Favoritos de atlasmira

This is the same seedpod around a month earlier https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/179512797

I had been watching this population for a while. It had rained the night before, and I decided to check if the seeds had ripened yet. They had. It appears that the damage on one side of the capsule had not prevented the other seeds from maturing.

Nice to see this uncommon plant still blooming in these drought conditions. These particular plants had been submerged earlier in the year but were now exposed and blooming. Note the different leaf types on the same plant: The broad rounded leaves grew when the plant was submerged; the narrowly ovate leaves are the aerial growth form.

Williamson county, Georgetown area
5/10/2018
Sedum pulchellum

Small, seeming stable, population along edge of limestone outcrop. First observed in 2012. This is the only population of this plant I have seen in Williamson county, and as far as I know it has not been reported for the county, though it has been reported for neighboring Bell (north) and Travis (south) counties. Given the rarity, I am leaving the location obscured.

Plants ca 50-70 cm, single stem branching near the top. Lower leaves lanceolate, reduced distally, pitted on underside. Disc flowers only, purple. Phyllaries a bit hairy but not gray-white. Growing in partial sun in sandy soil in unmowed "lawn" near buildings. Paspalum notatum and Ratibida columnifera nearby.

Yellow-flowered mallow, auriculate bracts underneath sepals (auriculate=ear-lobe like lobe, so the base of bracts are lobe shaped) , 6-10-rayed stellate hairs on stems/underside of leaves (need 10X lens to see), and reddish immature fruits.

This is the second population of Glandular Blazing Star encountered on this hike, and the third known population for the Refuge. This group numbered about 60 plants, about 10 of which were already blooming. Like the other group of plants found on this date, these were at 780-800 ft of elevation. As seen in the last image, these were on a steep slope on a Glen Rose hillside, mixed with Seep Muhly and other plants characteristic of such sites.

This tract is not open to public access. I thank Refuge staff for arranging access.

I'm going to need help on this Dalea (the section formerly known as "Petalostemon"). It doesn't key out well in either the Manual of Vascular Plants nor the North-Central Flora. This stand of plants was growing in deep loose sand derived from nearby granitic rocks along the shore of (very low) Lake Travis downstream of Marble Falls. The distinctive thing about these particular prairie clovers was the tiny size of the individual pink flowers, barely visible without a hand lens. The size of the flowers and the spikes can be estimated by reference to the tip of my pocket knife in one picture. The groove across the end of that knife is exactly 10mm. The stems are stiffly ascending (2nd photo); the plants are glabrous overall (both stems and leaves; last photo); leaflets number 16-20; the spikes are about 8-10mm wide in flower and long peduncled.