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Morning Edition

Cathy Wurzer and Lukas Levin

August 4, 2023 7:25 AM

Audio Postcard: Fishing for flowers on the Mississippi

close up of a flower — The American lotus is photographed at Frontenac State Park east of Red Wing, Minn.
Courtesy of Kelly Povo

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Sometimes the best place to see a sprouting wildflower is in the middle of the Mississippi River. At least that’s where Kelly Povo and Phyllis Root traveled as they went fishing for lotus.

As we’ve heard before, wildflower chasers Povo and Root are willing to stop at ditches, hike through hills and plateaus, or even stand in the middle of a river. Which is where today’s postcard comes from; a floodplain forest just east of Red Wing, Minn., in Frontenac State Park, on the edge of the Mississippi.

There they saw thousands of tall green stems sticking out of the water and waded through to get a better look at the American lotus.

a person holds a light diffuser on a river — Phyllis Root holds a light diffuser in the Mississippi River.
Courtesy of Kelly Povo

Use the player head above to listen to the full postcard.

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