Natives from the Edwards Plateau

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Celestials: Watercolor

Celestials 9 X 12 Watercolor, March 2012

I'm featuring a flower I posted a photo of last week in the March 12 wildflower sampler called Celestials. Got to love that name! And they are so blue, blue as the sky. This wildflower is not rare, but is an uncommon find. It usually occurs in infrequent colonies in mid spring. Also the flowers last only one day, and a given colony won't bloom every day during its blooming season. So I always feel like I've found something extraordinary when I see these. They are a member of the iris family and so have petals and flower parts in multiples of threes. Notice the exquisite structure of the center of these flowers. The stamen's (orange parts that produce pollen) come out of the center above the petals. The pistols (the female parts of the flower that are white with dark blue tips) come out of the center above the stamens and branch out in sets of two between each of the stamens. When the flower first opens in the late morning, the stamens are tall and straight. Then, as the day goes on their heads curl down and get wrinkled as the pollen starts to come out. By mid to late afternoon the whole flower curls in on itself and shrivels into a dark blue-purple mass and that's it for that individual flowers bloom. Below are some more photos of Celestials. Look for the ridges or pleats on the grass-like leaves. Another Common name for this flower is " Prairie pleat leaf".

Plant Files:

Scientific name: Nemastylis gemniglora

Family name: Iris Family

Common names: Celestials, Prairie pleat leaf

Friday, March 30, 2012

March Finale Wildflower Sampler

Bluebonnets are out and in full force, the beloved and iconic state flower of Texas! With our early spring this year, they are at their peak already in many places when normally this wouldn't happen till mid-April. Along with the Bluebonnets (a species of Lupine), many other wildflowers are blooming now. I've added these photos of a few that are out there now in addition to the ones I posted earlier on March 22nd. Hope you can get out and enjoy these beauties while they last.

Blue Bonnets

Bluebonnet field

Bluebonnets, white form

Texas Stork's Bill

Goldeneye Phlox

Scarlet Pimpernel

Pink Evening Primrose

Gilia

Navaho Tea

Hairy Wedelia

Canyon Habitat

The Edwards Plateau is intermittently divided by canyons, which were shaped as the water from rainfall collects into streams and creeks and cuts through the limestone. Such small canyons are unique habitats because of the shade they provide as well as a riparian, or waterside, habitat. This particular canyon, named McDonald Canyon, abounds in unique, rare, and beautiful plants and trees.

Penny Royal

Red Columbine

False Dayflower

False Dayflower, pink form

Missouri Violet

Cedar Sage

Golden Groundsel

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Prairie Paintbrush 9 X 12 Watercolor by Mary Burns

Prairie Paintbrush lives in Central Texas on dry rocky limestone hillsides. It has a curious habit of being a hemi-parasite. Which means its roots tap into the roots of other plants to derive moisture and nutrients from them. Kinda creepy! But it has beautiful flowers, the colorful "petals" are actually bracts which are closer to a leaf structure than a petal. Another Paintbrush in our area, Texas Paintbrush, is shown below and prefers more sandy soils or along Texas roadsides.

Plant Files:
Scientific name: Castilleja purpurea
Family name: Figwort Family
Common names Prairie Paintbrush

Prairie Paintbrusn

Texas Paintbrush

Thursday, March 22, 2012

March wildflower sampler

With a record warm winter and frequent early spring rains, spring is well under way in Central Texas with the wildflowers going crazy. Today on my walk I saw at least 23 different species blooming within a short 1 1/2 mile distance. Here is my March sampler of what's out there now. I'll be highlighting a few of these in the next few days.