In the image below, a Pearl Crescent butterfly (Phyciodes tharos in the Nymphalidae family) is feeding on the nectar produced by the Yellow Spiny Daisy (Machaeranthera pinnatifida, family: Asteraceae). The Yellow Spiny Daisy is one of the first wildflowers I see in the spring and it helps feed the butterflies and bees that appear as the cold of winter recedes.

In the next image, another Pearl Crescent is busily harvesting nectar from an example of White Prairie Aster (Symphyotrichum falcatum, family: Asteraceae). This prolific little wild flower is found in dry, calcareous soils in large colonies during the west Texas spring. They feed numerous kinds of insects and butterflies.

In this image, you can see a yellowish butterfly feeding on a yellow spiny daisy. This butterfly may be an Orange Sulfur (Colias eurytheme, family: Pieridae) but I can’t say for sure because I never saw more than what you see here. This is one of the difficulties of using only pictures to identify species with complex physical characters, the chances for misidentification are large.

Below is a picture of a new species to me. Sandbells, as you might expect, like sandy soils. The place where I found this specimen had a rich mixture of sand and limestone. Nama hispidum, in the family Hydrophyllaceae, is a low lying plant with hairy leaves and five lobed tubular flowers. They make me think of Dakota Mock Vervain but their unlobed leaves and the painted centers of their larger bell-shaped flowers make them easily distinguished.

In this image, you can see Dakota Mock Vervain (Glandularia bipinnatifida, family Verbenaceae). Notice how it is a more upright plant and its leaves are deeply lobed. Also its flowers are uniform in color at the center. These wildflower can be seen from February through December. They are a valuable nectar source for many insects and butterflies.

Scarlet Globemallow or Caliche Globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea, family: Malvaceae) is a springtime burst of orange colored blossoms. These dry tolerant flowers add a burst of color to an otherwise brown and drab grassland as the countryside wakes from its winter sleep. They are one of the species that I saw for the first time a couple of years ago and I enjoy them when they return each spring.

The prickly poppies are up in large numbers this year. This image is of a Bluestem Pricklypoppy (Argemone polyanthemos, family: Papaveraceae). This species produces tall plants with lots of prickly leaves and 4-5 inch diameter alabaster white flowers with a huge, central cluster of yellow anthers surrounding dark ended pistils. These are remarkable flowers when fresh, but thrips and other suctorial insects soon mar their flower petals with feeding spots.

All of these images were taken on the same photo-safari and are a subset of the 15 species I photographed that day. I love to see how life pursues its ends despite the dry conditions. It makes me wonder what this country looked like in the days before the plow. I am thankful that we have a variety of beautiful wild flowers still extant in this part of the world.

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The large pink and white flowers pictured here are Oenothera speciosa, also known as Pink Ladies. Some folks call them showy primroses or prairie primroses. Whatever common name you choose, these members of the Evening Primrose family (Onagraceae) are beautiful with their pink and white petals and yellow near the center of the flower.

Each flower has 4 broad petals and they are fragile and easily damaged. Within this species, petal color can range from rosy pink to nearly all white in color. Their alternately arranged leaves are 2 to 3 inches long and have coarsely toothed margins. Also, you will sometimes see that the leaves can be deeply lobed making them appear pinnately compound. This kind of leaf shape is called pinnatifid.

Primroses of all kinds have very distinctive long anthers on their stamens. The tops of their Pistils form a cross. These characters along with the 4 petaled flowers help make these prolific plants easy to identify.

In both images, you can also see a single bloom of Pyrrhopappus pauciflorus, the Small-flower Desert Chicory. Some folks call this member of the Daisy family (Asteraceae) the Texas Dandelion. The diameter of the flower pictured is between 1.5 and 2 inches which is much larger than your regular dandelion. Additionally, this species gets taller than regular dandelions. Unlike other Asteraceae, Texas Dandelions lack a button or disk flowers in the center of their blooms; instead, they only make the ray flowers, the ones with petals. As a result, Small-flower Desert Chicory look like larger versions of the familiar dandelion.

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