At least I think it is. I gathered the seeds from the side of a highway a few years ago. Now it comes in an area of the yard that's been allowed to revert back to pasture - more or less. It gets mowed occasionally. These don't seem to be able to survive on the pasture side of the yard enclosure. I guess the cows eat them or break them off. I have a small handful growing right next to the fence this year, but I can see a lot of stubs. With the protection inside, they grow well on the limestone hill. Sort of make upfor all the neglect. At least for a short while. They've been really nice the last couple of weeks. Ipomopsis rubra aka Cardinal Flower. I was glad I collected the seeds, because the following year the original stand began to be mowed by the people the highway department contracts with to do the mowing. I've only seen two plants blooming there this year.


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Wow! Are they gorgeous.

In their infinite wisdom, the state starts the mowing crews before the wildflowers can reseed. I have seen many interesting wildflowers come and go in this area. It aggravates me greatly.

I am glad you harvested seed. Thanks for sharing your photos.

I know that plant with the common name of Standing Cypress. Gorgeous pictures!

In a lukewarm defense of TXDOT, to some extent I think the timing of the mowing is dictated by fire hazard. If the vegetation gets too dry, even the mowers are a risk for setting a fire. Year before last a truck running on a bare rim set four different fires in a 3 mile stretch going into town. They were quickly contained, but one landowner had wooden fence posts and lost 4-5 of them. Dry vegetation is fuel for a fire and the taller it is, the more fuel. I have a friend who has train rails going through his land. Man, I never realized how often a train starts up fires with sparks. I guess horses and buggies are the answer .

teacup754 said:I know that plant with the common name of Standing Cypress. Gorgeous pictures!

Yes, I've heard it called that too. There are several other common names that I've heard used. I'm never quite sure it's the same plant unless they describe it. It's mostly biennial, but enough of the original seeds bloomed the first year to prove that's not locked in though it was the second year before most of the plants bloomed. The plant itself is attractive, but the tall thin growth, like a larkspur, is awkward. And I hate to remove one or mow them down after they reseed. It does help that I ascribe to the Ma and Pa Kettle school of landscape design.

I googled both h common names and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center had a different scientific name for Cardinal Flower and it looked a little different than yours. Your scientific name brought up standing cypress according to that site. Common names are tricky aren't they?

Very tricky. Common names can be very localized. Unfortunately the real scientific name can be hard to pronounce, spell or remember much of the time. In addition, the official nomenclature changes too often. If I can learn that name from the beginning, then I can use it. Most of the time the introduction to a plant is under a common name and it's hard to switch. Sometimes the common name is wrong and I know it's wrong but it's all I have. I was given Ledebouria socialis as Pregnant Onion. I knew it wasn't, but it took several years of searching Google photos before I found a correct picture and tracked down the name. If I lived closer to specialty nurseries or even larger ones I might have come across it sooner. I have trouble remembering it's called Silver Quill, so it's a case where I learned the scientific name. That's how I learned Sesbania, too, but then they changed it and I can't ever remember the correct name. So there I actually use Bladder Pod some, though I don't think that's very good either. If you asked me, I'd probably call it Sesbania because I'd have trouble remembering the common name offhand. That gets a lot worse as I get older. I, in fact, can't ever remember any name for the Ipomopsis rubra. I recognize it visually, but I have to wait to look up the name(s). It's just that tall, red spire native wildflower most of the time.

I think that's a Keeper. Good save !

Yes, good save. I also think it's standing cypress.

Lovely wildflower, but what an odd name!