Sunday, November 4, 2018

New-to-me species

I got to play detective this week. Well, actually I play that a lot here in our Wildscape. That's why I love nature so much. There's always something new to learn. But I digress. Back to playing detective... 

Several of us recently dug up grape hyacinth bulbs in a "vacant lot" that will be paved soon here in Blanco. During the course of surveying the area, I came across a vine that I'd never seen before. I took photos and sent them to a couple of plant experts I know. They were stymied, too. So I dug through plant families on iNaturalist, mostly morning-glory (Convolvulaceae), based on the seedheads. The leaves vaguely reminded me of another plant, but I couldn't place it. Then I found crest-rib morning-glory (Ipomoea costellata)–BINGO! That was our vine! Then I knew which plant was I thinking of–Alamo vine (Merremia dissecta). The two vines have leaf shapes that are somewhat similar. And yes, I transplanted some crest-ribs to our gardens. It's an annual so I don't know if they'll take, but I wanted to try as a way of preserving the species. 

NOV. 6, 2018 UPDATE: This has been identified as Edwards Plateau morning-glory (Ipomoea costellata var. edwardsensis).








2 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

That is a cute vine. I hope it will grow for you. I have the 'alamo vine'. Someone sent me seeds many years ago. It is an easy grower and the flowers are pretty and the seed heads really interesting.

Happy November ~ FlowerLady

Sheryl Smith-Rodgers said...

The Wildflower Center is coming to collect seeds from them!

Post a Comment