I first saw these lilies when I was taking systematic botany in college.Even though I had grown up in the country and woods, there were many plants that I had never seen before I took that class. I was in the first class in systematics that John Freeman taught at Auburn University, and I credit the class to opening my eyes to what is growing around me. At that time he was just a kid, only a year or so older than the students he was teaching. I can still hear his gravelly voice when anyone would say that did not know what a plant was. He would say, "Well, did you ask it?" By this he meant to look carefully at the plant's characteristics and compare it to something we already knew. The year was 1969, and he took us a field trip to the Wildflower Pilgrimage to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It was a pivotal point for me in many ways.I saw many people, including John, who were so excited over the blooming woods and meadows that it sparked an excitement in me that has never waned. It was also on that trip that I became acquainted with my future husband and we were married less than a year afterward. Not many years have passed since then when we didn't make our own pilgrimage to the Smokies to see the early flowers and refresh our souls in the hills and waterfalls.
The simple beauty of an Atamasco lily is unbeatable.
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