devil in the details
Oct. 2nd, 2005 01:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
temperance14Took self for walk this morning, just to get the back and legs moving. I miss walking. Every once in a while, if I can get out to walking on campus, I find myself breaking into a run, or a sprint. Not a jog. Just full out. Yes, it looks funny.
Broke into a light sprint down one of the halls early last week, during one of the light periods. Stopped when I encountered wild freshman and family pack. Did not want to startle the wildlife.
So strange….most days I’m just stumping through the halls or our office, doing my S-curve thing. Quasimodo in the bell tower.
*****
Took self for walk this morning, just to see the trail that sits between two old housing units. Used to be the old train tracks in Fairfield, now FF city property, and no trespassing.
Was walking/running….and kept stopping for wildflowers. The ugly dandelions (not the pretty type, these have fuzzy prickly leaves that can’t be eaten). Those pretty tiny yellow flowers, that unfortunately turn into little round brickle burrs (otherwise I’d let them be the ground cover on my front lawn—very pretty weeds.)
I think I’ve finally paid attention and seen yellow star thistle. I’ve also seen purple thistles the same size---are these native? Or just a new color variant of yellow star thistle. Was tempted to carry back to i.d., but for the thorns. (How can I admire one over the over just for the color, when both will hurt?)
Carried back two pretty flowers, vine ground cover. Little whites. Further on, the same wide bell shaped/scalloped flower (one solid petal), but with rose pink edging, creating a white star shape in the center.
I have a simple, small guidebook, a dichotomous key flower finder. Per this, my pretties:
1) Have green parts
2) On tiny triangular leaves of both, the main veins form a “net-like” pattern.
3) The flowers are not tightly packed together
4) There are fewer or equal number of stamens to petal, or petal forms.
5) The petal forms are 5 parts
6) They grow from vines
7) The petals are “joined into an unlobed trumpet shape; leaves opposite each other an triangular”.
It is Morning Glory, or Bind Weed. And I thought Morning Glorys were huge plants. Stupid me. And I checked---yes both leaves are different: Different sizes, different width of triangle, and the wider spade shaped leaves are more fluted and ruffled at the edges—but both morning glories. The wide ruffled leaves are white, the beautiful pink/lavender has narrower flat arrow shaped leaves.
Not sure of the raggedy-daisy like blue flower I found, on tall wood stems. Often growing out of the same site as a dandelion.
*****
Looking through my Sunset Garden book...looking through the florals, and the weed section article...
Oh, I think I found a picture of the yellow flowers that grow wild and in my wild front yard: Burclover? Black Medic? Pretty yellow tiny flowers, and they become those tight wound spiraling spheres of tiny burr thorns. The ones I used to unwind as a child to try and eat the seeds.
And here is the Bind Weed. As a Morning Glory it’s a flower. As a tiny bind weed….well. But then so is the blackberry bush. I guess because it is an invasive non-native.
Will post when I have found my purple flower.
Update: It's chicory. Now we can all rest easy.
Broke into a light sprint down one of the halls early last week, during one of the light periods. Stopped when I encountered wild freshman and family pack. Did not want to startle the wildlife.
So strange….most days I’m just stumping through the halls or our office, doing my S-curve thing. Quasimodo in the bell tower.
*****
Took self for walk this morning, just to see the trail that sits between two old housing units. Used to be the old train tracks in Fairfield, now FF city property, and no trespassing.
Was walking/running….and kept stopping for wildflowers. The ugly dandelions (not the pretty type, these have fuzzy prickly leaves that can’t be eaten). Those pretty tiny yellow flowers, that unfortunately turn into little round brickle burrs (otherwise I’d let them be the ground cover on my front lawn—very pretty weeds.)
I think I’ve finally paid attention and seen yellow star thistle. I’ve also seen purple thistles the same size---are these native? Or just a new color variant of yellow star thistle. Was tempted to carry back to i.d., but for the thorns. (How can I admire one over the over just for the color, when both will hurt?)
Carried back two pretty flowers, vine ground cover. Little whites. Further on, the same wide bell shaped/scalloped flower (one solid petal), but with rose pink edging, creating a white star shape in the center.
I have a simple, small guidebook, a dichotomous key flower finder. Per this, my pretties:
1) Have green parts
2) On tiny triangular leaves of both, the main veins form a “net-like” pattern.
3) The flowers are not tightly packed together
4) There are fewer or equal number of stamens to petal, or petal forms.
5) The petal forms are 5 parts
6) They grow from vines
7) The petals are “joined into an unlobed trumpet shape; leaves opposite each other an triangular”.
It is Morning Glory, or Bind Weed. And I thought Morning Glorys were huge plants. Stupid me. And I checked---yes both leaves are different: Different sizes, different width of triangle, and the wider spade shaped leaves are more fluted and ruffled at the edges—but both morning glories. The wide ruffled leaves are white, the beautiful pink/lavender has narrower flat arrow shaped leaves.
Not sure of the raggedy-daisy like blue flower I found, on tall wood stems. Often growing out of the same site as a dandelion.
*****
Looking through my Sunset Garden book...looking through the florals, and the weed section article...
Oh, I think I found a picture of the yellow flowers that grow wild and in my wild front yard: Burclover? Black Medic? Pretty yellow tiny flowers, and they become those tight wound spiraling spheres of tiny burr thorns. The ones I used to unwind as a child to try and eat the seeds.
And here is the Bind Weed. As a Morning Glory it’s a flower. As a tiny bind weed….well. But then so is the blackberry bush. I guess because it is an invasive non-native.
Will post when I have found my purple flower.
Update: It's chicory. Now we can all rest easy.
