Give Us an A, B, and C

"A" is for anemone, "B" is for bumble bee and "C" is for coneflower.

A visit to the Oregon state capitol grounds in Salem last Tuesday found scores of yellow-faced bumble bees (Bombus vosnesenskii) working the anemones and purple coneflowers. 

While some bumble bee species are endangered or instinct, not the yellow-faced bumble bees. Let's hope they never are. 

The anemone, a member of the buttercup family, is Greek for "daughter of the wind." The purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a member of the aster family; Echinos is Greek for "hedgehog."

A look at the spiky flowers will tell you why.