Nothing truer could be said than the claim that Springtime explodes in March and that this March the explosion was . . . big. So here is some catching up. (Thank you, H., for emailing to me some of the images below.)
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| Siriphid fly apparently feeding on a False Dayflower |
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| False Dayflower, Widow's Tears (Tinantia anomala or Commelinantia anomala) |
We've noted the coincidental times and locations of the flowering of this Day Flower with the Spiderwort (see the two photos below). Both are members of the Commelinaceae family, so the co-incidence is a logical one. Don't know if it's true or not, but some sources claim that Tinantia anomala grows within the United States only in Texas. Also growing only in Texas is the yellow flower below these two Spiderworts.
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| Spiderwort |
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| Spiderwort |
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| Redbud, Low Menodora (Menodora heterophylla) |
Kingdom
Plantae – Plants
Species
Menodora heterophylla Moric. ex DC. – low menodora
The photo above shows the buds which are red. A common name for this plant is “redbud” and the outside of the petals are also partly reddish on the ones I saw. If you are going through the Shinner’s key you won’t get to this plant using this flower, since the number “6” shunts you off to the monocots. I noticed there were some flowers with five lobes and I also matched the flower in a field guide so I knew to take the 5-petal path. Apparently this is a plant that often has a variable number since the descriptions I read mentioned 5 or 6 petal lobes and 10 to 14 calyx lobes. It may be hard to make out from the photo, but there are only two anthers and just one style and stigma. The Menodora was in just one small patch just down from the bank and about 10 yards from the pond. --H.
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| Marsh Parsley, or Fir-leafed celery (Cyclospermum leptophyllum) |
(A member of the carrot family, the Greek "
lept" and "
phyll" mean "fine leaf.")
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Common bedstraw, also called Cleavers, Clivers, Goosegrass, Stickywilly, Stickyjack, Stickyweed, Stickyleaf, Catchweed, Robin-run-the-hedge, and Coachweed
(Galium aparine) |
(We read that In Europe, the dried, matted foliage of the plant was once used to stuff mattresses.)
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| Southwestern bedstraw (Galium vergatum) |
This note is about plants of which I have a very hard time taking a photograph that I can stand. A bit of evidence is that I’m sending scans of flattened plants and not photos. Not one out of about two dozen pictures, so it’s a good thing I wasn’t using slide film. If it wasn’t the wind or the focus, it was the flash cable in front of the lens. However, I wanted to send something since these are growing out there in the creek bed and you might run across them. The Cyclospermum grows in the low area by the pond that you are partial to. The little bedstraw plants were on the other side of the creek bed. I didn’t resize those two scans so you can see the relative sizes of the plants. The Shinner’s book claims the roasted seed of the common bedstraw (Galium aparine) makes the best coffee substitute. --H.
Buckeye
(Junonia coenia)
Painted Lady
(Vanessa virgeniensis)
Alphalpha butterfly, or Orange Sulphur
(Colias eurytheme)
Dainty Sulphur
(Nathalis iole)
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| Water pennywort, of course |
Focusing here on what the pollinating insects cannot see: the white spots turned red after awhile. Since the insects presumably cannot see the red, they do not waste time trying to pollinate less likely flower parts. A popular misconception says that part of the flower has turned red because it has already been pollinated. Unfortunately, bluebonnets grown in labs without pollinating insects also undergo the same color change. This act of advertising the newest pollinating parts in white appears to be the flower's way of maximizing its chance of being properly visited by those whom it depends upon.
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| A dozen or more gelatinous clutches of snail eggs laid within the Creek |
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| From front gate to home |
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