Monday, April 16, 2012

N is for...


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   Can you beleive we are now over the halfway point on the A to Z? Yes we are on the downhill side, but we also have some of the toughest letters coming up. V, U, X and Z. I have them all covered but one. I leave it to you to figure out which one it is.
  Today is the letter N and n is covered. N stands for "Net-vein Milkvine"  Matelea reticulata. I love the little star flowers of this plant. They do look like the netting from tutus with a little pearl attached to the middle (or is that just my dance background speaking). This milkvine is the most common on in the Edwards Plateau in Texas, but can also be found in far West Texas, as well as south, and central Texas. The plant gives off an unpleasant odor when brushed and, as the name suggests, has a milky sap. The vine blooms from April all the way through October. 


Picture from University of Texas Plant Resource Center


   Oh and you might be wondering what the Edwards Plateau is. Well it is a raised plateau of mostly limestone with very little soil. It is bordered on 2 sides by the that is bordered on 2 sides by the Balcones Fault. That is speculated to be the end of the Ouachita Mountains that run through Arkansas and Oklahoma. 

6 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

What a fascinating little flower - I love it .. it does look like a tutu net with a pearl in the middle - beautiful ..

Thanks - Hilary

Jeremy [Retro] said...

Middle... is great!

Nice post, making it happen...

Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]
A to Z Co-Host
My New Book:
Retro-Zombie: Art and Words

Laura Eno said...

They look like flowers that would be attached to little faerie dresses.

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Ooh, prettyful! ;)


Elizabeth
A to Z co-host

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Tiny flower. And I bet you're struggling with X, aren't you?

Theres just life said...

Hilary, I thought it did too.
Retro-Z, Yep the middle is great.
Laura, I think your right. They would make fine faerie dresses.
Elizabeth, prettyful... love it.
Alex, Yes you got that right. I decided to go with common names instead of scientific, so X is proving a problem.