The red flowers we saw so many of on Saturday were in fact Indian Paintbrush, which, by the way, are the state flower of Wyoming. Now you just might win at Jeopardy. While we saw mostly a red-orange variety, the flowers can range from orange to scarlet, to pink to purple. They are also part of a Native American legend (and a Reading Rainbow episode, featuring the children's book The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush, by Tomie dePaola). Basically, a young Indian boy tried to paint the sunset, but was unsuccessful. So, he asked for help from the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit gave him paintbrushes laden with the colors he needed. He was able to paint a masterpiece, but left the brushes throughout the countryside. The brushes sprouted into the flowers we see today.
See what you can learn from googling?
