do some breeding. The trouble is that this plant is a bitch to grow in wetter climates like mine. I've bought plants from native plant nurseries in the past. If I'm lucky, they last a couple of years and then die. As wonderful as it would be to breed new forms of this plant, It doesn't seem worth it to me. But I will continue to enjoy them on spring hikes!
