Listen

The LBJ grasslands pulled me back. And lately, I have been pulled to the barren areas.

The “ear” fossil seemed bigger than the usual. These are quite common on the limestone barrens. Pelecypods are types of mollusks. An “ear” always makes me listen and smile on the barrens!

Jeanne spotted the first orchid (Spiranthes)! We were hoping to find one in bloom now.

Well, we hadn’t walked more than twenty to thirty feet when Jeanne spotted it! This was Great Plains Ladies-tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum). If the flowers are open as this one was, just smell for its lovely fragrance. The more common Nodding Ladies-tresses (S. cernua) does not have a fragrance. Marilyn wrote a nice article in the latest issue of the Trinity Forks NPSOT chapter newsletter on S. cernua.

Up close the petals have a lacey glass appearance!

Many of the Hall’s Dalea (Dalea hallii) have gone to seed making it even harder to spot!

Rock candy? Nope just a quartz rock. 😉

Further along, we were able to find a blooming Hall’s Dalea! It was a good day to listen to the grasslands!

Awesome sunset and I have my fingers and toes crossed for rain tomorrow. 🙂

Large swarms of insects can generate as much electrical charge in the air as thunderstorms

New Insecticides Were Supposed To Be Harmless to Bees – But They Can Be Devastating to Honey Bee Health

Conan the Bacterium’ Has What It Takes to Survive on Mars

Keep looking!

The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know

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