Monthly Archives: May 2012

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Mexican Hat – Ratibida columnaris

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Mexican Hat - Ratibida columnaris

Mexican Hat – Ratibida columnaris


These are seen everyone in these parts about this time of year, with petal colors ranging from all yellow to red and yellow to almost all red. Also known as Prairie Coneflower and Thimbleflower. Rick Perry might know it by another name, now archaic, as if Mexican Hat wasn’t ethnically insensitive enough. Ratibida columnaris seems easy enough to remember. Florida State alumni might like the “Garnet and Gold” color combination, speaking of ethnically insensitive names…oh well, it’s really not an offensive flower, whatever you call it.

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Sensitive Briar – Mimosa roemeriana

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Sensitive Briar - Mimosa roemeriana

Sensitive Briar – Mimosa roemeriana


Here’s another plant that has changed scientific names while remaining with the common name. My older field guides say this is in the Schrankia genus, with several similar species (which are not listed in the guides, although one mentions that some folks think they’re all the same species). Meanwhile, the NPIN at the Wildflower Center, whose page was last updated in 2007, says this is Mimosa Roemeriana. Still a member of the Fabaceae or Pea family, though. Still, this persistent little weed makes for an interesting ground cover, although it does sprawl a bit. I’ve got in the space between the street curb and the sidewalk, and I think I will cultivate it rather than try to eradicate it, which hasn’t worked out in the past. And it does have those lovely little pink puffballs of flowers…

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Cenizo – Leucophyllum frutescens

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Cenizo - Leucophyllum frutescens

Cenizo – Leucophyllum frutescens


Also known as Barometer Bush because of its habit of blooming every time it rains or gets humid, these are putting on a show right now. Also known as Texas Sage, which can be confusing because there’s another commonly known Texas Sage which is a member of the Salvia genus and is an herb and not a shrub. Which is why we tend to call this Cenizo or Leucophyllum frutescens, just so we don’t get confused. A very easy to grow and useful shrub for the Central Texas yard or garden.

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Fall Aster – Symphyotrichum oblongifolium

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Fall Aster - Symphyotrichum oblongifolium

Fall Aster – Symphyotrichum oblongifolium


Late Spring is an odd time for a Fall Aster to be blooming, but this year has been an odd one for blooming flowers as they adjust to severe drought and a mild winter. Some folks refer to the plants as “confused” but they appear to be opportunistic – blooming and reproducing when the conditions seem favorable, whatever time of year it may be on the calendar.

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Fiery Skipper on Texas Thistle

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Hylephila phyleus on Cirsium texanum

Hylephila phyleus on Cirsium texanum


Texas Thistle is a food source for many butterlies, and this one is commonly known as Fiery Skipper. Hylephila phyleus typically uses various grasses as a host for its eggs and larva, including non-natives like St Augustine and Bermuda grasses. It can be distinguished from the other skipper butterflies by its orange color with dark splotches. Thistles are only one of many nectar sources that this butterfly will access.

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Scarlet Pimpernel – Anagallis arvensis

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Scarlet Pimpernel - Anagallis arvensis

Scarlet Pimpernel – Anagallis arvensis


Fond of moisture, this little (6-9″) plant was found in a meadow near Brushy Creek in Williamson County. The flowers are small, less than half an inch across, so you’re unlikely to see them if you’re riding a bicycle down the regional trail or jogging. It takes a sharp-eyed group of native plant enthusiasts to spot them down under the gaillardia and other flowers.

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Pink Evening Primrose – Oenothera speciosa

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Pink Evening Primrose - Oenothera speciosa

Pink Evening Primrose – Oenothera speciosa


This shot was taken at Champion Park in southern Williamson County, along the Brushy Creek Regional Trail. In the morning we had attended a plant taxonomy class in which we learned that the distinguishing feature for the family that Oenothera speciosa is the “X marks the spot” of the pistils, shown fairly clearly here. Excellent learning, when the theoretical is followed immediately by practical application.

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Malvaviscus arboreus var drummondi – Turk’s Cap

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Malvaviscus arboreus var Drummondi - Turk's Cap

Malvaviscus arboreus var Drummondi – Turk’s Cap


This attractive flower blooms from May through November, although it was almost evergreen this past winter… we’ll never know because I pruned it back around February. Normally a deciduous perennial, it thrives in partial shade locations; the Tradescentia gigantea, Giant Spiderwort, which blooms earlier and then goes to seed makes for an excellent companion. Hummningbirds like it, bees and butterflies like it, but I haven’t seen any fleas, educated or not, on it. Both the flower and the fruit attract wildlife. I haven’t tried it, but it is supposed to taste like apple, hence one of its common names, Manzanilla.

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An Ageratina by any other name…

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Image

Ageratina havanensis,  also known as  Eupatorium havanense, usually blooms in October and November, but this year it is blooming in May. Most plants don’t have two scientific names, but the one common thing about this small perennial is that it has several common names: Shrubby Boneset, White Mistflower, Thoroughwort, and Havana Snakeroot to name most of them. In other locations I’ve observed it in October or November, it has been covered with a variety of butterflies, but not so in my yard at this time of year. One wonders why…

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Some Kind Of Coreopsis

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Coreopsis

Coreopsis

This could be either Coreopsis basalis  or Coreopsis tinctoria. They’re both called Coreopsis and Goldenwave as a common name, and from looking at the photos and the description at the Wildflower Center’s database, there doesn’t seem to be much to tell them apart visually, if anything. This specimen is from my front yard, next to the Indian Blanket and Autumn Sage around the birdbath. Since it apparently likes moist soil, it is not surprising that this is the first year I’ve seen it in the front yard. A couple of years ago I spread some wildflower mixture seeds out in the back yard, and some Plains Coreopsis did come up, so perhaps this is a relic of that, reseeded by birds. At any rate, it is surely a Coreopsis. Maybe next year we’ll get some more.