Texas Hill Country: Springtime Flowers and Butterflies

 

Texas Bluebonnets (Lupinus texenis) 
and Winecup (Callirhoe involucrata).
Friedrich Wilderness Park,
Bexar County, Texas.

Driving northwest out of San Antonio a line of wooded hills appears on the horizon. This is the Balcones Escarpment, and it marks the beginning of the Texas Hill Country and the vast Edwards Plateau.  This area is dotted with ranches, forests of oak and juniper and grasslands. We visited the Texas Hill Country in April where we found a stunning show of wildflowers.  With these flowers came an abundance of butterflies.  

Western Green Hairstreak (Callophrys affinis) 
on Fineleaf Fournerved Daisy (Tetraneuris linearifolia).
Friedrich Wilderness Park,
Bexar County, Texas.

The iconic Texas wildflower is the Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis). This member of the Pea Family (Fabaceae) is found throughout Texas and adjacent areas of other states and Mexico. Texas Bluebonnets have palmately compound leaves and, for a few weeks in spring, clusters of blue flowers.  The flowers of Texas Bluebonnets reminded the American settlers of the bonnets the womenfolk wore to protect them from the sun.  

Texas Bluebonnet.
Kerr Wildlife Management Area.
Kerr County, Texas. 

Many other flowers and butterflies graced the fields and forests. Here is a small sample.

Texas Flax (Linum hudsonioides).
Bandera County, Texas.

  

Hill Country Rain Lily (Cooperia pedunculata).
Friedrich Wilderness Park,
Bexar County, Texas.

 

Texas Vervain (Verbena halei).
Kerr Wildlife Management Area.
Kerr County, Texas. 

 

Fineleaf Fournerved Daisy.
Bandera County, Texas.

 Prairie verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida).
Lost Maples State Natural Area.
Bandera County, Texas.

  

Texas Thistle (Crisium texanum).
Bandera County, Texas.

                        

White Prickly Poppy (Argemone albiflora).
Bandera County, Texas. 

Prairie Penstemon (Penstemon cobaea). 
Friedrich Wilderness Park.
Bexar County, Texas.

Antelope-horns (Asclepias asperula) with flowers closed.
 Kerr Wildlife Management Area.
Kerr County, Texas. 

Antelope-horns with flowers open.
 Kerr Wildlife Management Area.
Kerr County, Texas. 

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta). 
Friedrich Wilderness Park.
Bexar County, Texas.

Pink Evening primrose (Oenothera speciosa).
Bandera County, Texas. 

Texas Yellow Star (Lindheimera texana).
Bandera County, Texas. 

Plateau Nerve-ray (Tetragonotheca texana).
Kerr Wildlife Management Area.
Kerr County, Texas. 

 

Edwards Least Daisy (Chaetopappa bellidifolia).
Kerr Wildlife Management Area.
Kerr County, Texas. 

Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea).
Bandera County, Texas. 

Snapdragon Vine (Maurandya antirrhiniflora).
Bandera County, Texas. 

Question Mark (Polygonia interrrogationis).
Bandera County, Texas. 

Texas Bindweed (Convolulus equitans).
Bandera County, Texas.

Plateau Milkvine (Matelea edwardsensis).
Friedrich Wilderness Park.
Bexar County, Texas.

The Hill Country of Texas may seem harsh but it is a dazzling place in spring.  Dramatic displays of wildflowers grace the fields and roadsides.  These flowers in turn provide nectar and pollen for a profusion of butterflies.  All this happens before the heat of summer sets in and dries up the land.