I heard through the grapevine about a new plant found at the grasslands. This is always exciting! It was a population first found by Yelenich and Campos. Many of you probably recognize the names from iNaturalist. Two very talented botanists.
So I went to see the new discovery for myself. Additionally I invited Reese to share in the awesome find of the Downy Paintbrush (Castilleja sessiliflora)!
The color for it ranged from cream to a light pink. Some of the floras I checked also said colors can be purplish.
What a beautiful mix!
Some the population was located down in the deep ravine/canyon.
The Downy Paintbrush flowers are falcate (sickle-shaped) unlike this Purple Paintbrush (Castilleja purpurea) pictured here. The Purple Paintbrush also has mostly a shorter corolla tube.
While examining the flowers I found a small cat!
I don’t have an ID, but pretty cool anyways.
A single branched plant that really highlighted the falcate flowers. Also it had a armyworm cat on it.
Close up.
What a cool discovery for North Texas! Check it out to see other observations on iNat of the Downy Paintbrush. And again congrats to Yelenich and Campos for their great find!
No grapes in this post!! 😜
That’s a beautiful paintbrush. Not sure I’ve ever seen it.
It’s a really beautiful and delicate looking flower