Square-bud primrose flowers

In the April 19th photograph of Penstemon cobaea along US 183 in Burnet County that you saw yesterday, your eyes might have been drawn to a few hazy patches of yellow in the lower left corner. That bright color came from Calylophus berlandieri, a wildflower that you get a good look at here (and last year you got to see some of these flowers from below.) This plant commonly goes by the names square-bud primrose and sundrops; the former is more literally descriptive, the latter more poetic.

© 2014 Steven Schwartzman