Western ironweed flowers

Also from July 7th along Bull Creek comes this close and somewhat Impressionist portrait of western ironweed, Vernonia baldwinii, a species making its debut here today. Although the photograph is from two months ago, I kept finding western ironweed (and also woolly ironweed, the other local species) flowering in various places all through August.

To see the many locations in the central United States where this species grows, you can check out the newly updated USDA website that now has a slider (but not a red-eared slider) on the left side of the U.S. map. If you slowly drag the slider upward the states will keep enlarging and eventually the counties will appear. You can drag the map around within its frame at any magnification to see whatever region you’d like.

© 2014 Steven Schwartzman