The rhodora is a deciduous plant that is native to northeastern United States that bears pink flowers. The poem begins with a subheading of “On Being Asked, Whence Is the Flower?” With the subheading, Emerson establishes a question of where does the flower comes from or why is the flower here on Earth. When Emerson encounters the rhodora, it is spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook. Emerson states ‘To please the desert and the sluggish brook”. Due to the time of year, the rest of nature is not in its prime, so it appears the rhodora is blooming in a desert. With this line, Emerson is establishing that the rhodora had no reason to bloom. The rhodora only exists for the sole purpose of pleasing the other elements of nature such as the slow moving brook.