But wait!

“But wait!” as so many cheesy television commercials like to say. For coming here two days in a row, you’re going to get another species of Liatris absolutely free.* I’d seen this one in Bastrop before, but a good 12 years ago and perhaps not again since then. This is Liatris elegans, and as you can see, its flowers differ in color from the usual violet or purple of so many other species in the genus. (Books say that Liatris elegans can also have pinkish or pale violet flowers, but I haven’t seen that in the plants at Bastrop.)

Like the last few photographs, this one comes from my visit to Bastrop State Park on September 6th.

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* Following the general trend toward a devaluation in the meanings of words, many commercials now often use the word absolutely incorrectly. Absolutely means ‘without any conditions; no strings attached.’ If you have to buy one of something to get a second one at no additional charge, that second item is not absolutely free. To make things worse, i.e. even farther from absolutely free, commercials of that sort have taken to slipping in another condition: “Just pay separate shipping and handling.” In contrast, today’s photograph really does come to you at no charge whatsoever.

© 2013 Steven Schwartzman