The Long Lost, Gland-Rkdden Sand Pea
Added 2025-05-07 13:56:15 +0000 UTCThis was a cool find...the extremely rare Pomaria austrotexana, a sand-endemic from the hot-as-hell South Texas plains. It's covered in little red glands which smell something like a cross between almonds and cough syrup.
What really caught my eye though was the shape of the flowers, and the fact that all the stamens are nestled together in the keel petal. It implies pollination by some kind of bumblebee, probably one of those big-ass black Xylocopas, but who knows? I don't think anyone has done any studies on this plant, and there was only one prior observation of this on iNaturalist until 2 days ago.
I came out here with my friend Matt to collect Prunus texana seed and we found this guy instead. We weren't expecting it. Hopefully we can get this species into cultivation. It'd make a great native plant for landscaping.
It was a lousy year for Prunus texana seed (one of the most delicious native fruits in Texas, basically a native heat-loving apricot but this little stretch of road in the middle of nowhere was lit up.
Comments
Yes, the "bee fly". Nemestrinidae are related to bee flies and look and act similar. Their larvae are internal parasites of grasshoppers and scarab beetles. This family includes the animal with the longest mouthparts relative to body length, from South Africa: https://www.gbif.org/zh/occurrence/4424297564
jbrunyon
2025-05-09 22:45:55 +0000 UTCWooww what a flowerπ²
Ana Rita
2025-05-08 07:44:50 +0000 UTC
