Ted Lee Eubanks Photography

Velvet bundleflower (Desmanthus velutinus), Gillespie County, Texas, 12 June 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Narrowleaf gumweed (Grindelia lanceolata, Gillespie County, Texas, 12 June 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

The debate over the identification of this plant led me back to Gillespie County this afternoon. This series is from the same small patch of Grindelia that I identified as G. lanceolata in my original post.

Nothing about these images changes my mind. The phyllaries curve upward (as opposed as being recurved in G. nuda), and the ray flowers have continued to emerge (G. nuda lacks ray flowers).
The narrow, lanceolate leaves are easy to see in these images.

Narrowleaf gumweed (Grindelia lanceolata), Gillespie County, Texas, 8 June 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

This gumweed is beginning to bloom, with this inflorescence just opening.

Texas greeneyes (Berlandiera texana), Gillespie County, Texas, 8 June 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Anglepod milkvine (Matelea gonocarpos), Austin, Travis County, Texas, 5 June 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Compact prairie clover (D. compacta var. pubescens), Austin, Travis County, Texas, 5 June 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Lemon beebalm (Monarda citriodora), Central Texas, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

I decided to remake my beebalm poster now that I have a white variant to use as an extreme. The purple example at the left is from the granitic sands in the Llano Uplift (Gillespie County), and the white variant is from chalk prairie in Pflugerville (Travis County).

Lemon beebalm (Monarda citriodora), Pflugerville, Travis County, Texas, 4 June 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

This is an example of M. citriodora in white chalk prairie, versus the purple variant that I photographed earlier in granitic soil in Gillespie County.

For those of you who read Texas Monthly, there is an excellent article about the invasion of hedge parsley (Torilis arvensis) and bastard cabbage (Rapistrum rugosumn) in Texas. I would argue that to these two you can add prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola).

All three of these are flourishing in Pease Park in lands that are being "maintained" by the City of Austin (Watershed Protection and the Parks and Recreation Department), and the Pease Park Conservancy. These lands have become nurseries for the spread of these introduced invasives throughout our area.

I photographed this patch of hedge parsley on the east side of Shoal Creek in Pease Park.

Golden dalea (Dalea aurea), Gillespie County, Texas, 1 June 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Common buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), Gillespie County, Texas, 1 June 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Yes, I photograph this flower every year. I can't help it. Perhaps I will make a poster of all of my buttonbush images. I do love this flower; I admit it.

Narrowleaf false dragonhead (Physostegia angustifolia), Gillespie County, Texas, 1 June 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Lemon beebalm aka purple horsemint (Monarda citriodora), Gillespie County, Texas, 1 June 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

I drove Old Willow Loop Road this morning, and found patches of the most intensely purple M. critriodora I can remember ever seeing. What a glorious flower!

Purple pleatleaf (Alophia drummondii), Caldwell County, Texas, 29 May 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Prairie larkspur (Delphinium carolinianum), Caldwell County, Texas, 29 May 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks. Not as many larkspurs in this area this area of the Carrizo-Wilcox sands this year.

Cucumberleaf sunflower (Helianthus debilis), Caldwell County, Texas, 29 May 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks. Abundantly blooming in the Carrizo-Wilcox sands.

Roughstem rosinweed (Silphium radula), Caldwell County, Texas, 29 May 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Currently common in the Carrizo-Wilcox sands in Caldwell County.

Pink milkwort (Polygala incarnata), Caldwell County, Texas, 29 May 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks. We are located at the western edge of this species' range.

This is another image from the Memorial Day Mass held at the historic Mount Calvary Cemetery in Austin. Beginning in the 1870s, Catholics of every nationality and segment of the Church were buried in this cemetery. A stroll through the cemetery reveals the immigrant nascence of Austin.

There are Italians, Greeks, Poles, Germans, Syrians, Lebanese, first-generation Mexicans, and Irish, just to name a few of the nearly 20 nationalities that we have identified to date.

They may not have shared a language or culture (at least, at first), but they did share a faith and its language, Latin.

Now, they share a final resting place.

This is another image from the Memorial Day Mass held at the historic Mount Calvary Cemetery in Austin. Beginning in the 1870s, Catholics of every nationality and segment of the Church were buried in this cemetery. A stroll through the cemetery reveals the immigrant nascence of Austin.

There are Italians, Greeks, Poles, Germans, Syrians, Lebanese, first-generation Mexicans, and Irish, just to name a few of the nearly 20 nationalities that we have identified to date.

They may not have shared a language or culture (at least, at first), but they did share a faith and its language, Latin.

Now, they share a final resting place.

Monarda (Monarda clinopodioides, M. citriodora, M. punctata), Travis County, Texas, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Here is a comparison of the three common Monarda (beebalms) in Travis County. In the Hill Country, there is also the endemic Stanfield's beebalm, but it is limited to the granitic soils of the Uplift. The Hill Country is edged by other species east and west, but these are the three common species in the Hill Country.

Spotted beebalms (Monarda), Central Texas, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Here are two interesting beebalms that can be found in Central Texas. Spotted beebalm (Monarda punctata) is common throughout much of Texas.

Stansfield's beebalm, however, is only found in granitic soils in our area, most commonly (I have found) in the Llano Uplift. Stansfield's is endemic to the Texas Hill Country, limited (according to BONAP) to six counties.

Lemon beebalm (Monarda citriodora), Travis County, Texas, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Variations in lemon beebalm.

Be sure to join us for the Juneteenth celebration at the Neill-Cochran House Museum on June 22. This event includes the opening of the restored slave quarters, the last remaining intact, in situ slave quarters in Austin. We worked for the past 18 months on the interpretive plan and exhibits for the quarters, so join me, Dr. Tara Dudley, and Dr. Rowena Dasch on one of the tours that we will be leading that day and learn about the 500-year history of Africans in Texas.

The Neill-Cochran House Museum Juneteenth Celebration — Neill-Cochran House Museum Join us for a day of reflection, celebration, and community as we commemorate emancipation and the struggles and triumphs of those who fought for freedom, and the ongoing journey towards equality.

Mexican hat (Ratibida columnifera), Austin, Travis County, Texas, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

For those interested in the color variations in this species of wildflower, here are examples of how Mexican hats vary from pure yellow to pure burgundy, and every variation of those colors in between the extremes.

Black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima), Austin, Travis County, Texas, 20 May 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Mexican hat (Ratibida columnifera), Austin, Travis County, Texas, 17 May 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

The Mexican hats are proliferating; summer is near.

Scarlet leather flower (Clematis texensis), Austin, Travis County, Texas, 15 May 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

As expected, with a tiny visitor.

Black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Austin, Travis County, Texas, 15 May 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

Black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Austin, Travis County, Texas, 15 May 2024, ©2024 Ted Lee Eubanks.

In Texas, this Rudbeckia ranges across the eastern half of the state as far south as the Lower Rio Grande Valley (and adjacent northern Mexico, I imagine). I suspect that this is Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima.