After seeing some early spring wildflowers pop up at my house, I decided to venture out and see if others were rising up out of the post-winter fray. One that I want to check right up the road from me was Stenanthium gramineum or feather bells.
I saw it last year blooming right along the roadside. This species is a new one that I've learned about since moving to Texas. It is closely allied to the death camas (Zigadenus) that I saw years ago in the Green Swamp.
I love its feathery flowers, which resemble miniature lilies with their petaloid floral parts. And, until I wrote this post I realized I actually don’t have any photos of the plant in flower. I promise I’ll get you some later this spring.
It was a challenge locating them at first. The leaf blades resemble grass, hence the epithet graminieum. A Tradescantia fooled me at first, but there was way too much pubescence on the foliage. Finally, I found their smooth leaves rising from the leaf litter with the dark magenta sheath near the base. Sometimes it's hard to remember where you saw something last year!
I feel bad for these plants because they get cut down every July when the roadcrews do their mowing. But, they are doing better than the plant at my house a colleague gifted me two years ago that hasn’t even bloomed yet. I moved it recently to a sunnier spot in hopes that I might see some inflorescences this year. We’ll have to wait and see.