Thanks to Gail at Clay and Limestone for setting up Wildflower Wednesday the fourth Wed. of each month. Her great blog is over on my sidebar favorites, so please go visit. :-)
I found this mystery flower blooming this summer along our hike and bike trail. I'd never seen it before and thought maybe the seeds came in with the granite gravel from a faraway place.
It's called fanpetals and you can see why. It's small, but unique.
I'm always interested in finding new native plants that look nice in a rock garden. The ones in the park had been stepped on repeatedly, but still looked good. On the left is a fanpetals plant and on the right our native dichondra, another nice low growing groundcover.
Fanpetals sida is in the hibiscus or mallow family. You can tell by the central part of the flower. Both the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower data base and the Brazos Bend State Park website list it as a Texas native. I'm hoping the 20 or so plants in the park will set seed and continue to bloom each summer. It makes a nice addition to a rock garden. The leaves are linear and dark green and very drought tolerant.
Be on the look out for blooms in late July and early August. It's also called Bracted fanpetals or Bracted sida. It has a nice clumping habit which is always a plus in my book. :-)
BTW: The mallow family is HUGE, so if I'm off on the species part (ciliaris), please forgive me. It's the best match I could find. Thanks.
I haven't seen this pretty flower before. What a beautiful addition to the garden :-)
ReplyDeleteThe mallow family is huge. Some are pests like Rose of Sharon, but the fanpetal is really lovely. I am so glad you shared it with us! gail
ReplyDeleteVery neat! I always enjoyed hiking and seeing the unique plants that mother nature provides for us to enjoy. I haven't been out hiking in a awhile - small children limit what can be done!
ReplyDeleteThis is new to me too - such a lovely colour of coral pink too.
ReplyDeleteThis is a new one to me, but what a lovely and delicate bloom!
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