Not a ladies’ tresses orchid

On November 11th, when I first got out of my car on Westcave Loop south of Bee Cave, I found not a ladies’ tresses orchid but a wildflower that, like it, produces a single spike of white flowers. This wasn’t the normal spring flowering season for Polygala alba, white milkwort, but there it was half a year out of sync, and it was even being visited by the little insect you see here. This photograph represents a height of maybe 3 inches (8 cm), so you can appreciate how tiny the insect was.

© 2013 Steven Schwartzman