Winter-blooming wildflowers: Part II

Anemones!

It's officially the beginning of Anemone season here in Texas. We kick off the season this year with the first and second observations of Anemone in bloom here on iNaturalist. Congratulations @franpfer and @humblegardener!

There are still many gaps in our knowledge of Texas Anemones. I'll get to those in a moment, but first, here's how to identify the species of Anemone in Texas and adjacent states. Be sure to photograph the key features needed to identify them.

So what what are the gaps in knowledge that iNatters can help with?

  • There are some gaps in the distribution of Anemone edwardsiana in the Hill Country. Are those gaps real and the populations are disjunct, or are the gaps just a reflection of lack of observations in those areas? A recent post by @bacchusrock of an earlier observation has pushed their iNaturalist-documented distribution westward.
  • Over the past two years, we made much progress on documenting Anemone caroliniana. We might still find some populations of Anemone caroliniana in the DFW area. Beyond DFW, this species remains poorly documented.
  • In the western half of Texas and into eastern New Mexico, we have an unresolved issue of Anemones with an unusual morphology. Thanks to @kayakqueen for posting the first observations of these in the Lubbock area. Do they represent an undescribed species? More observations of these across western Texas and eastern New Mexico, carefully documenting morphological variation of all the plants anatomy, will prove useful. I'm hoping to do some genetic work to help address this question also.
  • A couple of years ago, the most recently described species, Anemone okennonii, was known from only three locations. It was discovered by @bob777 in 1992 in Kimble County. Thanks to several iNatters, we now have many new observations between the Edwards Plateau and West Texas...and maybe even up to southeastern New Mexico.

Special thanks to @kimberlietx, without whom I would certainly still consider this to be just an ugly yard weed.

So, keep your eyes peeled for this winter- and early-spring-blooming wildflower!

Posted on 27 de janeiro de 2021, 02:33 AM by pfau_tarleton pfau_tarleton

Comentários

Thanks, Russell! And, congrats, Jamee (@humblegardener)!

Publicado por kathrynwells333 cerca de 3 anos antes

I'm in Oklahoma working towards my PhD, so I don't think I'll be able to help this year, especially since we won't have Spring Break this year.

Publicado por nathantaylor cerca de 3 anos antes

Thanks for the heads-up, Russell. Eyes peeled!

Publicado por tadamcochran cerca de 3 anos antes

I saw a post of Anemone caroliniana in Harris County recently on Texas Flora. I didn't think to ask the person to post it to iNat. I'll see if I can find it again and do that.

Publicado por suz cerca de 3 anos antes

Adicionar um Comentário

Iniciar Sessão ou Registar-se to add comments