#houstonia

[uxbridge]

Azure bluets and woodland phlox

[the-diary-of-vivienne]

[unteriors]

N Broadway Street, Houstonia, Missouri.

[chickenmeow]

[faguscarolinensis]

Houstonia caerulea / Azure Bluet at the North Carolina Botanical Gardens at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, NC

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

It's March now! Here's what's poppin':

Tiny baby leaves - beech? Bluets! Houstonia caerulia Trout lilies my beloved Erythronium sp. Wild violets! Viola sororia* Something somebody wants to protect! They built this rock enclosure in the middle of the creekside trail. Probably wild iris sprouts - Iris sp. tbd.

[hankwag93]

Some bluet from a hike yesterday in search of wildflowers.

[reddirttown]

Language of Flowers: Houstonia

In the language of flowers, every day has its own designated flower. Today, November 18, that flower is Houstonia, which signifies contentment. Image from Wikipedia. Houstonia caerulea, also known as azure bluet and Quaker ladies, is native to the eastern United States and Canada. Well-loved for its delicate light-blue flowers, this tiny plant thrives in moist woodlands. The Cherokee used an…

[geopsych]

Wildflower woods.

[xrinsu]

tiny bluets for a long day

[vandaliatraveler]

“Every spring is the only spring, a perpetual astonishment.”

- Ellis Peters

Photos from a hike this evening in Elizabeth’s Woods at Toms Run Preserve. From top: Azure bluet (Houstonia caerulea); a diminutive spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) hiding in the leaf litter; rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides); blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium); lavender variation of dwarf larkspur (Delphinium tricorne); golden ragwort (Packera aurea); Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum); blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides); and a very shy Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina).

[the-diary-of-vivienne]

[isopodretina]

can we keep drawing dave like hes an insect specimen please

yes his shades are compound eyes. hes a specimen of Striderus houstonia. with that warm coloration on his elytra even through his coloration elsewhere is only in black and white. his pincer is swordlike.

[chickenmeow]

[ethereal-forest-furry]

azure bluets!!!!! :D (Houstonia caerulea)

these bloom all spring in huge drifts along forest trails. theyre so fun and they make me rlly happy <3

[sunflowersareonfire]

Nature Memo #1

I decided to go on a little adventure over the weekend since I had three days off (I generally work on the weekends and am almost always on-call for crisis situations). I picked up a new journal so that I could collect plant samples and press them. I've been intending to do this for way too long (2011) but have not gotten around to doing it until now.

I find nature to be mesmerizing and way too often taken for granted. Parks are great, and those with unpaved nature trails are even better. But even then, they are taken for granted.

In any event, below are the list of observations that I made. This is incomplete because I did not include the trees and shrubs that were observed. Of the 29 listed items below, 10 were ones that I had not previously recorded, so I'm pretty excited about that. The total number of living species (plants, insects, birds, reptiles, fungi, arachnids, mammals, fish, mollusks, amphibians, and other species) that I have recorded (as in, photographed, dated, and confirmed the species of) is now 276.

Plants observed (all pressed!)

Oxalis triangularis, False Shamrock

Narcissus poeticus, Poet’s Narcissus

Achillea millefolium, Common Yarrow

Muscari neglectum, Grape Hyacinth

Galium aparine, Catchweed Bedstraw

Stellaria media, Common Chickweed

Oxalis violacea, Violet Woodsorrel

Vinca minor, Lesser Periwinkle

Bowlesia incana, Hoary Bowlesia

Narcissus tazetta, Bunch-flowered Daffodil

Veronica persica, Bird’s-eye Speedwell

Valerianella locusta, Common Cornsalad

Allium vineale, Wild Garlic

Cardamine hirsuta, Hairy Bittercress

Ranunculus hispidus, Bristly Buttercup

Ornithogalum umbellatum, Common Star-of-Bethlehem

Houstonia pusilla, Tiny Bluet

Viola bicolor, American Field Pansy

Claytonia virginica, Virginia Spring Beauty

Insects observed

Camponotus pennsylvanicus, Black Carpenter Ant

Papilio rutulus, Western Tiger Swallowtail (Butterfly)

Coleomegilla maculata, Spotted Pink Ladybeetle

Polistes Carolina, Red Wasp

Eurema lisa, Little Yellow (Butterfly)

Celastrina ladon, Spring Azure (Butterfly)

Amphibians observed

Pseudacris crucifer, Spring Pepper (Frog)

Fungi observed

Trametes versicolor, Turkey-tail

Cladonia evansii, Evan’s Deer Moss

Arachnids observed

Oxyopes salticus, Striped Lynx Spider

Next step is to let the pressed plans dry, followed by labeling, dating, notes on GPS coordinates for each sample, as well as information on whether it it is edible, seasonal growth, and if I am feeling particularly brave I will attempt to draw them.

All of these samples were taken in Arkansas between Siloam Springs, Pea Ridge National Battlefield, and Bella Vista.