Shirley’s Stars

Well, we continued on towards the prairie behind Denise’s house.

Here I pointed out the square buds on the Square-bud Primrose (Oenothera berlandieri). Some call these Sundrops I think.
Small bunches of Phlox!
Yellow Flax (Linum rigidum) is always a standout!
So I was not familiar with this bindweed so Denise let me have a specimen to take home. So it keyed out as a non-native Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis). Its leaves are much wider and it does not have projections on the corolla. Like all the bindweeds, they are a problem for some farm equipment.
Isn’t this a beauty! So my guess is that it was a hybrid Castilleja. There was only one. There is one other possibility which would be Castilleja lindheimeri. That would require further investigation and that wasn’t happening that day. 🙂
Here was the star of the field trip, a prairie filled with Shooting Stars (Primula meadia)!
However I like the name Shirley’s Stars. I mean it was her favorite flower. 🙂
Looking up from a bug’s point of view!

More to come tomorrow from Cooke County!

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Keep looking!

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

6 Comments

  1. Shirley’s Stars have an interesting shape. What are its pollinators? Love these pics, especially ftom a bugs-eye view.

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