Celestial

Martha and I went out to the Ft. Worth Nature Center today and met an old wildflower friend. It is known by the common name “Celestial”. We knew that we had seen it a long time ago but not recently and could not remember the name. We found it in the oldest wildflower book that we bought when we first started getting seriously interested in wildflowers.

We had identified it in 1971 and have not seen it since. The reason is easily explained. To quote from “Roadside Wildflowers of Texas” by Irwin:

“But for the fact that the flowers are open only a few hours, Celestial might be better known. The wildflowers open out cup-shaped in the late morning. At first the orange anthers stand erect, but in an hour or two they turn downward. And then, usually before 3:00 PM, the perianth parts curl up. Because of their grass-like foliage, the plants are hard to find when they are out of flower.”

Celestials are found blooming in April in sandy fields, open woods, and on the Blackland Prairie in East Texas. Their distribution also includes Tennessee to Kansas and Louisiana.

Note that sepals and petals are three each nearly alike, light blue-violet, and whitened at the base.

Flowers are borne in pairs, hence the name gemini (twins). The style of the pistil is divided into 6 thread-like branches which project sideways in pairs around the 3 stamens. Nema signifies thread.

Nemastylis geminiflora

It was really nice to become acquainted again.
I photographed the Celestial with Martha’s new S51 Nikon.

Troy and Martha