Acacia farnesiana – Huisache
Here’s a slight change of pace – a picture of the Huisache tree in the back yard following Monday night”s thunderstorms in Central Texas. Huisache is actually a member of the Pea family, and is a multi-trunked tree or small shrub. This one is perhaps a dozen years old and has about a half-dozen trunks. Here two trunks have been torn loose at the base and fallen across the fence, taking out several slats and the bird feeder. C’est la vie.
Maurandella antirrhiniflora – Snapdragon Vine
This little vine can be either a climbing vine or a groundcover, as it spreads in a dense mat of leaves. It will climb on fences and shrubs, and does well in the rocky calcareous soil of the Hill Country. The little flowers are about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch long. Blooms appear from March through October. Stands up to drought quite well,since it doesn’t get watered in my yard…
Verbena canescens – Gray Vervain
Gray Vervain is another one of those small plants likely to be unnoticed, or if it is, to be considered a weed by many. Here you can see some of the dense hairs that give it its “Gray” appellation. The small flowers of lavender or purple appear on 3″-6″ spikes from April through October.
Papilio polyxenes – Black Swallowtail larva
Here we have the larva of the Black Swallowtail butterfly doing what it does best – decimating and digesting Parlsey. Unfortunately, the Parlsey is non-native, and being grown in my wife’s kitchen herb garden. So the best I can hope for is that I can convince her to let them try to feed on one of my native plants instead of squishing them. Oh well. I don’t have any Queen Ann’s Lace, which is a native plant host for these beauties. Guess I’ll have to do some research and find out if there are any other native plants that feed this until it’s chrysalis time…
bob's brain: living well with a movement disorder and other comorbidities 