This Plant Wants You to Be Brave | Obedient Plant: Physostegia virginiana

It was a pleasure to come across Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana) in the wild. With her speckled pastel bell-shaped flowers which grow in striking clusters, she resembles foxglove or snapdragon. This native herbaceous plant represents bravery, a recurring theme for me throughout spring and summer 2022. Bravery can be as simple as quiet endurance throughout a challenging situation, or it can be a push to be daring. When I look at this plant, I can’t help but feel compelled to press forward. Its energy feels much like an encouraging friend who offers a fresh perspective. Coincidentally, a few days after coming into contact with P. virginiana a spark of newfound confidence was ignited in me, and has been slowly burning ever since.

When the theme of bravery arises in our lives it is sure to tug at our hearts for extended stretches of time. This is usually because the aim is difficult, and the outcome is unknown. Yet fear is always the counterpart to courage; we must decide to maneuver through fear instead of waiting for it to subside.

“Where your fear is, there is your task.”
- Carl Jung

I took these photographs (below) a few weeks ago, then just today I found a pressed image of the specimen collected, ironically, on this very date in 1931 — exactly 90 years ago — in Adams County, Ohio.

Physostegia virginiana, collected on 9/4/1931 in Adams County, Ohio. Submitted to the National Museum of Natural History by E. Lucy Braun.