It is always a delight to travel the dusty roads of our North Texas counties. Captivating treasures are just waiting for us each time!
Indeed, it was a pleasant surprise to find the Black Dalea (Dalea frutescens) blooming! Sure makes it easier to find!
A closer look was indeed needed. Mostly we were looking to see if we could find the parasitic Pilostyles. We did not ;-(
There were plenty of plants to search!
Even though we didn’t find Pilostyles, we did find these galls!
Inside was this tiny orange larva! So an internet search gave no clues to what it might be. My shelf is already getting full again, so I did not bring it home..
Most plants were covered in the limestone dust like this Tall Grama.
We stopped at Clear Creek and were rewarded with a Cardinal Flower blooming. Sorry, it was too far away for a nice photo. Nevertheless the creek is pretty.
Finally, we found Maximillian Sunflowers (Helianthus maximiliani) blooming!
So I tried real hard to make these Liatris mucronata into a new species. They were much more fluffy than we usually see them. This was just an extra good place for them apparently.
Also I tried to make the Hairy Sunflower (Helianthus hirsutus) into something new. No luck here either. 😉 It was just blooming later than the usual.
This boot seemed to be laughing at us!
Like this dust devil, we had a whirlwind day!
Keep looking!
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know.
5 Comments
I dont see how those poor plants survive with all that dust. I do love the laughing boot and your imagination. Looked like the dust devil was heading right for you.
I dont see how those poor plants survive with all that dust. I do love the laughing boot and your imagination. Looked like the dust devil was heading right for you.
Yeah, I bet it hard for them to breathe. Must be like a stuffy nose??
Those galls and that orange larva are so interesting.
I should have brought one home. Dont know why I didn’t 🤷🏻♀️
good plants!!