Scarlet spiderling

Boerhavia coccinea; click for greater detail.

If the skeleton-plant is erect and slender, so is scarlet spiderling, Boerhavia coccinea, which I’ve seen flowering from time to time during the continuing drought. Each flower in the cluster at the upper right is not even a quarter of an inch across.

Similar in color, but shading more to violet, is a purposely out-of focus flower of purple bindweed, Ipomoea cordatotriloba, in the background. That species has been abundant all year, even with almost no rain; it’s a rare hike I take here in Austin that doesn’t lead me past some purple bindweed flowers.

I took this two-for-the-price-of-one photograph at Austin’s Elisabet Ney Museum, whose grounds are being restored to a native prairie. Today’s picture is one of twelve that are currently on display at the museum. For those not familiar with Elisabet Ney, a German artist who settled in Texas in the 1800s and specialized in sculpture, I encourage you to take a look at the museum’s website and Wikipedia.

For more information about scarlet spiderling, including a clickable map showing the states in the United States where this species grows, you can visit the USDA websiste.

© 2011 Steven Schwartzman