The next stop was one of Shirley’s monitoring locations.
The first plant was the Palafoxia (Palafoxia callosa). It and all the others were swaying in the wind, both from the traffic and the wind. Thank goodness for the wind that day! Apparently I had never stopped here at this time of year. There was a lot of Palafoxia. It prefers limestone gravelly soils. Additionally this is a hard plant to spot especially if you are sailing down the road.
A small Crambus moth (tentative ID) hugged the leaves.
Sorta looks like a snout, eh. However the “snout” are its palps extended forward. The yellow on the tips of the leaves is the new growth of the Palofoxia’s leaves.
The ant hills reminds me of the Scream by the artist Edvard Munch.
Scattered about the Whitlow Wort (Paronychia virginica) took its place among the others. Also you can see how gravelly the ground was.
Here was the reason for stopping, Black-foot Daisy (Melampodium leucanthum)! Shirley was always quick to point out that this plant was tough. The highway department had scraped the right of way awhile back. But it came back much to Shirley’s delight. Now it must survive the mowing from the current landowner. Indeed I need to let them know why it is a special place. In addition this is the furthest east that Shirley knew about that it grew naturally.
A cluster of the Plains Nipple cactus (Escobaria missouriensis)!
“X” marks the spot for the Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida). This species had not been very showy this year. Who can blame with the lack rain?
Black-foot Daisy’s bud!
A disk flower bloomed!
A Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida) was tangled in Dodder (Cuscata pentagona).
Closeup of the tiny glassy Dodder’s flower. When ID’ing a dodder you must pay attention to the petals. Some have reflexed petals for example. Other times it is important to note the species of the host plant. Some dodders are host specific. There are ten species listed in the FNCT.
Indeed the Spreading Sida (Sida abutifolia) is a plant I enjoy stopping for a look!
Final flower, the Bindweed (Convolvulus equitans)! Certainly an aggravation for the farmer when the vine get tangled in the equipment. But for me I can just enjoy it. 🙂
Very cool about the blackfoot daisy colony! That does seem very far east of where I typically see them. I always love seeing whitlow-wort, and I do see The Scream! LOL
My verbenas bloom all summer when i water them. Guess the little rain it got made it bloom. Interesting idea about the elephants
water is amazing 🙂
Very cool about the blackfoot daisy colony! That does seem very far east of where I typically see them. I always love seeing whitlow-wort, and I do see The Scream! LOL
Yeah, you would think LBJ grasslands would have it. However I have not found it there, nor anyone else. 🤷🏻♀️