This is a companion to two previous lists: naturally pink and naturally blue. According to BBC’s Discover Wildlife, it is the rarest color to be seen in nature!
1. delicious ube
I love ube, a delicious yam that is indigenous to the Philippines. It tastes sweet, with a hint of nuttiness. It’s a common ingredient in desserts. Ube pancakes, ube milkshakes, ube cookies, ube cakes… I love it all! Fortunately for me, it’s popular here on O’ahu.
image: Food Network
2. purple sea urchin
This puffy little guy is found along the Pacific Coast of North America. They’re tiny, just 2-4″ wide, less than 2″ in height. They live for roughly 20 years, and their population is currently booming, as sea otters (one of their primary predators) are now endangered
image: Sea Grant California
3. aster
Asters are a popular flower for fall gardens, native to North America. They’re easy to grow, they’re relatively hardy, and they are resistant to a lot of wildlife. They are also a favorite of bees and butterflies because they have pollen and nectar in the very latter part of fall and often into the winter, after many other flowers have succumbed to the upcoming cold season.
image: Birds&Blooms
4. blackcap basslet
This pretty fish lives among the reefs in the western Atlantic Ocean, in tropical areas. It rarely grows longer than 4″, allowing it to fit in the crevices within a reef. Its purple is only marred by a diagonal black cap on its head, hence the name. It can be kept in saltwater aquariums, too, a peaceful and hardy inhabitant as long as it is the only one of its species (or only one of a similar appearance) in the tank.
image: Wikipedia
5. purple tomatillos
Purple tomatillos come from Mexico, like their more common green siblings. It is a member of the nightshade family, cousins to tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and potatoes. In the same family are tobacco and belladonna. The purple variety has a sweeter and tangier taste than its green siblings.
image: Wikipedia
6. violet pouch fungus
This brightly colored fungus is found among the leaves, endemic to the beech forests of New Zealand. The cap holds all of its spore-producing tissue, which is released when the cap begins to disintegrate, or when that cap is damaged by insects or animals. Fun fact, it is one of six species that was featured on stamps released in 2002.
image: Wikipedia
7. Costa’s hummingbird
The males of the species are our purple beauties, with iridescent crowns and throats. These hummingbirds live in the southwest US and Mexico, choosing desert and coastal scrub areas, as well as deciduous forests, as their residence of choice. An odd choice as their preferred food is flowers.
image: Audubon
8. purple shamrock
The purple shamrock is usually found as a houseplant, but it can grow in climate zones 8a-11 in light shade. It folds its leaves at nights, when bothered, or in harsh sunlight, its flowers closing at night as well. They can grow to heights of 20″, producing a bush that is quite wide. It is native to southern South America, but is a neophyte plant in the US, mostly in Louisiana and Florida.
image: Wikipedia
9. star apple
The star apple comes from the cainito tree, a tropical tree in the same family as evergreens. They are 2″-3″ wide, with inedible rinds and skins. They taste sweet, often served chilled or used in deserts. This purple variety has a denser texture than the greenish-brown, which has a more liquidy pulp.
image: Wikipedia
10. purple cauliflower
Purple cauliflower gets its color from an antioxidant that is also found in red cabbage and red wine. Exposure to the sun increases the effect of the antioxidant, resulting in the bright purple coloring. The taste of it is exactly the same as it is with the white.
image: AllRecipes
11. purple nudibranch
Nudibranchs, otherwise known as shellless snails or sea slugs, are named for the little tufts on the top of them, “nudibranch” Latin and Greek for “naked gills.” That’s what that little flowery bit is, the gills.
image: Smithsonian Ocean
12. hydrangea
One of my favorite flowers is the hydrangea. The colors range the spectrum from white to pink, blue, and purple, even green. The color differences are the result of pH levels in the soil in which they’re grown. Acidic soil produces the blues and purples, while alkaline soils produce the pinks and reds.
image: Oregon Coastal Flowers
13. purple beautyberry/early amethyst
This is a deciduous shrub with shiny purple berries that are displayed during the fall months. Largely found in Asia, they are usually used as garden shrubs, the berries bright and edible.
image: Gardenia
Ha! My last week’s TT had a purple theme. I love the color.
I love all of the purple things! It’s one of my favorite colors.
Very cool. Around here we little purple violets that come up in the wild, and a few other flowers that have pinkish purple tones. Azaleas, for one. Cool list.
Oooh, very pretty. Yeah, I imagine purple is kinda rare in nature.
All of these are new to me, and they are all so very pretty. It’s snowing here right now, and it cheers e up to see all this color.
Pretty little fish.