Ants on Texas bindweed flower
Click for greater clarity.
One more thing I saw at the Blunn Creek Nature Preserve on June 13—and that I’d been seeing in many other places around Austin—was Texas bindweed, Convolvulus equitans. After you’ve gazed at the pretty little flower, notice how weirdly shaped the leaves of this species of vine are. Also notice that three ants were attracted to the flower (you may have to click the photograph to see the two ants inside the reddish funnel). The grass appears to be a dry stage of the purple three-awn that you saw last month.
© 2013 Steven Schwartzman
Amazing picture! so much detail!
clumsyfool
July 1, 2013 at 7:10 AM
Thanks. If I can recast a saying by casting aside a devil, I’ll say that the delight is in the details.
Steve Schwartzman
July 1, 2013 at 7:20 AM
Those leaves are marvelous, and I like the way you’ve framed the flower with them. I didn’t remember noticing the leaves on your photos of purple bindweed, so I did a little browsing and discovered you haven’t really focused on those leaves. This was the clearest I could find with just a quick skim.
I did a quick online search, too, and the purple bindweed leaves do seem different. Is that so? What’s really cool here is that the “tips” of the flower feel as sharp as the leaves.
shoreacres
July 1, 2013 at 7:12 AM
Yes, the leaves of Texas bindweed are strangely irregular and quite variable. Those of purple bindweed also have lobes but are more well-behaved. You’re right that I haven’t focused on the leaves of the purple bindweed (in the photograph you linked to, the prominent green leaves are actually giant ragweed), but there’s a picture by Joe Marcus at the Wildflower Center site that shows them:
http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=11958
The tips of Texas bindweed flowers look sharp but—unlike so many things in nature in Texas—they’re soft and pliable. It’s a welcome relief for a photographer in this part of the world.
Steve Schwartzman
July 1, 2013 at 7:27 AM
I had to laugh, as only this morning I was pulling some of this out of my flowerbeds! (Not the same one of course, but the European C. arvensis.) The centre of this flower is very pretty.
Cathy
July 1, 2013 at 8:50 AM
Happy laugh to you, Cathy. Maybe you can “domesticate” some of the C. arvensis and have it be a wildflower rather than a weed.
Steve Schwartzman
July 1, 2013 at 9:09 AM
Convolvulus arvensis or field bindweed is very aggressive and invasive in central Texas.
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=coar4
I mentioned it to a farmer in Oregon and he said that if you get it in a field you will always have it. He said that you can reduce the density by growing certain plants that can compete with it, but it always comes back and you can never get rid of it.
Lloyd Ewing
July 2, 2013 at 4:45 AM
Thanks for all that information about the invasive C. arvensis. I knew we had it in Texas, but I had no idea the species was as widespread in North America as the USDA map you linked to shows it. I can understand why Cathy doesn’t want it in her garden, even in a country where it’s native.
Steve Schwartzman
July 2, 2013 at 6:38 AM
Une photo qui fait rêver Steve!
chatou11
July 1, 2013 at 12:06 PM
Vas-y, tu as le droit de rêver, Chantal.
Steve Schwartzman
July 1, 2013 at 1:29 PM
Your work is always wonderful, Steve, but every once in a while you share a specimen that I find arresting. I can’t put my finger on it, but I instantly loved this one. I shared it with Bob this morning and told him how much I liked it. His response was, “Even with all the ants on the flower?”
I guess he saw it differently. 😉
Lynda
July 3, 2013 at 6:22 AM
If any of these pictures ever proves too arresting, Lynda, I promise to bail you out.
Texas bindweed is a common and hardy wildflower here, so I often see it. The ants on this one made it special for me, so thanks for saying that they did for you too.
Steve Schwartzman
July 3, 2013 at 6:33 AM
You are teasing again?
I looked up the native status of the Texas Bindweed and was surprised to find that it is native here in Alabama as well.
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=COEQ&mapType=nativity&photoID=coeq_001_avp.tif
However, I probably wouldn’t invite it into my gardens, because all of the cousins in the morning glory family become too invasive here. Too bad.
Lynda
July 3, 2013 at 7:13 AM
Arresting is a great descriptive word, and I think you’re the first person ever to use it on this blog. Still, I couldn’t resist playing with another sense of term.
I often see Texas bindweed, but I haven’t noticed it to be overly invasive. Still, I can see why you wouldn’t want to take any chances with members of the morning glory family.
Steve Schwartzman
July 3, 2013 at 7:34 AM
I seem to have that habit from way back…
Once, in the car with friends, we were discussing music and I pulled out the word repertoire. They began laughing hysterically, and had to pull over to the side of the road. I asked if I had used it incorrectly and they said “No, but it is just so old fashioned!”
I’m glad to know that I haven’t hit word-monger status… yet. 😉
Lynda
July 3, 2013 at 7:58 AM
I don’t find repertoire to be an old-fashioned word. Besides, what’s a little word-mongering among friends?
Steve Schwartzman
July 3, 2013 at 8:24 AM
[…] once again is Texas bindweed, Convolvulus equitans, a vine whose open flower you saw a month ago. I photographed this transition from bud to flower—though where the first […]
From bud to flower | Portraits of Wildflowers
August 4, 2013 at 6:12 AM