PQRfectly Floral

We now reach the PQR flowers in Terri’s Flower ABC challenge. Initially, I thought it would be hard to find flowers beginning with the letter Q. I found a few in my catalog. What surprised me even more is that all shots here were captured this year. It is true, though, that for the letter Q, I had to use a flower I photographed in Brazil just this past June. So, let’s see what I got this time.

P

It was the first time I saw a Panicled Ticktrefoil, and it happened at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge’s Doeskin Ranch. In the peak of spring flowers, it was no surprise this beauty was growing there.

“When a flower grows wild, it can always survive.”
— Dolly Parton, “Wildflowers”

Panicled Ticktrefoil (Desmodium paniculatum) belongs to the pea family (Fabaceae). Its genus name comes from the Greek desmos, meaning “chain” or “bond,” a nod to the jointed seed pods — called loments — that break apart into single-seeded segments. Those segments are covered in tiny hooked hairs, which is exactly how the plant earned the “tick” half of its name: the pods cling to fur and clothing like actual ticks, hitching a ride to new ground every time something brushes past. “Trefoil” simply describes the three-part leaf. It grows natively across most of the eastern and central United States, Texas included, reaching about 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. Most references list its bloom season as mid-to-late summer, so finding one already in flower in late April felt like a small bonus of its own.

Q

This is Queen’s Wreath, and I photographed it in Tiradentes, Brazil. This beautiful flower grows in a similar manner to Bougainvilleas. Although I captured this in Brazil, Queen’s Wreath can also be found in Texas. I believe that the color variety here is more coral than the lavender variation I photographed.

“When God made the color purple,
God was just showing off.” — Mae Jemison

Queen’s Wreath (Petrea volubilis) belongs to the verbena family (Verbenaceae) and is native to tropical America, from Mexico down through Brazil and Paraguay — which happens to be exactly where I found this one, climbing in Tiradentes. Its rough-textured leaves have also earned it the nickname Sandpaper Vine. The part that surprised me most researching this one: the wide, star-shaped “petals” everyone photographs aren’t petals at all. They’re the calyx — five papery lobes that persist long after the true flower, a much smaller and deeper violet corolla at the center, has already dropped. As for the coral I mentioned above, that belongs to an entirely different plant: Antigonon leptopus, the coral-pink vine that also goes by Queen’s Wreath (and Coral Vine) and is far more familiar around Texas gardens. The lavender vine in this photograph is genuinely Petrea volubilis, and according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it does grow as far north as South Texas.

R

Rock Flax was also photographed at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge’s Doeskin Ranch on the same day as the Panicled Ticktrefoil.

“The seed must grow regardless of the fact that it’s planted in stone.”
— Tupac Shakur, “The Rose That Grew From Concrete”

Rock Flax (Linum rupestre) belongs to the flax family (Linaceae), and its species name, rupestre, is Latin for “growing among rocks” — precisely the thin, rocky soil it favors around the Texas Hill Country and the Balcones Canyonlands. It’s a Texas and New Mexico native, usually blooming in May and June, growing to about 30 inches (76 cm) tall on thin, wiry stems. Its flowers are yellow, fading to white with age, and if you look closely at the curled buds in the photograph, you’ll notice the same coiling habit that shows up across the flax family just before a bloom opens.

Three flowers, two countries, and a thread I didn’t expect: two of these three turned out to hide behind more common names than the one I already knew going in. A pea-family bloom that hitchhikes its way across a hillside, a Brazilian vine wearing a name borrowed from a coral-colored cousin back home, and a stubborn little yellow flower that makes rock its home — Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge and Tiradentes, Brazil, could hardly be farther apart, yet both handed me a flower for this challenge within the same few months.

That is the story behind the shots. For more like this, enjoy these related stories: Balcones Canyonlands NWR, Brazil, Doeskin Ranch, FlowerHour, Panicled Ticktrefoil, Queen’s Wreath, Rock Flax, Texas, Tiradentes, and Wildflowers. Until the next shoot, keep chasing the light and the wonders it reveals.

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• Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour #46.

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Sources:

• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — Desmodium paniculatum (Panicledleaf Ticktrefoil) — https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=depa6
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — Panicledleaf Ticktrefoil (Desmodium paniculatum) — https://www.fws.gov/species/panicledleaf-ticktrefoil-desmodium-paniculatum
• Missouri Department of Conservation — Tick Trefoils (Sticktights; Beggar’s Lice) — https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/tick-trefoils-sticktights-beggars-lice
• Wikipedia — Desmodium — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmodium
• Wikipedia — Petrea volubilis — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrea_volubilis
• North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox — Petrea volubilis (Petrea, Purple Wreath, Queen’s Wreath, Sandpaper Vine) — https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/petrea-volubilis/
• North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox — Antigonon leptopus (Queen’s Wreath, Coral Vine) — https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/antigonon-leptopus/common-name/queens-wreath/
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — Queen’s-wreath (Petrea volubilis) — https://www.fws.gov/species/queens-wreath-petrea-volubilis
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — Linum rupestre (Rock Flax) — https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LIRU2