Not Flopsy but Ipomopsy
This rigidly tall plant is Ipomopsis rubra, known colloquially as standing cypress and Texas plume. The photograph is from one month ago today at Tejas Camp in Williamson County.
© 2016 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers
Perspectives on Nature Photography
Search on this site:
Copyright Notice
Information
- A way to purchase a print
- About Me
- About My Equipment
- About My Techniques
- About This Column
- Books About Texas Plants
- Some highlights
Top Posts & Pages
Recent Posts
- Christ Lutheran Church of Elm Creek
- It’s hard to understand some people
- Cloud like a ring
- Pink evening primrose bud in a colony of phlox
- Sunflowers in mid-March
- Texas dandelions and Indian paintbrushes
- Look at the clouds. Look at the cliff.
- Texas groundsel seed head
- Texas groundsel group in a huge Indian paintbrush colony
- Bull nettle and red phlox
- Another dense mixed wildflower group
- Gaillardia suavis
- Two takes on a certain floral twosome
- A huge bluebonnet colony
- A closer look at Yucca torreyi
- Yucca torreyi
Calendar of Posts
Archives
Native Plants
- Botanical Research Institute of Texas
- Central Texas Native Plants
- Foraging Texas
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Native Plant Discussion Group
- Native Plant Society of Texas
- Native Prairies Association of Texas
- Texas Native Shrubs
- Texas Native Trees
- Texas Wildbuds
- Texas Wildflower Sightings
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Beautifully delicate blossoms. Great shot against the blue sky!
Pit
June 30, 2016 at 8:20 AM
The blue sky is an excellent natural background for these flowers. I’ll confess to having used it for this species many times.
Steve Schwartzman
June 30, 2016 at 11:44 AM
This is a gorgeous plant, Steve.
melissabluefineart
June 30, 2016 at 8:36 AM
It is, and it stands nobly erect.
Steve Schwartzman
June 30, 2016 at 11:44 AM
Why was my first impression of a string of tree lights? Green electrical cord with red lights? I agree with Pit … nice shot against the sky. Did you use fill flash?
Pairodox Farm
June 30, 2016 at 7:33 PM
That’s an appropriate question. I found plenty of light on the flowers so I didn’t need fill flash. In trying to answer your other question I came up with a hypothesis: the finely dissected leaves of this plant resemble needles on an evergreen tree (cypress, for example), and red and green have become traditional Christmas colors, so it’s not far-fetched to imagine the lights on a Christmas tree.
Steve Schwartzman
June 30, 2016 at 7:52 PM
What a gorgeous photo. I found some examples in the hill country about three weeks ago, but no blue sky to go with them. Still, I’d found them, and that’s what counted. One of the things that surprised me was finding a thick, fallen stalk that had three slender stalks growing out of it, loaded with blooms.I thought the buds were as pretty as the fully opened flowers, as well as the feathery foliage. I was surprised by how tall some of the stalks were, too — three and four feet was common.
I’ve never seen so much red as I did on that trip: scarlet leatherflower, salvia, coral bean, Turk’s cap, and a couple that I haven’t identified yet. Thinking back, it seems as though most of those plants were in the shade or dappled light. I wonder if their vibrant color is a way to draw the attention of pollinators.
This article about color is interesting: “Why Red Means red in Almost Every Language.”
shoreacres
June 30, 2016 at 8:21 PM
Hey, I’m glad you’ve made the personal acquaintance of this species. I agree that it typically takes a blue sky, either solid or with soft clouds, to bring out the best in this plant. On the other hand, for a close-up we can look down:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2013/06/27/an-ipomopsis-rubra-bud/
That sight made me agree with your (then future) comment that “the buds were as pretty as the fully opened flowers.” As for the plant’s height, Enquist gives 5 ft. as an upper limit, but I seem to recall occasional plants taller than I am.
And speaking of red and pollinators, Shinners and Mahler’s mentions that Ipomopsis rubra (rubra means red) is pollinated by ruby-throated hummingbirds.
Steve Schwartzman
July 1, 2016 at 8:26 AM
And there’s my revelation for the day. The “rubrics” in liturgical books traditionally were printed in red. Beyond that, there were hummingbirds of some sort feeding at the flowers. Whether they were ruby-throated, I can’t say. I was having a hard enough time just spotting them, as they were the fastest I’ve ever seen.
shoreacres
July 1, 2016 at 8:55 AM
In my reply to your comment I almost mentioned the connection to rubric.
Educational bureaucrats, lovers of jargon that they are and seem incapable of keeping themselves from being, have seized on the word:
https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/rubrics.html
Steve Schwartzman
July 1, 2016 at 9:11 AM
Thanks for that excellent article about color perception and color names. I remember learning in linguistics class decades ago that if a language has a name for a color beyond white and black, that color is invariably red.
Steve Schwartzman
July 1, 2016 at 9:01 AM
Wonderful Steve .. Looks fab against the blue sky
Julie@frogpondfarm
July 1, 2016 at 4:21 AM
The two are meant for each other. Maybe they should get married.
Steve Schwartzman
July 1, 2016 at 9:02 AM
This is my favorite stage of spiked flowers. Mature in the middle with blooms yet to open above.
Steve Gingold
July 1, 2016 at 11:44 AM
Yes, the promise of more to come. That diminishes in our own lives as we get older.
Steve Schwartzman
July 1, 2016 at 1:29 PM