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A Walk in a Fern Bluff Park (14 April 2007) This walk began in Olson Meadows Park, then continued to Brightwater Park by Jerry Cates A Cool, Refreshing Day, With Lots of Flowers... And Nice People to Share Them With, in Olson Meadows--
And in Brightwater Park--
To protect the privacy and security of individuals, no names are provided... Page 1 (Olson Meadows) Photos and a narrative describing this walk will be posted below in a series of pages as soon as possible. We found lots of flowers out today, despite the cold weather. Fears that yesterday's storms and heavy downpours would have wiped all our wildflowers out were unfounded. Thanks to all who participated, especially the young lady and her two daughters who posed for a wind-blown photo in Olson Meadows, and the young man and his two children who helped me scout for flowers in Brightwater Park. I expect to have photos of both posted here soon. Thanks also to all who wanted to come along but for one reason or another could not. These pages are here for you. We always stop for a few minutes along the way to think about you, remind ourselves that you are present in spirit, and hope you are having a special day. Verbena (Verbena spp.) in two forms...
Clusters... This flower is a member of the Verbena family. Many species of this family produce flowers in clusters, like this one, and many are found in Texas. The species involved is not easy to identify. One of the earliest to bloom is the Prairie Verbena (Verbena bipinnatifida), an erect to sprawling plant 6-16 inches tall with many branches. The leaves are opposite and deeply lobed multiple times, symmetrically about the midrib, like the specimen in the photograph. The tuber vervain (V. rigida) grows in short cylindrical clusters at the end of the stems, with purple or reddish-purple trumpet-shaped flowers that are coarsely but sharply toothed. It is tempting to presume that the flower head progresses like those of Lantana, which bloom in the center first, then produce blooms on the periphery, resulting in a ring of flowers about a seed head. The side view, below, tells a different story for this Verbena, however. The blooms on the periphery (i.e., below those that are now blooming), are the old ones, and thus new blooms must come forth from the center. This testifies that the flower head develops upwardly, with its center pushing up a new set of developing buds that will produce fresh blooms in the not-too-distant future.
Tall, erect... Verbena with flowers arranged along the length of the stem (rather than in clusters) are also found in Texas. Like their cousins (e.g., shown above) which produce clusters of flowers, the tall, erect species are also difficult to tell apart. Texas Vervain (Verbena halei), also known as the Slender Vervain, is a common species, and is the name most often cited. Texas Vervain is distributed all over the state, and blooms in April and May. Its leaves differ from plant to plant, but the ones I find most often in Fern Bluff and central Texas in general have bottom leaves similar to the prairie verbena, above, with upper leaves as in the specimen below, slender, opposite on the stem, smooth-edged or lightly toothed on the margins. The flowers are often sparse, blooming about the stem from the bottom upward, the largest blossoms below, with mere buds at the tip. That is also the way the cluster form of Verbena blooms, if you think about it. Only 4-20 flowers will be open at a time, leading some to think they have not seen the plant in "full bloom" when, in fact, what you see is probably as good as it gets. These are flowers that are best enjoyed individually, and close-up, kind of like people...
AWIFBP Home... Continue to Page 2... Archives of previous walks in the park: 12 May 2007, 05 May 2007; 28 April 2007, 21 April 2007, 14 April 2007, 1 April 2007 Easter Egg Hunt; 24 March 2007, 17 March 2007; Nov. 03, 2001; April 04, 2001; March 25, 15, 10-11, 04, 2001; February 24, 18, 10, 2001 |
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