Greenthread bud before (in both senses) a flower

Click for greater clarity.

By mid-February I was already seeing increasing numbers of greenthreads, Thelesperma filifolium, flowering along Mopac and in other places around town. On February 26th I photographed this bud not too far in front of a flower head of the same species that had already opened. The plants were on a steep bank of Shoal Creek, and I had to reposition myself several times as gravity kept pulling me down the 45° slope I lay on. (And with that mention of gravity, there slid into my mind the question of whether any plants have been named after Isaac Newton. I did some searching and found that there is indeed a genus Newtonia in Africa, but I can’t tell if it was named after the same Newton.)

© 2013 Steven Schwartzman