Canola Field

It’s interesting how an English word can really change the way you look at a plant.

A word can make people rename a plant.

The previous name of a plant can drive conversation about why the name is what it is.

“Canola refers to both an edible oil (also known as canola oil) produced from the seed of any of several varieties of the rape plant, and to those plants, namely a cultivar of either rapeseed or field mustard/turnip rape. Consumption of the oil is common and, unlike rapeseed, does not cause harm in humans and livestock. It is also used as a source of biodiesel.” – Wikipedia

As you can see, the word is not a good one. That is canola fields and canola plants are referred to as that, and not rape fields or rape plants.

In the Palouse, Washington region there are canola fields scattered around.

During a recent trip there, we stopped to spend some time photographing some of the bright yellow and beautiful fields. I decided to capture the green rolling hills in the distance as well as the pretty blue sky above. In the end you see a stunning palette of bright colors that can make anyone smile.

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Note: It has come to my attention that this could be dijon mustard plants and not canola plants. They look extremely similar, so I can’t say for sure. Either way, I’m sticking with canola because it’s a better name for a color palette than dijon mustard.