Alpine Flower a Day: Korikori, Hairy alpine, Mountain Buttercup

Alpine Flower a Day: Day 28, Korikori, Hairy Alpine, Mountain Buttercup (Ranunculus insignis)

– like a big yellow buttercup, fading to white as it ages

– in the rock labyrinth of Mt Owen, Kahurangi National Park

Definition of buttercup

It's easy with one word:

buttercup

but difficult with many:

it equals the sun, each calling

to the other, yellow shining

like butter in a porcelain cup,

melts under your chin

do you like butter?

grows using photosynthesis

and water (see earlier

poem). Hairy leaves described

by alpine botanists with microscopic

vision, it roots itself to

earth in a goldilocks position

between rocks, in bogs, the fact

that you stumble across one

looking up between milky

500 million year old Karst

on this rolling star in a multitude

of galaxies on a sunny

new year's day, so

infinitesimally small.

If you're interested in the inspiration behind this month-long series of 'An Alpine Flower A Day' about NZ alpine flowers and poems, you can find more in my first post: An Alpine Flower A Day Enjoy!