The first in a series on Texas wildflowers. The commonly known Indian Paintbrush is almost as famous as it’s wildflower friend the Texas Bluebonnet. The bright red of the paintbrush is usually in a field alongside of its more popular friend. The red and blue are a symbol that spring has definitely arrived in Texas! This native annual can be grown from seed in your own yard if you so wanted. The red of the plant is actually not the flower but bracts surrounding the smaller, less conspicuous flower. In the field we photographed we found a magenta variety in the mix… *later edit*: I actually think this might be…

After finding the flowering plant of spring coralroot orchid at Texoma a week ago Chris and I wanted to find more to get better photos. I asked the folks at Tandy Hills if they’d seen any there but they answered with a negative. My next step was to ask the Fort Worth Nature Center and I got a positive answer. We weren’t quite sure where we might find them other than near the river area and in shaded leaf litter so we set off for the Riverbottom trail. We walked for twenty minutes or so and then Chris spotted some that already had seed pods. *drat*. We kept walking and…