A variety of winecup

Click for greater clarity.

In addition to the standing winecup that you saw last time, we have a winecup that doesn’t stand so tall, Callirhoe involucrata, but which has similar-looking flowers. There’s also Callirhoe involucrata var. lineariloba, shown here, a naturally occurring variety that is mostly white but usually has a trace of violet in it, a pale reminder of the purplish red that is the normal color of the winecup. This photograph also shows you what the central column of a winecup looks like, regardless of the petals’ color.

Marshall Enquist reports that the white variety of the winecup is found in Kimble, Menard, and Williamson counties, but on May 17th I found this one a little outside Williamson County in far eastern Burnet County. As with the last three pictures, today’s comes from land along the entrance road to the Mahomet Cemetery.

By the way, I forgot to mention yesterday that winecups are small flowers, with a typical petal length of only about one inch (2.5 cm).

© 2013 Steven Schwartzman