A new species for me and probably for thee

Near the Ludwigia octovalvis that appeared in the last post (and a flower of which you can make out in the background of today’s picture) I found some erect plants of a type I don’t believe I’d ever seen before. Joe Marcus of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center identified them for me as a species of Ammannia, probably Ammannia coccinea. He also commented:

Ammannia is a genus that I very rarely see anywhere around central Texas, though it is definitely native here.  Not sure why they’re not more common around these parts.  I found some plants growing near Kyle once and that is my only encounter with it in the area.  They’re much more common in north Texas.  My sense of it is that they’re happiest in waste places – wet, waste places, of course.

A question, then, for those of you in the Austin area: have you ever come across this native plant?

As was the case last time, this picture comes from August 6th at the edge of a pond on the Blackland Prairie in northeast Austin.

© 2014 Steven Schwartzman

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I’m out of town for a while. Of course you’re welcome to leave comments, but please understand if it takes me longer than usual to respond.