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Wildflowers: A visit to my yard - X

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Grape Hyacinth (Muscari botryoides) (March to April) This flower appeared in my yard in 2001 at the intersection of my driveway and the street in a small group standing alone. It reappeared in 2002 in exactly the same place and in the same number. It is an escaped domestic flower called "grape" because its tiny, bell-like dark blue blossoms are tightly clustered like grapes. It is discussed in A Field Guide to Texas Wildflowers by Campbell and Loughmiller, who found and photographed it in East Texas. I have however seen it growing wild in larger numbers in other yards in Denton.

Storksbill , Alfilaria (Erodium cicularium) (April to May) This flower is in the Geranium family and is related to a number of flowers that in clude "cranesbill" in their names. They are so called because their fruit end in a long beak or "cranesbill." This flower differs in two respects. First, the fruit is larger and longer, making a "storksbill." Second, the leaves are fernlike rather than palmate. There is a Texas version of this flower, Texas Storksbill (Erodium texanum), with long-stalked, deeply veined, and wrinkled appearing leaves. The Storksbill in my yard normally grows along roads and on sandy ground in Illinois, Michigan, and Quebec. The Texas heat seems to be a problem for this flower, since the tiny bloom opens late in the morning and recloses in early afternoon.

False Garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve) (Throughout Year) This flower has the appearance of wild onions but does not have an onion or garlic smell. This plant appeared for the first time in the yard in early spring of 2002. It is also called crow poison. It grows in lawns, disturbed areas, pastures, prairies, bottomlands, and open woodlands. Note the bee on the flower.

Basketflower (Centaurea americana) (May to August) This flower is a transplant from a pasture in Jackboro, Texas. These flowers did not appear until two years after they were planted. The plant is a prairie flower that likes sandy or clay loam soils. The flower looks much like a thistle but does not have prickly leaves. It is called a basketflower because the flower appears to be sitting in a weaved basket.

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ECH - April 12, 2003

LESS MORE

Texas Wildflowers National Wildflower Research Center Texas Society for Ecological Restoration Natural Area Preservation Association Texas Wildscapes Sally Wasowski's Page Center for Environmental Philosophy