Least but not last

Here’s a native plant you’ve not seen in these pages till now: Chaetopappa bellidifolia, apparently known as dwarf white aster and white-ray least daisy. I say apparently because I’ve never heard anyone mention these tiny members of the sunflower family. They’re so small that the rays on each daisy are only 2 to 3 millimeters long. The yellow four-nerve daisies (Tetraneuris linearifolia) in their midst, already on the smallish side, look large by comparison. As you can see, here at least the least daisies make up for their diminutive size with their large numbers. This photograph is from along Yaupon Dr. in my Great Hills neighborhood in Austin on May 11. The rocky ground is typical of the Texas Hill Country.

If that stars-in-the-sky view of least daisies left you with at least some desire to see an individual Chaetopappa flower head, here’s one I photographed in Bastrop County on April 12, 2010.

Note: I’m away from home and will be for some time. Please understand if I’m late replying to your comments.

© 2016 Steven Schwartzman