[found and IDed by Kristin]
6-24″ tall. These are *everywhere* this year. This one was found on the property but they are absolutely carpeting the roadsides this spring (late March now well into April). Seen them before but they’re usually way rare. Range from white to rose pink. Seen a good range around here.
Cool bug hanging out on it. Not into bugs enough to start an identification blog for those.
[also found and IDed by Kristin!]
These are so cool. They do indeed look a bit “naked” in terms of the petals, but they have such great color that you just have to smile when you see these deep orange mange-y pincushions. Found out along the driveway.
and yes that’s kristin’s hand– she found and photo’d this solo. [also, my days as a hand model have passed]
[found and IDed by Kristin!]
Being texas and all, these grow to 1.5 ft tall. found on the property “out by the trees”. don’t think they actually go to seed in the classic way of a real dandelion.
yes yes i thought about the name PLENTY.
they’re an annual but re-seed well.
The ones on our property are, I believe, “standing winecup” (Callirhoe digitata, or a related species with … a different scientific name). Because the other ones (plain ol’ “winecup”) don’t go as vertical. The book I use tells me “they are easily distinguished from C. involucrata because neither of these two species has an involucel”.
So I look up “involucel” in the book’s glossary, which offers, “a secondary involucre”. Wow the guy really makes you work for it. “Involucre” is “the whorl of bracts subtending a flower”. Sigh… “bracts” are tiny leaves near a flower, I think. So I need to post a closer-up picture to confirm the secondary involucres.
Sorry for the cliffhanger. It’s dark out so that needs to wait.
a lot of things started this blog but here’s the flower that got me to stop when i thought i didn’t like stopping and should just keep going like i had been going.
it’s pretty but that’s not the point. it’s just that it made me hit the brakes and wonder what i had just seen.
i didn’t know what it was and the books didn’t give me the answer. got some help. turns out it’s just Limestone gaura (Gaura lindheimeri). in retrospect i should have known that. it’s been a long time since i planted them at home, but i have, and it’s funny i didn’t even have visual recognition of the plant. i saw this on a morning ride, on the way back, as the sun was really starting to hit from the side, over a hill.
Lindheimer (from the scientific name) was a german texan naturalist who cataloged a lot of hill country plants in the 1800s. Great gig. My favorite native grass is Lindheimer’s Muhly. I’ll bet a bunch of plants I post have him in the name as a finder’s reward.
