Green and black on yellow
Click for greater clarity.
Yesterday you saw a closeup of the flowers and fruit of Croton capitatus var. lindheimeri, known as woolly croton because of the overall fuzziness of the plant. Another characteristic of it and a few other Croton species in central Texas is that some of their leaves tend to turn yellow or orange, but not necessarily because of cold. This woolly croton leaf had obviously turned a bright yellow, which drew my attention and led me to notice the katydid on it (at least I think that’s what kind of insect this is). Like the last picture, I took this one on a warm October 11 at Southeast Metropolitan Park.
To see the places in the south-central and southeastern United States where woolly croton grows, you can consult the state-clickable map at the USDA website.
© 2012 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Der ist aber mutig 😉
einfachtilda
November 4, 2012 at 11:48 AM
Some of the translations that I find for the German word mutig are ‘brave, courageous, bold, valiant, plucky, spirited, heroic, gallant.’ In any case, I’m glad you liked the image.
Steve Schwartzman
November 4, 2012 at 3:18 PM
A very pretty contrast in colors. Kinda (Baylor colors). Sorry for the comparison. I just could not resist. I am not a fan of Baylor. I see that someone commented in German, I think. I am mostly German and speak about 10 words or so. Can you click on something by word press for translation?
petspeopleandlife
November 4, 2012 at 1:01 PM
I don’t know about WordPress, but you can use http://translate.google.com. That’s where I got the translations for the key word in the German comment.
Steve Schwartzman
November 4, 2012 at 3:20 PM
Green and yellow probably reminds a lot of folks of “red touch yellow” and all that involves. I happened across a neat article that actually traces the source of that coral snake identification rhyme to a fellow named Jack Loticus in 1862.
I think the combination of the green katydid and the yellow croton leaf is equally attractive and far less dangerous!
shoreacres
November 4, 2012 at 1:17 PM
Definitely less dangerous. If anything, the poor katydid was somewhat afraid of my camera (and/or me) and at times tried to hide under the curled-up edge of the croton leaf that you can see at the lower left.
The version of the snake rhyme I’ve heard has and rather than the more descriptive touch. Coral snakes may not be common in central Texas, but there definitely are some here. Of the venomous snakes, rattlesnakes are more numerous here, but they’re easy to identify, so I’m not aware of any ditty about them. Much more widespread than any snake is poison ivy, about which you may know the little adage that says “Leaves of three, let it be.” There are innocuous plants with three leaflets, too, but it’s better to err on the side of safety.
Steve Schwartzman
November 4, 2012 at 3:30 PM
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