Firewheel
Firewheel or Indian blanket; click for greater sharpness.
Now that firewheels have come up, thanks to yesterday’s photographs of a fasciated one, here’s what a normal flower head of Gaillardia pulchella looks like. You can see why this flower is also known as Indian blanket. This picture is from April 27 of this year in northwest Austin.
You can visit the USDA website for more information about Gaillardia pulchella, including a state-clickable map showing the many places that the species grows.
© 2011 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
I am curious about the common name of “Indian Blanket.” Again, you feature a beautiful plant totally unfamiliar to me in the Pacific NW. I got to wondering about what the Native American blankets actually looked like. Interesting image search – type in “native american blanket” into a Google image search.
Amazing how many blankets are the colors of this flower or have the designs of the petal edges. Except the blankets from this part of the world. Ours are the red and black designs of animals like the hummingbird, orca or thunderbird.
Man follows nature for design ideas.
Dawn
August 26, 2011 at 7:41 AM
It was common for Anglo settlers to call unfamiliar plants Indian this and Indian that. Another one that’s well known in Texas and other parts of the American West is Indian paintbrush. It may also surprise you that through the end of the 19th century, corn was often called Indian corn (to distinguish it from the corn that in Britain still means grain in general and often wheat); see, for example,
http://books.google.com/books?id=vicMAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22indian%20corn%22&pg=PP5#v=onepage&q&f=false
I did the image search you suggested and saw the great variety of actual blankets that American Indian tribes have woven. Why the species Gaillardia pulchella should have been singled out as Indian blanket I don’t know, though some of my wildflower books recount a supposed Indian legend about the flower’s creation. Here’s the account in a document prepared by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and available as a free download at
http://www.wildflower.org/youthactivities/legends_folkore_part1.pdf
“A wonderful Indian legend tells the story of a great weaver in a tribe of Plains Comanche. This man was a wonderful weaver and made beautiful robes, mats, and blankets. Everyone in the tribe had something that the weaver had made, and it was among their most prized possessions. One day the weaver realized that his time on Earth was drawing to an end. So, he set out to make one last weaving. It would be his death blanket. The weaver worked for many weeks, gathering the plants to create his dyes, preparing the wool, setting up his loom, and, finally, weaving the blanket. Several months later, the blanket was complete. That night, the weaver died in his sleep. Out of their great respect and love for the weaver, the tribe wrapped him in the blanket and placed him on the burial platform. When the Great Spirit came to take the weaver to heaven, he was awed by the beautiful blanket. He was also amazed at the love and respect the tribe held for the weaver. So, as a gift to the people of the tribe, the Great Spirit sends the colors of the weaver’s last creation to Earth every Spring in the flowers of the Indian blanket.”
Steve Schwartzman
August 26, 2011 at 8:11 AM
I just noticed that the photograph on the front page of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center document is an early one of mine. Synchronicity!
Steve Schwartzman
August 26, 2011 at 8:24 AM
Thanks for that interesting reply. I love that last story about the weaver.
Dawn
August 27, 2011 at 8:07 AM
Gorgeous photo!
Tristan
August 26, 2011 at 9:05 AM
Thanks, Tristan. Can we say that the firewheel has set your imagination on fire?
Steve Schwartzman
August 26, 2011 at 9:21 AM
quite beautiful!
Tammie
August 26, 2011 at 11:50 AM
Thanks, Tammie. This is one of the best-known wildflowers in central Texas.
Steve Schwartzman
August 26, 2011 at 12:50 PM
Thought you might enjoy this short video of the button blankets of this region.
Dawn
August 27, 2011 at 8:59 AM
Thanks, Dawn. I watched it.
Steve Schwartzman
August 27, 2011 at 9:16 AM
Amazing. I didn’t know flowers could look like that.
Evelyn
August 27, 2011 at 8:45 PM
Welcome to the wonderful world of Texas wildflowers.
Steve Schwartzman
August 27, 2011 at 9:46 PM
Wow. Thanks for the link. I loved this one, as well! 🙂
Nandini
February 23, 2012 at 8:47 AM
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