X Marks the Spot: WXYZ Florals

We have reached the end of Terri’s Flower Hour ABCs. It was a fun and revealing undertaking. For these last letters, the hardest one for me was X. I wanted to stay in Texas, but it was not easy. You’ll see why shortly.

Whitemouth Dayflower

W is for Whitemouth Dayflower, scientifically known as Commelina erecta. I photographed this beautiful flower at the Baker Sanctuary in northwestern Travis County, near Leander and Cedar Park. This 715-acre preserve is managed by Travis Audubon and protects nesting habitat for the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler. Only Travis Audubon members and their guests can access it.

If it reminds you of spiderworts, there’s a reason: both belong to the same family, the Commelinaceae. Dayflowers are also called widow’s tears for the tear-like drop of liquid that oozes out when you squeeze the bracts below the flower. True to its name, each bloom lasts only a single morning. The petals even carry a story. Linnaeus named the genus after three Dutch botanists of the Commelijn family. Two published widely and are represented by the two showy blue petals; the third died before becoming well known and is represented by the small white petal, the “white mouth” itself.

Cowpen Daisy

X is for Cowpen Daisy… well, sort of. Today its scientific name is Verbesina encelioides, but in 1794 the Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles described it as Ximenesia encelioides, naming the genus after José Ximenes, a Castilian pharmacist and botanical illustrator. In 1876, botanists George Bentham and Joseph Hooker moved it into the larger genus Verbesina and retired the X name.

Also known as Golden Crownbeard and Butter Daisy, this annual grows up to about 4 feet (1.2 m) tall. Its common name comes from how easily it sprouts in disturbed ground, like a cowpen. It is a host plant for the Bordered Patch butterfly, and monarchs use it as a nectar source during their fall migration. I photographed this one at the Copperfield Nature Trail in Austin.

Common Beargrass

X is really for Common Beargrass. Since the Cowpen Daisy isn’t a true X, I went back twelve years in my catalog to find this one. In case you’re wondering, I captured that shot at the beautiful Glacier National Park in Montana. Its scientific name, Xerophyllum tenax, is as X as it gets: Greek for “dry leaf” and Latin for “tenacious.”

Despite the name, beargrass isn’t a grass. It belongs to the Melanthiaceae family, recently split from the lilies, and its flower stalks can reach 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, topped by a dense cluster of small white flowers. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t bloom every seven years; mass blooms in the park typically happen every five to ten years. Native Americans wove its leaves into baskets, and while bears use the leaves for denning material, elk, deer, sheep, and mountain goats eat it.

Yellow Sneezeweed

Y is for Yellow Sneezeweed, Helenium amarum. This flower has many names, including Bitterweed, Bitter Sneezeweed, and Yellow Dog-fennel, but I like the one I used here. The sneezeweed name likely comes from the dried, powdered flowers once used as snuff. Bitterweed has a more practical origin: cattle that graze on it in overgrazed pastures produce bitter milk. Because grazing animals avoid it, it often spreads across worn pastures and roadsides. I captured this image at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, also in Austin.

Zexmenia

Z is for Zexmenia. Fittingly, this is another retired scientific name. The plant was once Zexmenia hispida; today it is Wedelia acapulcensis var. hispida, also called Hairy Wedelia or Texas Creeping Ox-eye, though most Texas gardeners still call it zexmenia. It is a long-lived, drought-tolerant, deer-resistant native with rough, hairy, gray-green leaves, and it blooms through much of the warm season. Like the Cowpen Daisy, it is a host plant for the Bordered Patch butterfly. San Gabriel Park’s Sunken Garden in Georgetown (Texas) is a great place to see some wildflowers and pollinators, such as this.

Was this the hardest of the ABC Florals? In each installment of this series, I had one letter that wasn’t very obvious at first. My Lightroom catalog only contains common names, so I used AI to search for scientific names. This time, X sent me to a retired botanical name and all the way back to Montana. Thank you, Terri, for hosting such a fun and revealing series.

That is the story behind the shots. For more like this, enjoy these related stories: Common Beargrass, Copperfield Nature Trail, Cowpen Daisy, FlowerHour, Glacier NP, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Sunken Garden, Texas, Travis Audubon Baker Sanctuary, Whitemouth Dayflower, Widow’s Tears, Wildflowers, Yellow Sneezeweed, and Zexmenia. Until the next shoot, keep chasing the light and the wonders it reveals.

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• Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour #50.

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Sources

• Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine — Dayflower — https://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2021/oct/scout6_flora
• Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses — Commelina erecta — https://kswildflower.org/plants/commelina-erecta
• Travis Audubon — Baker Sanctuary — https://travisaudubon.org/sanctuaries/baker-sanctuary
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — Verbesina encelioides — https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=VEEN
• Southwest Colorado Wildflowers — Verbesina encelioides — https://swcoloradowildflowers.com/Yellow%20Enlarged%20Photo%20Pages/verbesina%20encelioides.htm
• Texas Butterfly Ranch — Cowpen Daisy — https://texasbutterflyranch.com/2017/03/31/cowpendaisy/
• National Park Service, Glacier National Park — Beargrass Blooms in Glacier National Park — https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/news/media13-41.htm
• Wikipedia — Xerophyllum tenax — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerophyllum_tenax
• Missouri Department of Conservation — Bitterweed (Bitter Sneezeweed) — https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/bitterweed-bitter-sneezeweed
• Native Plant Society of Texas — Wedelia acapulcensis var. hispida — https://www.npsot.org/posts/native-plant/wedelia-acapulcensis-var-hispida/