Texas thistle opening

Opening of a Texas thistle bud; click to enlarge.

And now, after interrupting the flow of this column yesterday, I’d like to go back to the bud of a Texas thistle, Cirsium texanum, and in particular to a close-up of the way one looks when the first few disk flowers begin to poke their way out. You can compare it to a baby bird hatching out of its shell if you like, but I’m reminded of a solar flare, and the yellow background of Engelmann daisies lends itself to that sunny metaphor, even if the “flare” itself is pink. This picture, like those in the last two posts, comes from my visit to the old Union Hill Cemetery in Williamson County on May 4, 2010.

© 2011 Steven Schwartzman