Rattlesnake flower
Here’s Brazoria truncata, known as blunt-sepal brazoria and rattlesnake flower. Like two previous photographs, this one comes from an April 27th field trip to Bastrop State Park led by botanist Bill Carr. If you’d care to compare a kind of Brazoria I’m familiar with from Austin, you’re welcome to. Both species, which happen to be the only two in the genus, are endemic to Texas, meaning that they grow nowhere else.
© 2014 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Ah! It’s beautiful…
siddharthajoshi
June 9, 2014 at 5:58 AM
That’s quite a curved and tapering column of buds, isn’t it?
Steve Schwartzman
June 9, 2014 at 6:38 AM
Nice flower and it looks like you have a little bit of dew there so you must have given up a little sleep to get out that early. The bloom reminds me of Foxglove Beardtongue, a Penstemon, but the stalk is quite different and, of course, different genus and family. So, basically, it is tubular and I am stretching the connection.
Steve Gingold
June 9, 2014 at 6:04 AM
Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Early Riser, but the drops weren’t from dew but from a bit of drizzle, which thankfully abated before long so I could go on taking pictures. The overcast skies meant that without flash, which I didn’t want to use, I couldn’t get a lot in focus, so I did my best to focus on the nearest parts of the two flowers and the tip of the column of buds. Three points determine a plane, as geometry reminds us.
The flowers of Brazoria remind me, too, of those of a Penstemon, even if different botanical families are involved. As you say, other characteristics are noticeably different. And speaking of the genus Penstemon, I’ll have a new (to me) species coming up down the line in this series from Bastrop.
Steve Schwartzman
June 9, 2014 at 6:48 AM
Too bad rattlesnakes don’t have flowered tails. It would be quite dashing.
Jim in IA
June 9, 2014 at 6:56 AM
If you know a suitable artist, you can commission a drawing or painting of a flower-tailed rattlesnake.
Steve Schwartzman
June 9, 2014 at 7:15 AM
But then they would no longer actually rattle…
Beautiful image, Steve 🙂
Alex Autin
June 10, 2014 at 8:14 AM
Ah, but sometimes artists incorporate real objects into their paintings, so there could be a hybrid painting that actually rattles when shaken.
Steve Schwartzman
June 10, 2014 at 8:55 AM
I think Jim needs one of those. 🙂
Alex Autin
June 10, 2014 at 8:58 AM
All right, we’re waiting for you to commission an artist.
Steve Schwartzman
June 10, 2014 at 9:23 AM
Beautiful shot! And fascinating looking!
photoleaper
June 9, 2014 at 10:17 AM
And new to me, which adds another element.
Steve Schwartzman
June 9, 2014 at 11:27 AM
This reminds me of Obedient Plant… sorry, I don’t know the latin name off the top of my head. I can see how it would be called rattlesnake flower, though. Neat. And great idea by Jim! Maybe I’ll go play with that idea in my studio today 🙂
melissabluefineart
June 9, 2014 at 10:54 AM
Great, send us a link to anything you come up with that pleases you. At
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/search.php?search_field=Obedient+plant&newsearch=true&family=Acanthaceae
you can see that obedient plants are in the genus Physostegia (I don’t know which species you’re familiar with), and they’re in the same botanical family as Brazoria so you’re on solid ground in seeing a resemblance.
Steve Schwartzman
June 9, 2014 at 11:32 AM
Yes indeed … living in the hills of Pennsylvania we have come upon Rattlesnakes on more than one occasion … and I can therefore tell you, from personal experience, that Brazoria truncata certainly deserves the second common name you list. Nice image. Thanks Steve. D
Pairodox Farm
June 9, 2014 at 6:29 PM
I’ve come across rattlesnakes in Austin and elsewhere in Texas, but I didn’t realize that they range as far north as Pennsylvania. Thanks for your testimonial.
Steve Schwartzman
June 9, 2014 at 8:32 PM
Very cool indeed!
jkgphotos
June 10, 2014 at 7:16 AM
I’m glad you like it—and also glad that this kind of rattlesnake isn’t any danger.
Steve Schwartzman
June 10, 2014 at 7:47 AM
This would be my kind of rattlesnake!
Gallivanta
June 10, 2014 at 8:45 AM
One that you can touch with no fear of adverse consequences.
Steve Schwartzman
June 10, 2014 at 8:56 AM
Definitely.
Gallivanta
June 10, 2014 at 8:58 AM
No need for rattlesnake master to deal with this rattlesnake look-alike. Nash Prairie is covered with rattlesnake master. I’ll have to have a look and see if this is present there, too. The similarities between this plant and the snake’s rattles is just remarkable.
shoreacres
June 11, 2014 at 7:30 AM
Speaking of rattlesnake master, the first time I remember ever coming across it was on a trip some years ago to Bastrop State Park. I can picture the spot, and it looks so sadly different now after the great fire.
I doubt I’ll ever find a rattlesnake in the presence of these two plants, but such a thing is possible in Bastrop.
Steve Schwartzman
June 11, 2014 at 7:37 AM