Lionizing Lyons
Can you say “Wow!”? I can, after visiting this field in the little town of Lyons on March 23rd. The red-orange flowers are Indian paintbrush, Castilleja indivisa. The pink-violet are a species of Phlox. The myriad small white ones are Drummond’s sandwort, Minuartia drummondii. Elsewhere in the field, sleepy daisies (Xanthisma texanum var. drummondii) predominated, as shown below. Notice how in two of the mentioned wildflowers botanists have paid tribute to Thomas Drummond.
© 2024 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Thank you, Steve, for the photo of the stunningly beautiful field of wildflowers!!
Joanna
gabychops
March 29, 2024 at 4:35 AM
You’re welcome. Sorry I can’t transport you to that field for real.
Steve Schwartzman
March 29, 2024 at 5:52 AM
Indeed, it would be a dream come true, Steve! Thank you for reading my mind!
Joanna
gabychops
March 29, 2024 at 5:54 AM
Oh my! I had never seen Indian Paintbrush so tall and so numerous! As you probably already know, these plants are hemiparasites, they have the ability to sequester nutrients from perennial grasses. Also, despite being obligate parasites for part of their lives, these plants rely on pollinators for reproduction. Here in CA, there are flowers most of the year. A
Alessandra Chaves
March 29, 2024 at 12:12 PM
They can even be denser than the ones shown here, which the interspersed species probably have held in check somewhat. The advantage our paintbrushes may have in size is offset by the advantage you report of having paintbrushes most of the year, as ours last for a month or so in the early spring. An individual plant occasionally springs up out of season but that’s not common.
Yes, I knew about the hemiparasitism of paintbrushes. It’s a hungry world out there.
Steve Schwartzman
March 29, 2024 at 2:03 PM
Oh WOW! A superbloom! It must have been awesome being there.
circadianreflections
March 29, 2024 at 2:45 PM
Within the confines of that field it was a superbloom indeed—and as you said, awesome to be there.
Steve Schwartzman
March 29, 2024 at 3:51 PM
Sometimes a simple “wow” will speak volumes.
tanjabrittonwriter
March 29, 2024 at 4:40 PM
It will indeed. A big advantage of this field is that it’s not fenced, so I could walk around (carefully) to get good compositions. I took over 150 pictures there. We stopped at another great meadow of mixed wildflowers along the same road but that property was fenced, so I did the best I could by standing at the fence. I came away with many fewer pictures, though I was still pleased with a few of them (a couple of which are scheduled for a few days from now).
Steve Schwartzman
March 29, 2024 at 7:07 PM
Absolutely stunning scenes and images. The paintbrush and phlox – wow.
tomwhelan
March 29, 2024 at 9:20 PM
The part of the field in the top photograph is one of the best (and fortunately reliable, at least so far) places for a mixed wildflower display I’ve ever visited.
Steve Schwartzman
March 30, 2024 at 6:15 AM
My goodness – two species I’ve never heard of. Neither Drummond’s sandwort nor the sleepy daisies are listed for any of the counties I regularly visit; not in the hill country, the coastal counties, or east Texas. The sandwort might be found in my usual east Texas haunts, though; it is listed for surrounding counties, and it also shows up in Matagorda County.
I did a double take when I read ‘sleepy daisy’ and saw those yellow flowers. I expected to see the lazy daisies, which are white, but I quick trip to the USDA straightened me out.
shoreacres
March 29, 2024 at 9:48 PM
Bill Carr says of the sandwort that it’s “frequent in sands and sandy loams on roadsides and in open post oak woodlands in Bastrop County and to the east, but rare in our area.” In fact Bastrop County is where I first encountered it years ago. That might also be where I first ran across a sleepy daisy as well. Now you have leads on identifying two future discoveries of your own.
Steve Schwartzman
March 30, 2024 at 6:43 AM
I certainly can – wow! That’s the most fantastic spread of wildflowers. I love the name ‘sleepy daisies’…they were wide awake when you photographed them. 🙂
Ann Mackay
March 30, 2024 at 10:56 AM
Thanks for your added wow. Central Texas has been having an excellent wildflower spring, as you’ve been seeing and will see plenty more of (provided I can stay awake and not succumb to exhaustion from all the running around).
Steve Schwartzman
March 30, 2024 at 7:14 PM
How about wow, wow, wow.
Gallivanta
March 30, 2024 at 6:50 PM
If I were a gambler I’d say I’ll see your three and raise you one.
Steve Schwartzman
March 30, 2024 at 7:15 PM
Pretty light & color!
denisebushphoto
April 1, 2024 at 2:35 PM
The floral fest has continued since then.
Steve Schwartzman
April 1, 2024 at 3:14 PM