Hic Sunt Dracones

There may be dragons

Rosebud Orchid in the Ditch. (Cleistesiopsis divaricata). 48”x60” oil on canvas 2014

OK. I’ll confess. I just got around to watching Game of Thrones. And, I watched all seasons. It took weeks. A few late nights. Some worthless days on the couch. But I did it.

It seemed fitting. The series depicted an imaginary world ruled by tyrants and goons. There were occasional glimpses of humans who exhibited slight bits of reason and some semblance of a moral compass. Sound familiar? Too close to home? There are reasons it was so popular (other than the intermittent sex scenes.)

Yes, the fiction did strike a little too close to home, probably more now in 2025 than back in 2011 when it first came out. Midst the guts and gore,I found myself more often than not rooting for the wild creatures. Our beloved species ranked last when observed in conjunction with dragons and wolves. Homo sapiens was by far the least trust-worthy and most unpredictable of the three.

What does a large-scale big-budget TV fantasy drama have to do with wildflowers? This is going to take a big stretch to hold the reader’s interest while I “get there.”

During the show, at the many points where the complicated names and schemes lost me I let my mind wander to the dragons. Where did they come from, not just on this show but pretty much every culture throughout the world has some mythological dragon-like creature.

Some cultures fear them others find them harbingers of good things to come. Euro-centric cultures tend to portray dragons as not-so-good. Early flat-earth maps mark territories towards the edges of civilizations as places that may contain dragons.

Cleistesiopsis sp.

On my knees in the muck and goo of the wilds I am taken to the edge of the earth. There, amidst the wildflowers I find myself face-to-face with dragons.

All orchids fascinate me. But in the most neglected places, moist margins of sandy ditches, nodding their heads with mid-spring breezes the terrestrial orchids offer an escape from the doldrums of earthly existence. I see where reality ends and fantasy begins.

Cleistesiopsis is an orchid genus found within the Pogonieae tribe. These plants are native to the southeastern United States and range from as high as New Jersey and thrive as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. Some stay close to the ground others hover a foot or so above. Some are fragrant others not so much.

But, these creatures are exotic. Watching them, studying them and understanding the complex trickery with which they attract and use pollinators proves to be time well spent on one’s knees.

Today, May 3, 2025 finds us waxing with the Flower Moon. We await its full glory as it will shine full at 12:56 PM (EDT) on May 12. Monday evening we will witness quite a show.

This lunar beauty is the first full moon after Beltane. May Day is the celebration of the beginning of Summer. It occurs near the midway point between the Vernal Equinox and the summer solstice. You will enjoy reading and learning about this holiday.

What do we learn as we let our minds drift to the edges of the known? We enter a mysterious land where there may be dragons. I’m not so sure if fearing the wild is the correct way to think of this precarious position in which we find ourselves. Instead of fear I like the word “awe.”

We tip-toe to the edge by following the toe prints of wildings. The boar and doe, raccoon and possum, gator and snake all leave behind a trail to follow. There at the edge we bend and bow and stare into the face of a dragon. And what we see fills us with awe.

Put this mess of goons and tyrants in your rear-view mirror. Get out as the Flower Moon Waxes full. Crawl in ditches and muck, knee deep in the wonder of life and find your hidden dragon. Learn its name and remember it. We do what we must to keep our dragons alive.

Watch for a new episode of Mossdrawn. It’ll go live first of the week. This episode speaks of the wonders of the Flower Moon. Our guest is Betsy Harris, naturalist and wild chef. She talks about he love of wild places, wild flowers and wild foods. Tune in.