Partridge pea against a blue sky
Another thing I saw beneath a clear sky on the Blackland Prairie in northeast Austin on the morning of September 12th was flowers of partridge pea, Chamaecrista fasciculata. The dark red markings near the base of some of the petals are a characteristic of this species, as is the inward curve of one petal. Also notice the yellow stripes on some of the maroon stamens.
To see the many places in the United States where partridge pea grows, you can consult the state-clickable map at the USDA website.
© 2013 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Love those colors. Very striking!
Hope
October 21, 2013 at 6:13 AM
The flower certainly looks vibrant against that clear blue sky.
Steve Schwartzman
October 21, 2013 at 7:16 AM
Lovely blue Texas sky! How big is this bloom?
cindydyer
October 21, 2013 at 6:15 AM
I notice you’re often reminded of those Texas skies you lived with for so many years.
Partridge pea flowers are rather small, at most about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) long.
Steve Schwartzman
October 21, 2013 at 7:20 AM
A handsome flower. I followed the link to see the map. Alas! No reports of them in the eastern counties of IA. Many in the western, tho.
Jim in IA
October 21, 2013 at 7:10 AM
“Go west, young man, go west.” I seem to remember at least one other time when a species shown in this blog was found to grow in western but not eastern Iowa. You can take these cases as incentives to travel.
Steve Schwartzman
October 21, 2013 at 7:25 AM
Stunning…love the light on the flower with the perfect blue sky as a backdrop!
dhphotosite
October 21, 2013 at 9:08 AM
Glad you enjoy it, David. I’d call it a bright bit of minimalism.
Steve Schwartzman
October 21, 2013 at 9:39 AM
So perfect! ces trois couleurs se marient si bien et j’ai l’impression de le soleil est sur mon écran.
Très émouvant ce petit oreiller de ton papa.
Je ne reçois toujours pas les newsletters de wordpress, tout est pourtant bien coché, je désespère!
bonne semaine Steve et ravie de ta visite.
chatou11
October 21, 2013 at 10:47 AM
I’m pleased that you find a piece of perfection in this pretty picture, cette photo ensoleillée.
Même sans les newsletters de WordPress, Chantal, tu peux toujours venir voir ce qu’il y a de nouveau ici et ailleurs.
Steve Schwartzman
October 21, 2013 at 11:08 AM
This has to be a ‘wow’ – a floral Swedish flag 🙂
Heyjude
October 21, 2013 at 12:13 PM
That’s a unique interpretation, Jude. I had to remind myself what the Swedish flag looks like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Sweden
Steve Schwartzman
October 21, 2013 at 12:18 PM
Gadzooks! That is some rich color, Steve.
Steve Gingold
October 21, 2013 at 4:25 PM
That’s the first Gadzooks ever to grace these pages. The colors are rich indeed.
Steve Schwartzman
October 21, 2013 at 4:58 PM
Always keepin’ it fresh, Steve. 🙂
Steve Gingold
October 21, 2013 at 4:59 PM
As always, gorgeous! What fantastic color!
Brenda Jones
October 21, 2013 at 5:55 PM
From me to thee
a bright delight,
this partridge pea.
Steve Schwartzman
October 21, 2013 at 6:12 PM
Beautiful photography…LOVE IT!
Landscape Design By Lee
October 21, 2013 at 8:00 PM
Welcome to the world of nature in central Texas. I grew up on Long Island, but I learned about native plants here.
Steve Schwartzman
October 21, 2013 at 8:08 PM
Great DOF and detail on this one. I just got a copy of Ahmed Fayaz’s
‘Encyclopaedia of Tropical Plants”. Right now, for me this is one of the most comprehensive books on Flora. For Wildflowers I have Walter Kingsley Taylor’s “Florida Wildflowers”, and others by C.Ritchie Bell and Bryan J Taylor. I also have Roger L. Hammer books on wildflowers too. I started with Llamas’ book but it only covers ornamentals; Ahmed Fayaz is more comprehensive.
M. Firpi
October 22, 2013 at 9:04 PM
In this case f/14 provided the necessary depth of field.
I’m not familiar with any of the books you mentioned, but I can see where they’d be helpful in your project of documenting tropical plants—especially the Fayaz, which I looked up online.
Steve Schwartzman
October 22, 2013 at 11:16 PM
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