Astragalus in Bastrop
Another wildflower—and one making its debut here—that I found coming up on March 4th, a year and a half after the Bastrop County Complex Fire of 2011, appears to be in the genus Astragalus, though I’m not sure what species.
© 2013 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Amazing how nature recovers!
Tina Schell
March 23, 2013 at 2:35 PM
It is indeed, I’m glad to say.
Steve Schwartzman
March 23, 2013 at 11:01 PM
This genus its root is very common Chinese medicine.
myfoodandflowers
March 23, 2013 at 2:54 PM
I didn’t know that. Thanks for the information.
Steve Schwartzman
March 23, 2013 at 11:03 PM
That is such a pretty thing….
janina
March 23, 2013 at 11:34 PM
This is not an uncommon kind of flower, and yet for some reason I don’t see it all that often.
Steve Schwartzman
March 24, 2013 at 7:36 AM
Yay! Pretty pretty! You must have posted this after I did my morning perusal! What a treat!
Elisa
March 24, 2013 at 8:16 AM
Yes, this was a two-fer. Now that spring has spring I’ve already accumulated so many pictures that I’ve occasionally posted twice a day.
Steve Schwartzman
March 24, 2013 at 1:50 PM
I first heard astragalus when my mother broke her ankle. I believe it’s another word for talus. We heard a lot of words in that episode, including tibia, fibula and talus. The orthopedic surgeon wondered if she might have been playing soccer behind my back.
I still can’t figure out how an ankle bone and a flower got connected, but it’s certainly a pretty flower!
shoreacres
March 24, 2013 at 11:12 AM
Here’s what Shinners and Mahler’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas says: “Ancient Greek name of a leguminous plant; perhaps from astragalus, ankle bone or dice, possibly alluding to rattling of seeds within fruit.” Actually astragalus was the form in which the Romans borrowed astragalos from the Greeks (and note the relationship to the Greek osteo that we use in various anatomical and medical terms to refer to bones). The ancient Romans did indeed use ankle bones to make dice.
Steve Schwartzman
March 24, 2013 at 2:08 PM
Very pretty photo!
montucky
March 25, 2013 at 10:37 PM
This one has proved popular.
Steve Schwartzman
March 25, 2013 at 11:18 PM
Truly beautiful. WIth no trees in sight maybe this one was dormant for many years and now is emerging again. Burned out areas sometimes produce unexpected growth, (I hope that I am right about that and not making an idle statement) but I am known to come forth with odd thoughts that i have no idea where they came from.
petspeopleandlife
March 28, 2013 at 9:59 AM
I’ve read that seeds can stay fertile in the ground for years, sometimes even decades. Some of our talents lie latent, too.
Steve Schwartzman
March 28, 2013 at 10:03 AM