Saturday, April 3, 2010

Taxon of the Day! (3 April 2010)


Nemophila menziesii     "Baby Blue-Eyes"

This is one of the most famous wildflowers of the Carrizo Plain (where I spent a glorious day and night last weekend). This flower is in the Boraginaceae (the Forge-Me-Not family), members of which commonly show that particular blue, but unlike many other members of the family, N. menziesii has only a single flower per inflorescence.

Apparently, it is also therapeutic if you grew up without a strong father figure (who knew).

Three species of 
Andrena bees are oligolectic (exclusive pollinators, or nearly so) on N. menziesii. This has been hypothesized to aid in pollination of this strongly protandrous (anthers first, stigma next) species. See: Cruden, 1972, Evolution.

The next week or so will be dedicated to taxa that I photographed at the Carrizo Plain. The wildflowers were the stars of the show, but I saw a few pretty insects and some lifer birds. The Boraginaceae (Forget-Me-Not Family) seemed over-represented among the ranks of blooming annuals.

The Carrizo Plain is a truly fantastic place to visit, with astonishingly extensive wildflower blooms on the vast landscape, native tule elk and pronghorn antelope populations, and was officially declared a National Monument by none other than the Honorable Bill Clinton:
 
 Thanks, Bill!

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