Back in Texas

October 4, 2014, was the last day of my Great Southwest Trip, and it was spent entirely in Texas. A few hours east of El Paso along Interstate 10 but still in the western part of the state and hundreds of miles from home, I pulled over and photographed these wildflowers by the side of the highway. The prominent yellow heads are desert marigolds, Baileya multiradiata, which don’t grow as far east as central Texas. The white heads at the left are blackfoot daisies, Melampodium leucanthum, which do grow in Austin. The violet-colored flowers appear to be verbena, but I can’t be specific.

This photograph, which is more documentary than artistic, bears witness to the fact that dry and nondescript plots of ground in Texas can still be home to several or even many species of wildflowers. The Lone Star State might well be called the Long Stare State for appreciators of wildflowers, who are often left in a state of admiration.

© 2015 Steven Schwartzman