We headed back down from the mesa to meet up with Lisa. She filled us in on all the fabulous plans they are making. And gave us a tour of the new facilities. They can be very proud. After the tour, Jeanne and I headed back up to the mesa for we still had barely searched the mesa for our target plants.
Fringed Puccoon (Lithospermum incisum)!
The vivid bracts on the first of season (FOS) Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa)! The tiny flower was not yet visible.
The FOS Texas Bluestar (Amsonia ciliata var texana) was not quite open yet.
Jeanne spotted the Yellow Stonecrop Sedum (Sedum nuttalianum) just starting. After looking closer I noticed a single orange strand of Dodder (Cuscata). At least that is what I think it could be.
This was a very nice find and unexpected on a mesa with limestone. The soil was a loam which is not known as the preferred habitat for Carolina Anemone (Anemone caroliniana). Usually they are known on sandy soils. The Carolina Anemone has long styles unlike the Anemone berlandieri.
Additionally the stem is glabrous (not hairy) below the bracts.
Furthermore they also have double sepals (the part that looks like petals).
With permission I collected it for BRIT.
Still onwards we searched for our target mosses and plant.
Who would have dreamed what was living under an iceberg. Thats a beautiful pic of the Texas bluestar.
Certainly surprised them. Glad they took the opportunity to look!
Those iceberg photos are wonderful – such unique creatures. Hope we can see what else they find in the future.
Yay Carolina anemone!! Our neighbors patch is just starting to bloom last week.
I’ll have to revisit Thomsen soon. It sounds like they have made a lot of progress.