Texas Flowers

All colors of the rainbow are found in Texas flowers at Big Bend NP, Lost Maples SA, Seminole Canyon SP, Balcones Canyonlands NWR, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Texas Bluebonnet - Lupinus texensis (Pea Family - Fabaceae)

Honey Mesquite - Prosopis glandulosa (Mimosa Family - Mimosaceae)

Guayacan or Soapbush or Texas lignumvitae - Guajacum angustifolium

(Creosote-Bush Family - Zygophyllaceae)

Rough Nama, Sand Bells - Nama hispidum (Waterleaf Family - Hydrophyllaceae)

Tree Tobacco - Nicotiana glauca (Potato Family - Solanaceae)

Free wallpaper (desktop background) for personal use
Click on above picture, then on next picture right-click and set as background

False Day Flower - Tinantia anomala (Spiderwort Family - Commelinaceae)

Guajillo or Thornless Catclaw - Acacia berlandieri (Pea Family - Fabaceae)

Texas Persimmon - Diospyros texana (Ebony Family -Ebenaceae)

Texas Buckeye - Aesculus glabra (Horse-Chestnut Family - Hippocastanaceae)

Mexican Buckeye - Ungnadia speciosa (Soapberry Family -Sapindaceae)

Scarlet Leather Flower - Clematis texensis (Buttercup Family -Ranunculaceae)

Scarlet Leather Flower

Tropical Sage - Salvia coccinea (Mint Family -Lamiaceae)

Green False Nightshade - Chamaesaracha coronopus (Potato Family -Solanaceae)

Antelope Horns - Asclepias asperula (Milkweed Family -Asclepiadaceae)

Prairienymph - Herbertia lahue (Iris Family -Iridaceae)

Prairie Beard-tongue - Penstemon cobaea (Figwort Family -Scrophulariaceae)

Evening-Star Rain Lily - Cooperia drummondii (Lily Family -Liliaceae)

Evening-Star Rain Lily

Candellia or Wax Plant- Euphorbia antisyphilitica (Spurge Family -Euphorbiaceae)

Resurrection Plant or Flower of Stone - Selaginella lepidophylla
(Spike-Moss Family -Selaginellaceae)

This is a desert plant that grows rapidly after rains, but curls up into a dormant ball
when it lacks moisture.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds
Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America
Kaufman Focus Guides - Butterflies
Butterflies through Binoculars The East
Butterflies ot the Great Lakes
Caterpillars of Eastern North America
Caterpilliars in the Field and Garden
Peterson Field Guides: Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Native Plants of South Texas

All images © MSCI

From Green to Colors

Wow! I can't believe it is already October and its more than two months since I last published anything in my "green" series. Funny, I am not thinking about green, now, as the summer days are gone! Rather, I am watching the fall colors and doing fall activities: eating orange peaches and yellow pears, blue plums; watching my green tomatoes ripen to orange and then red; picking red raspberries and eating the first red apples of the season. Some maples are showing orange and red; the arrowhead and pickerel weeds in the lake are turning orange and brown; in the fields, soy beans and corn are turning yellow and brown; yellow goldenrod is blooming everywhere; purple New England asters are growing along the roadsides and the skies are bright blue on a cool fall day.

Even on my trip this spring, green was not the only color I noticed....

After visiting Big Bend NP, we drove east to Lake Amistad NRA. Here it rained for 2 days. The result was that the ocotillo actually sprouted leaves in just a few days. Even when I am not in Texas, I am fascinated by this plant. I hope you will put the flower as wall paper on your computer for awhile.

Ocotillo - Fouquieria splendens (Ocotillo Family - Fouquieriaceae)




Free wallpaper (desktop background) for personal use
Click on above picture, then on next picture right-click and set as background

If you are looking for color, you can usually find it everywhere. I always enjoy lichen on rocks.

Dead Tree

Oak Tree blossoms

Canadian Bigtooth Maple

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
Peterson Field Guides: Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Native Plants of South Texas

All images © MSCI

Cactus Flowers

Cactus greens, yellows, purples, oranges, reds ...

Near the end of our stay in Big Bend NP, the cacti were starting to bloom. Here are some of my photos.

Blind Prickly Pear buds

Blind Prickly Pear

Blind Prickly Pear flower turn orange with age

Purple-tinged Prickly Pear buds

Purple-tinged Prickly Pear

Purple-tinged Prickly Pear, spines are 4 inches long

Purple-tinged Prickly Pear

Purple-tinged Prickly Pear

Rainbow species

Hedgehog species

Christmas Cholla with red fruit

Cane Cholla with yellow fruit

Engelmann's Prickly Pear

Engelmann's Prickly Pear

Free wallpaper (desktop background) for personal use
Click on above picture, then on next picture right-click and set as background

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
Peterson Field Guides: Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Native Plants of South Texas

Cactus Green

Cactus greens, purples, yellows...

Of course there are lots of cacti growing in the Chihuanhuan Desert of Big Bend NP. I was surprised at the colors of the plant and at the number of different species, more than in any other park. On top of that, the various species of prickly pear cacti hybridize with each other, so you sometimes can't tell at which species you are looking. So, in general, I have identified the following photos with my best guesses.

Cactus grow every where, where it can get a foothold. It needs some soil and some moisture, and it doesn't have to be very much.

Chisos Mountains from Dugout Wells
with Engelmann's Prickly Pear in front

Blind Prickly Pear

Blind Prickly Pear

Blind Prickly Pear

Pitaya or Hedgehog cactus

Pitaya or Hedgehog cactus

Spiny-fruited Prickly Pear 75 feet up

Spiny-fruited Prickly Pear found only in Big Bend NP

Spiny-fruited Prickly Pear in the setting sun

Purple-tinged Prickly Pear

Purple-tinged Prickly Pear, spines are up to 4 inches long.
I measured it!

Engelmann's Prickly Pear

Engelmann's Prickly Pear

Pineapple species

Prickly Pear with yellow spines in Chisos Basin

None of these photos show the cactus in bloom. When we arrived in Big Bend NP, it was too early but near the end of our 2 week stay, some cacti were blooming. See next blog.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
Peterson Field Guides: Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Native Plants of South Texas