Two kinds of wildflowers
Click for greater clarity.
Do you remember the lush wildflower meadow that appeared here on April 8? Prominent among the species pictured then was antelope-horns, Asclepias asperula, the most common milkweed in Austin; less conspicuously you saw some blackfoot daisies, Melampodium leucanthum. Now you get a closer look at both.
The blackfoot daisy in the foreground, though white, is called blackfoot because of its dark roots. Behind the daisy is a dome of antelope-horns milkweed flowers, each divided into five radially symmetric parts. Note the not-quite-open antelope-horns bud just to the left of the daisy, and another bud in the lower left. Also notice a few more blackfoot daisies in the background, including the one near the top of the frame that gives you a hint of the pattern on the underside of its white rays.
© 2012 Steven Schwartzman
So beautiful! Thank you! Cheers!
lijiun
May 19, 2012 at 5:46 AM
You’re welcome. You’ll find many beautiful things in nature here and wherever you are.
Steve Schwartzman
May 19, 2012 at 6:55 AM
I love those antelope horns..the texture is so unusual!
Just A Smidgen
May 19, 2012 at 8:32 AM
I’m glad you’re fond of this milkweed, because in upcoming posts you’ll be getting a closer look at this phase and other phases in its life.
I don’t think you were visiting this blog last summer, but you can see another local milkweed species that I featured then, wand milkweed. The two posts following that one also show wand milkweed.
Steve Schwartzman
May 19, 2012 at 8:44 AM
That’s a great photo… the more you look, the more you see!
Cathy
May 19, 2012 at 1:58 PM
True. I didn’t mention the spots of violet in the upper left, which might have been prairie verbena. The white at the left and right edges was probably a little wildflower with the strange name of corn-salad.
Steve Schwartzman
May 19, 2012 at 2:18 PM
Very pretty…thanks for sharing and the education!
dhphotosite
May 19, 2012 at 2:45 PM
You’ve probably heard me say this several times: once a teacher, always a teacher.
Steve Schwartzman
May 19, 2012 at 5:35 PM
[…] of Asclepias asperula, known as antelope-horns milkweed, open into the five-pronged flowers you saw a few posts back. Now here’s an even closer view, with no distractions, to show you the intricate structure of […]
Antelope-horns milkweed flowers « Portraits of Wildflowers
May 20, 2012 at 1:45 PM
[…] not far from home. The white “glow” surrounding this developing flower head is from a blackfoot daisy a little distance behind it. Who the Barbara was that Barbara’s buttons got named after […]
Barbara’s buttons « Portraits of Wildflowers
June 20, 2012 at 5:46 AM
So pretty…wish we had them here!
jmnartsy
June 24, 2012 at 7:25 AM
This morning I’m in Jersey City, New Jersey, and I’m pretty sure people here don’t have these two wildflowers, either. I wish you did.
Steve Schwartzman
June 24, 2012 at 9:31 AM
[…] Melampodium leucanthum. The markings on the underside of the rays that you could barely discern last time are clear in this close view from […]
Blackfoot daisy from below | Portraits of Wildflowers
January 30, 2015 at 12:32 PM