The barrens have a wonderful assortment of plants that you will only find there. For example, one such plant that is partial to the barrens is the Queen’s Delight (Stillingia texana). Indeed, this species can only be found on this type of soil. The other Queen’s Delight (S. sylvatica)on the other hand, prefers the sandy soils. So just look at the soil type to determine which species you have found.
Queen’s Delight (Stillingia texana) up on the limestone barrens!
A close up the Queen’s Delight (Stillingia texana) flowering spike. I thought the brown bits were going to be a caterpillar, but alas it was not. Maybe next time, eh.
The Ambush bug (Phymata genus) waits for a meal on the Queen’s Delight (Stillingia texana)! It really blends in.
To illustrate camouflage, this Haldemans Shieldback katydid (Pediodectes haldemani) blends in nicely on the Queen’s Delight (Stillingia texana) as well.
Sideoats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) is a great fall blooming grass.
Close up of the stamen. You must look close to see the flowers on the grasses, but so often they are really beautiful!
Here a Rain Lily (Zephyranthes chlorosolen) has gone to seed.
The glochids (short hair-like spines) are such a pretty brown. However, do not touch. They are very hard to remove from skin or clothing! Several times, I have had to throw away gloves after tangling with a cactus.
We had a hard time finding a bloom of the Black Dalea (Dalea frutescens). Apparently, the cows must like it too.
And now this concludes, the Monday, August 16th outing!
Keep looking!
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know.
The katydid really does disappear.
🙂
I didn’t know about the two types of queen’s delight. Neat!