Sunflower Road

I tried different angles on the sunflower road view and I like these the best.

There was also this beauty further in the ditch:



And surprise, I had company.



He was the exact same color as the sunflowers.
Talk about blending in.



Then there was this sunflower which was very different and stood out from the rest along the road as we were driving by.



The petals (ray flowers) were fabulous:


Later, we saw this one lone sunflower in a field of wheat or grain of some sort. The result was a happy surprise with an unusual background effect to it. I like it.



Common sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

usda

efloras2

davesgarden
Family: Asteraceae (ass-ter-AY-see-ee)
Genus: Helianthus (hee-lee-AN-thus)
Species: annuus (AN-yoo-us)

(At first I didn't catch that double u in annuus.)

wiki
Sunflower varieties list

Try Google Images on Autumn Beauty sunflower.
Or how about Peach Passion sunflower.

Definitions:
phototropism
An orienting response to light.

heliotropism
An orienting response to the sun.

tropism
An involuntary orienting response; positive or negative reaction to a stimulus source.

More Echinacea Info

Is this a Princess or a Prince or both?



From the Echinacea Project at University of Minnesota
(Page down to Heading: "Style Persistence")

In Echinacea, each morning a row of anthers (male reproductive parts) emerges, bearing pollen. This row of anthers will become a row of styles by the next morning and a new row of anthers will open, moving upwards from the base of the head. Styles persist until they receive compatible pollen, after which they shrivel up. Thus style persistence is used as a measure of pollen limitation and can provide information about patterns of reproduction and pollen movement within populations of Echinacea.

There's a few photos at the site to illustrate this point.
Can see this process on some of my coneflower pics here.

ndsu
Common Name: Black samson, Purple coneflower, Comb flower
Species: Echinacea angustifolia DC.
Synonym: Echinacea pallida Nutt. var. angustifolia (DC.) Cronq.
Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family
(I didn't know about the Black samson name.)

plants.usda.gov
Search for:
Echinacea pallida

Click on Classification:
Family Asteraceae – Aster family
Genus Echinacea Moench – purple coneflower P
Species Echinacea angustifolia DC. – blacksamson echinacea P
9 Species and 13 accepted taxa



So...I found out why the goldfinches are suddenly so active in the field:

gardenguides.com

Gophers and moles can be a problem eating the roots.
Goldfinches love the Echinacea seed crop and can clear out all the seed in a few days.

NOTE: This is word for word from a document at plants.usda.gov.
Direct link to the doc filetype here.

How to propagate:
plantandsoil
OR
plantandsoil
keyword: 1070307519

Walk In The Field Part 21 - Buckbrush

Some notes on what the field is like mid-July.

Started walking in/around the creek/ravine area.



Big old oak trees down there that I've never looked at that closely. The branches, trunks look pretty rough. I'm not sure if they are stressed or just old. The leaves looked shiny new.



Lots of fruits, berries, blossoms, etc. all over, in general.





I can hear, more than see, lots of bird activity. I can hear chickadees and I would dearly love a good photo of that bird. I'm seeing goldfinches almost every time I'm out in the field now. A lot more active now than they were.





(Goldfinch closeups here.)

Lots of buckbrush blooming along the creek.
Common Names: Western snowberry, Buckbrush, Wolfberry
Species: Symphoricarpos occidentalis Hook.
Family: Caprifoliaceae - Honeysuckle Family





The coneflowers (purple, yellow, etc) are everywhere. The field is now covered with them.



Word Note:
ravine (canyon vs gorge vs ravine)
vs
gully (or gulley)
vs
creek (stream vs creek vs brook vs rivulet)

Another nice field view. Looking North.

American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch





enature
cornell

MORE 8 Jul 09
Hanging out on "Coneflower Hill."


UPDATE: 16 Jul 09



See also my field notes here.

UPDATE 25 Jul 09
I saw the goldfinch, raised my camera, looked in the optical viewfinder, focused, and, what do we have over to the left? A companion.



That's as good as it gets. She (I'm assuming that's a female) flew away. He stayed for a few more shots then flew away too.

NOTE:

"Goldfinches love the Echinacea seed crop and can clear out all the seed in a few days."

See blog post on Echinacea here.