Blue stars buds

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In the last picture you could make out a few buds of Amsonia ciliata, but the blue stars of the plant’s flowers stole the show. This follow-up photograph gives the buds their due. It also lets you see the little hairs, or cilia, that explain the species name ciliata. This photograph comes from the same trip to Kathy Comer’s property northwest of Austin as the previous one.

For more information, and to see a state-clickable map of the places in the southeastern United States where blue stars grow, you can visit the USDA website.

© 2012 Steven Schwartzman

Blue stars

Click for greater clarity.

Here’s a wildflower that you may never have seen before. It’s not considered rare, but for some reason I rarely encounter it in Austin. It’s Amsonia ciliata, and you can tell why people commonly call it blue stars. I photographed these stylized stars on a March 17 field trip by the Williamson County chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas to Kathy Comer’s property northwest of Austin. In one of her meadows we found a whole colony of these plants in bloom, more altogether than I’d seen in my previous 13 years of taking pictures. I was happy.

For more information, and to see a state-clickable map of the places in the southeastern United States where blue stars grow, you can visit the USDA website.

© 2012 Steven Schwartzman