An Amber Flower
Normally I can tell just from the sequence in which a photo appears in my gallery where I was at Roundrock when I snapped it. I can look at the ones immediately before and after it and recall what part of the forest I was roaming at the time. Not so with this curious specimen. All I can discern is that the photos before it were taken at the shelter tarp, and the one after it was a bit to the west of that, so I know that this photo was taken on the south-facing slope where it is more dry. The wildflower guide suggests this can grow in "rocky woods" which is an apt description for this area of my forest, so maybe I can venture an identification of it.
I think this is Lithospermum canescens, and if I may venture a little further, it's common name is hoary puccoon. When I last identified a flower I found at Roundrock as hoary puccoon, I was gently corrected by several kind readers, but I think I have my ID correct this time. (Go ahead and correct me again if I need it.)
Anyway, I think the flower most prominent in this photo is a malformation. It seems that instead of five petals it has formed as one and that some leaf-cutting insect has done a little sculpting work to it.
Regardless, it is a nice amber flower to find in a forest on a pleasant day.
Happy Birthday, Amber!
Missouri calendar:- Look for tarantulas crossing roads in southwestern Missouri.
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:25 am
Hard to tell, but you are definitely closer on this one than on the earlier shot where you were “gently corrected.” I think it’s probably a Lithospermum (puccoon), but the foliage looks wrong for hoary puccoon. Hoary (L. canescens) is so named because it is covered by fairly dense, short grayish hairs that give it a hoary appearance. I’d guess that you might have hairy puccoon (L. coroceum) here.
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:50 am
I’ve never found a puccoon, let alone a hoary one!