Rattlesnake Root: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, September 2025 — out looking for mushrooms after our first soaking rain in way too long…but evidently not enough to kick the mycelium into fruiting. I did find this strange wildflower growing at the base of a tree in a sunny spot. I looked it up and it is one of the Rattlesnake Roots…there are several varieties. And of course I had to know why rattlesnake root? It turns out Native Americans used the root and the whole plant medicinally and some of them, along with later settlers in the Americas, thought it could cure (or even prevent) rattlesnake bites (it cannot do either). It does have a milky sap, which generally indicates a high alkaloid content, and it was used for digestion issues and for pain relief. (Or so says Gemini AI.) Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at 97mm equivalent. Aperture program with my macro modifications. f11 for depth of field. From my little travel and macro tripod at 1/50th second. Processed in Photomator.