iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 10/10/2026

🌼 sweet everlasting 🌿 Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium this plant emits a heavy, sweet aroma that reminds me of molasses #nativeplants #ecoregion71

a small cluster of fourteen composite flowers, part of a much larger panicle. tightly packed tiny disk florets, colored yellow but fading to light brown, cluster within papery white involucral bracts which taper from the wider base to the narrower tip of the flowerhead. the individual florets are barely discernible. flowerheads in this cluster range from still budding (florets still hidden within the involucral bracts) to fresh blooms (yellow disks visible at the tip of the flowerhead) to fading (yellow turned to light brown).

a bit more than a quarter of a large, dense panicle of small, white, conical flowerheads. the many branching stems that support the several hundred composite flowers in this photo are green, but covered in a dense mat of tiny white hairs. by the base of many of the branches are long, thin green leaves. the papery white involucre of each flowerhead tapers from the base, but in mature flowers it cut off before reaching a point. instead, the missing nose of the cone reveals a disk of many tiny, tightly packed florets, practically indistinguishable. these disk florets are yellow initially but fade to light brown. there are a few flowerheads in the photo that have gone to seed, and furthermore successfully dispersed those seeds. the involucre opens up, the constituent bracts spreading wide. the spread open, empty, expired flowerheads resemble daisies.

sweet everlasting growing in a thick prairie. a relatively short plant, it doesn't rise to waist high. its stem starts branching fairly low, many ascending stems lined with long, thin green leaves. the stems all appeat white due to to a dense coat of tiny white hairs. the lowest leaves on all the stems are brown and wilted, but those further up are still verdant. the various stems all terminate in panicles of small, white, conical flowerheads.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 08/10/2026

why do they call it giant ironweed ? these ones gotta be like 3 meters

a tall, thick prairie beneath a partly cloudy blue sky. tall goldenrod, the tallest among them nearly as tall as me, are capped with pyramidal panicles of bright yellow flowers. giant ironweeds stand among the goldenrod, nearly if not twice as tall. at their peak are broad panicles of purple flowers now mostly turned brown.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 04/10/2026

🌸 short's aster 🌿 Symphyotrichum shortii or just called shorties, for short #nativeplants #ecoregion71

a close-up look into the face of a medium-sized composite flower with around a dozen light blue-violet, elliptic ray florets surrounding several dozen light yellow, tubular disk florets with five pointed, spreading lobes. only the outermost series of florets in the flowerhead's disk are blooming; those in the center have yet to open. the blooming disks have a tan & pale yellow striped column rising from their center, a tube of fused stamens through which the style grows. behind this flowerhead, there are many buds still enclosed within narrow, light green phyllaries.

small, green, elliptic leaf bracts line several panicle branches that run across the bottom of the photo. one of these stems terminates at the base of a blooming flowerhead, seen from the side. the base of the flower is between cylindrical and bell-shaped, and covered in several series of narrow, light green phyllaries with darker green pointed tips. the dozen or two pale blue-violet rays lie on a plane not quite perpendicular to our perspective. above the rays, there are several dozen pale yellow disks, out of which grow fused stamen tubes with pale yellow styles running through them, emerging from the top of the anthers and splitting into two short pale yellow or pale purple stigmas.

two short's asters growing in between fallen tree branches on the forest floor. one runs off towards the bottom left, the other the bottom right. the leaves low on the stems are long & heart-shaped, with long leafstems. further up, the stems develop into a long terminal panicle. the leaves become progressively smaller, grading into lance-shaped bracts. numerous small, slender raceme-like branches angle off the main stem, each terminating in a flowerhead or bud; even smaller sub-branches fork off occasionally too. the flowerheads have up to a couple dozen elliptic, very pale blue-violet rays and a pale yellow disk.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 03/10/2026

driving down 55 from springfield to st louis you pass by monks mound at the site of the ancient city of cahokia. then a minute later you pass by a couple of st louis's landfills, which utterly dwarf it in every dimension 🤦🏼‍♀️

monks mound at cahokia, a flat-topped hill covered in grass.

a sprawling landfill occupying an enormous footprint, a pile of trash hundreds of feet high. mostly covered in grass, though there is a patch a bare dirt near the summit where more trash is added daily.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 29/09/2026

the pin on this button is jacked up from getting transferred to new garments and bags so much

a yellow button pin with the face of a disgusting man beneath some text reading "fuck you rahm".

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 29/09/2026

🌸 white turtlehead 🌿 Chelone glabra despite the common name, is not actually related to turtles #nativeplants #ecoregion71

a terminal flowerspike of large, tubular, bilabiate flowers, subtended by four green, lance-shaped leaf bracts. the flowers and buds in this spike have two green sepal-like bracts tucked up tight around their calyces, obscuring some of the actual sepals, which are sightly lighter green & oval. three flowers are in bloom: two facing away, one in best focus facing partially forward but mostly to the right. there is also a large bud nearly ready to open on the left. the corollas are mostly white, but at the tips they have patches of a deep purplish pink particularly on the inside surfaces. the upper lip is helmet-shaped and composed of two shallow lobes separated by a ridge running along the middle of the helmet and a small notch at the tip of the upper lip. the lower lip has three lobes: two lobes on the sides and an elevated, tongue-like lobe in the middle. long white hairs grow on the inner surface of the lower lip.

looking directly into the face of a turtlehead flower. a twig has been used to press down on the tubular, bilabiate flower's lower lip, revealing the reproductive structures usually hidden within the tubular portion of the corolla. the lower lip has two lateral lobes as well as a slightly elevated middle lobe with more pronounced dark pink coloration. long white hairs grow on the inner surface of all three lobes on the lower lip. the helmet-like upper lip is mostly white, only turning pink at its tip. arching just below the upper lip from the back of the flower are four stamens and a single style. two stamens on each side curve like ribs towards the tip of the upper lip. their thick white filaments have dense hairs by the base, but turn smooth further up. the anthers are covered in white fuzzy hairs. the smooth white style runs up the middle, along the top ridge formed where the two upper lobes meet. the stigma barely pokes out above the fuzzy anthers, and is difficult to discern. turtlehead flowers face left & right in the background.

white turtlehead growing at the edge and indeed within a shallow creek running on shale bedrock. short, flat shale and chert rocks sit loose in the water, nowhere near inundation. brown, freshly fallen tree leaves float on the creek or are trapped on the rocks. a fallen tree trunk runs across the photo left to right just behind the prone stem of the turtlehead. the stem would likely stand over waist high if it were upright instead of running just above & frequently resting on slight prominences in the bedrock. the turtlehead's leaves are large, green, and lance-shaped, occuring alternate & at intervals along the stem. the stems of flowerspikes branch by the leaf nodes. half a dozen spikes of large, tubular flowers can be seen in this photo, though some are largely hidden behind leaves. the flowers are mostly white but turn pink at their tips. angled slightly ascending from the spike, their helmet-like upper lips and tongue-like lower lips seem to resemble the outstretched head of a turtle. up to around four or five flowers are blooming from each spike.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 28/09/2026

🌼 ghost pipe 🌿 Monotropa uniflora doesn't photosynthesize, hasn't chlorophyll #nativeplants #ecoregion71

three ghost pipes growing from bare dirt, near moss, on the forest floor. these small flowers each have a slender, waxy white to pale pink stem with occasional white, scale-like leaves with margins starting to turn black. at the top of the stem, not even making it up ankle-high, the stem bends completely over and terminates in a single nodding flower. there are more, larger, and fresher leaves by the top of the stem than in its upright section, all translucent white. the bell-shaped flower has white petals that obscure all reproductive structures within.

a twig has been used to bend one of the ghost pipes over to get a look inside the flower. within the curtain of white petals, there is a large cream white stigma, broad enough to fill most of the area within the petals. stamens with twin, pale yellow anthers are squeezed between the petals and the stigma around its circumference.

a line of six ghost pipes growing in bare dirt on the forest floor. their thin, white to pale pink stems are lined with small, translucent white leaves, especially by the top where the stem bends over sharply. at the end of each stem is a bell-shaped white flower with waxy white petals. the smallest flower is barely above ground; the tallest is still below ankle height.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 22/09/2026

🌼 oval ladies'-tresses 🌿 Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata #nativeplants #ecoregion71

a flowerspike of tiny white orchid flowers at the top of a green stalk, seen from the side. the flowers are arranged in three columns which twist gently as a triple helix, most pronounced at the top of the spike where none of the flowers are open. one column is out of sight on the far side of the spike; one is mostly facing to the right; and the third is mostly facing forward, slightly to the left. each flower has a leafy bract at its base, cupping the hairy green ovary. the sepals and petals collectively form an apparently bilabial tube-shaped structure lying horizontal. two upper petals with a sepal resting on top across both petals for the 'upper lip' which rises slightly at the tip, while the third petal alone forms the 'bottom lip' which curves down sharply at its tip. the two remaining sepals are held out to the sides where they spread apart slightly.

another angle, a little closer in, which better reveals the spiraling character of the three columns of tiny white orchid flowers. the flowers low on the spike are open, while those above are closed & may not ever open; this variety is capable of self-pollination. this perspective also gives a glimpse down the throat of some of the flowers, where there is a mild greenish tinge. some of the reproductive organs are tucked away in there but nothing can be seen distinctly.

an oval ladies'-tresses growing on the floor of a deciduous hardwood forest, surrounded by the green leaves of violets. its thin green stalk rises from a bed of leaf litter & terminates below knee-height with a spike of tiny white orchid flowers arranged in a triple helix. there is one leaf growing at its base, smooth & shiny green, with entire margins, lance-shaped; a couple similar, though progressively smaller leaves grow at intervals higher on its stalk.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 20/09/2026

💮 pink slender-thoroughwort 🌿 Fleischmannia incarnata #nativeplants #ecoregion71

a small flat-topped panicle of small composite flowers which only have disk florets, no ray florets. around half a dozen flowerheads are blooming; there are additionally a handful of flowerbuds. the plant's green main stem rises from the center bottom of the photo then sprouts two opposite branches of similar thickness to the center stem. new subsidiary branches are starting to develop on all three. the flowerheads are cylindrical, lined with light green phyllaries whose tips often turn red. the corollas of the disk florets are light pink, maybe with a hint of blue. each corolla has five tiny spreading lobes and a tall style that splits in two at its tip.

looking down upon a flat-topped panicle of with half a dozen blooming flowerheads as well as a few faded heads that already went to seed. most of the disk florets on these flowerheads are not yet open, which makes it easier to see those few that have opened up. each disk has light pink corolla with five spreading lobes. most are still developing their styles, but there are a few whose styles have grown well past the end of the corolla & split in two.

pink slender-thoroughwort growing in a field of short grass near a treeline in a limestone cedar glade. its green stem stretchess upward an improbable height given its flimsy appearance (over knee high), leaning strongly to the left. the stem bears alternate leaves, triangular in shape with scalloped margins, set at the end of long leafstems. most of the leaves look wilted; it hasn't rained here in nearly a month and summer has been fierce. at the top of the stem there is a small, flat-topped panicle of light pink flowers.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 11/09/2026

🌸 perennial fuzzybean 🌿 Strophostyles umbellata their beanpods aren't really that fuzzy. but i suppose they are fuzzier than most beanpods anyways 🤷🏼‍♀️ #nativeplants #ecoregion71

close-up look into the face of a bean flower. its banner petal is wider than tall, but almost semicircular, colored light pink. there is a depression in the center bottom of the banner with somewhat darker pink around the edges & near white in the center. the two wing petals are a little darker pink than the banner. they are asymmetric, the left held higher than the right. they embrace the keel petals. the keels are near white at their base but darken to hot pink, to purple at the tips. these two petals are held so close together they resemble a single tissue; they spiral upwards, reaching just above the top of the depression at the center of the banner. a few stamens with pale yellow anthers peek out from between the keels as they twist.

side view of the same flower, with one of the fuzzybean's trifoliate leaves with lance-shaped leaflets on the left. the flower is set at the end of a slowly ascending green stem. got some bugs on its short green calyx. the light pink banner petal leans back around π/4 radians from vertical. two pink wings flank the prominent keels, which are white at the base then transition through pink to purple as the curl upwards.

perennial fuzzybean twining through short recently mown grass in a powercut. the fuzzybean is a vine with trifoliate green leaves with lance-shaped leaflets. the single blooming flower in this photo sits at the end of a fairly long green stem which rises up above the grass & its own leaves. the flower has a light pink banner, pink wings, and keels that run from white to pink to purple at the tips.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 03/09/2026

🌸 tennessee coneflower 🌿 Echinacea tennesseensis fifteen years ago today, tennessee coneflower was delisted from the usa's endangered species list after decades of effort to protect its habitat. only found in the limestone cedar glades of the nashville basin. #nativeplants #ecoregion71

looking face-on at a large composite flower with a dozen oblong, light pink ray florets with 2 points & a notch between at their tips, surrounding a cone of dozens of narrow, dark red disk florets. the disks at the periphery of the cone are done blooming, while those in the very center are still green & haven't started. between those extremes, some disks are capped with little 5-pointed tufts of pale yellow pollen; the floret's five stamens are fused into a tube around the style & as the anthers dry, they shrink, which first pushes pollen out the top of the stamen tube then eventually allows the style's two curly stigmas to hang free. some of the disks are at this stage, their stigmas coated in pollen looking like moth antennae.

a close-up look at the cone of a tennessee coneflower. the peripheral disk florets are the lowest, with each successive series of florets set slightly higher. the green buds in the center more or less share a level right now, but as they mature the height of the cone will increase towards the center. this photo reveals easily overlooked details about the disk florets. each one sits within a V-shaped, spike-like chaffy bract that stands taller than the floret itself. this is especially evident in some of the green buds on the right, adjacent to the innermost row of red, blooming disks. the chaffy bracts of the immature disks are green like the bud, but their tips are red; bract and bud alike redden as they mature. around have a dozen disks near the transition between bud and bloom show their pollen-tipped stamen tubes. further out, the stamens have diminished and the dark red bifurcated styles are the most prominent feature besides the shield-like chaffy bracts. the cone is surrounded by hot pink ray florets.

tennessee coneflower growing between gray fieldstones in a gravel-strewn limestone cedar glade. there are two flowerheads in bloom; the nearer has light pink rays, while the farther is a deeper pink. at the center of each flowerhead is a cone of dark red disk florets. rather than the cone facing the sky as with many other species of coneflower, the stems of these ones nod over partially so the flowerheads face more to the side. they have a rosette of hairy, green, elliptic leaves at their base and a handful of similar leaves on their hairy reddish green stems. for being an arid stony plain, this glade has a fair amount of green vegetation courtesy of recent rains. gumweed, agave, grass, and tennessee coneflower.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 02/09/2026

🌻 tall tickseed 🌿 Anacis tripteris formerly of genus Coreopsis #nativeplants #ecoregion71

looking right in the face of a moderately large composite flower with 7 bright yellow, elliptic, petal-like ray florets surrounding around a dozen blooming, reddish purple, 5-lobed tubular disk florets in a ring around the periphery of the disk. the center of the disk is short and gray, and i dont really know what's going on there. anyways in the middle of each of the blooming disk florets there is a column of brown fused stamens with a little cap of bright yellow pollen at the top. actually if you loom really close, a disk on the left has matured a little more & its stamen tube has shrunk down to reveal the reddish purple bifurcated style that was hiding within. a few small black ants are crawling around the flowerhead.

two tall tickseed flowerheads, one at the end of each of a pair of slim & smooth green stems which branched apart. they have bright yellow, elliptic rays and reddish purple disks. the flowerhead to the left is the same as seen in the previous photo; its stamen tubes have mostly not yet dried out & shrunk enough to uncover the styles within. on the flowerhead to the right, it seems like some of the rays and disks alike have fallen off the receptacle. the base of the disk florets' tubular corollas are yellow then turn deep reddish in the top half. their bifurcated styles are exposed: the styles are yellow below, but turn red where they split into two curly stigmas.

tall tickseed growing along a dirt path in a shady forest. rather than standing tall, its long main stem at first rises, bends over, then curves back up. it has only a few flowerheads, two blooming with bright yellow rays and reddish purple disks. it would probably be happier if it had better access to sunlight! opposite trifoliate leaves run up its smooth green stem, the leaflets green and lance-shaped. after the stem's final upwards turn, however, the leaves are no longer compound.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 01/09/2026

🌸 beechdrops 🌿 Epifagus virginiana obligate parasite epi "upon" fagus "beech" #nativeplants #ecoregion71

a tall raceme with around half a dozen white and purple flowers blooming. the flowering stalk is a pale brownish color with purple streaks; the flowers grow alternate, facing all directions around. each flower is set in a cup-shaped white calyx with five purple lobes that run up the side of the corolla. the tubular, slightly downward-arching corollas are mostly white but have purple streaks along the midline of their four lobes; the top lobe has a particularly thick streak. there are flowerbuds above the blooming flowers on the raceme, and expired flowers below. the background is blurry old fallen tree leaves from last year.

a close-up on a portion of a raceme of 4-lobed, tubular, white and purple flowers. the stalk off which the flowers grow is off-white with purplish vertical streaks. the flowers grow on very short, nearly nonexistent, flowerstems & have white cup-shaped calyces each with five purple lobes. their corollas are white but streaked with purple along the creased midline of its four lobes, especially on the top lobe. four stamens are tucked inside each flower, but they are hard to see even in the few flowers that are facing us; however, the white style with its yellow stigma is easy to see as it tends to stick out just beyond the end of the corolla.

beechdrops growing on a forest floor littered with tan and gray fallen tree leaves from last autumn along with a few sticks. in the background there are trees of small to moderate width with green leaves, a few bushes, but really not much growing on the floor. there are a pair of beechdrops growing next to each other in a patch of moss in the foreground. each has a mess of brown, tan, and pale ascending branches. all the stems are lined with alternate flowers. no part of the plants are green; they completely lack chlorophyll. low on the stems, the flowers have a similar appearance to flowerbuds; they are self-pollinating closed flowers. only a few flowers high on the stems are open flowers that might cross-pollinate. the open flowers angle upwards from their calyces but have gently downward-arching tubular corollas, colored white and purple.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 29/08/2026

🌻 smooth oak-leech 🌿 Aureolaria flava the most common common name for this genus "false foxglove" is also the most common common name for genus Agalinis, which is in the same family (Orobanchaceae) 😤 both genera are hemiparasitic. this species prefers white oaks #nativeplants #ecoregion71

a short portion of a lengthy raceme of blooming yellow flowers growing in opposite pairs with green leaf-like bracts at their base, crossing from bottom left to upper right & leaning on a broken stem bearing empty calyces rising from center bottom, with another stem cutting across the bottom left corner bearing round yellow flowerbuds. the buds are a more intense yellow than the softer, lighter blooming flowers. the blooming flowers have tubular corollas which end in five short, rounded, spreading lobes. four stamens with large tan anthers hide within the tube, joined by a long, curving yellow-green style. an empty green calyx in front of the most central blooming flower retains its style, which stands in an S-shape.

more of the same scene but from further back and a slightly different angle. on the bottom left there is a cluster of bright yellow flowerbuds crowned by five-lobed green calyces. from behind those buds another stem ascends to the upper right. low on that raceme there are pairs of large trumpet-shaped, blooming yellow flowers; further up the flowers become younger until they give way to large tubular buds, then tiny egg-shaped buds. all the flowers and buds are subtended by green leaf-like bracts, and are anchored by a green calyx with five pointed spreading lobes. the blooming flowers' long, wide, tubular corollas split into five relatively squat, rounded lobes. inside the corolla tube there are four stamens with large tan anthers and a curving light green style. the background is a blur of green foliage punctuated by upright tree trunks.

a tangle of smooth oak-leech growing in a forest with many bushes and young trees. the oak-leeches have long, branching stems, mostly ascending but sometimes arching, terminate in long racemes lined with pairs of large, yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers. the tallest stems reach head-height. low on the stems, below the flowers, there are opposite green lance-shaped leaves. some of the leaves have smooth margins, others are have undulations especially by the base of the leaf, and those nearest the bottom have deep pinnate lobes (though many of these are hidden from view by higher leaves, some manage to peek through).

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 28/08/2026

🌼 stiff cowbane 🌿 Oxypolis rigidior this plant and genus has several common names all of which are shared with plants in other genera or families, or which simply modify the common names of other plants 😤 cowbane, dropwort, pig-potato, hog-fennel #nativeplants #ecoregion71

seen from the side, a terminal compound umbel with around a dozen umbellets each with a dozen or two tiny flowers. the main stem and many little branches are all smooth and green, except at the branch nodes which are white. overall, the compound umbel has a dome-like shape. the tiny flowers have white petals, many of which curl in towards the center. in the middle of each flower is a broad, green pistil. there seem to be a variable number of stamens on the flowers, ranging from zero to five. the stamens have thin white filaments with short, thick white anthers.

a close-up from above looking at some of the tiny flowers, mostly but not all on the same umbellet. the flowers have broad green pistil in the center with a slightly elevated, nipple-like peak in the very middle. five white petals surround the pistil; they start curled inwards and roll out over time but retain a tendency to curve or bow inwards from their apex. they also start life with five stamens, short white filaments with chunky white anthers, but they seem to lose stamens over time. a couple of the flowers here have lil flies on em.

stiff cowbane growing on a damp creekbank in a moist forest. it rained earlier. short green herbs are scattered around the forest floor above a sea of aging tree leaf litter and some moldering fallen branches. the cowbane is taller than any of its neighbors, nearly waist-high. low on its smooth green stem grow alternate odd-pinnate compound leaves. the upper stem is leafless but terminates in a dome-shaped compound umbel with many dozens of tiny white flowers.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 25/08/2026

🌸 glade onion 🌿 Allium sp. maybe Allium cernuum, maybe a narrowly endemic undescribed species #nativeplants #ecoregion71

seen from above and to the side, two smooth reddish purple stems rise together from the bottom left then, nearly at their apex, bend downwards. each then explodes into an umbel of around a dozen flowers or buds on slender reddish purple flowerstems. the blooming flowers have six tepals in two series; the outer three angle outwards, while the inner three are more straight. they are all bright pink at the base but fade towards the tip, generally egg-shaped but cupping inwards. the stamens have long white filaments with anthers that are initially puffy and bright yellow, but in time crinkle up and shrink into a little tan mote. the style is white, very similar in appearance to a stamen minus anther, but often are a bit shorter.

the same two stalks capped with nodding umbels of pink flowers, this time seen from in front but below. the sightly taller stalk on the left has mostly blooming flowers; the shorter stalk on the right mostly egg-shaped buds, light green but turning pink as they approach maturity. from the angle the difference between the outer and inner tepals can be better appreciated: the outer three tepals are more spread, while the inner three are held forward. in the center of the flower there is a green ovary with a white style surrounded by stamens with white filaments and yellow to tan anthers. blurry in the background there is an expanse of grass, yellow blooms of a gumweed (you'll have to take my word for it), a fallen tree, some upright trees, and an overcast but still bright sky.

a pair of glade onions growing in a limestone cedar glade, in a sea of short green grass and darkening, drying, st.-john's-wort. the onions have a few grass-like green leaves at the base, and long, smooth flowering stalks that start green but turn reddish purple with height. at the top, less than knee-high, the stems nod over and terminate in umbels of around a dozen pink flowers.

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toxicojendron radicans @toxicoradica.northsky.social · 23/08/2026

found a paper what suggests the upward curve of the corolla tube & unusual hairy upper interior surface of the tube may have developed to exclude moths/butterflies as pollinators, with preference for little bees that can access the interior by crawling through the hairs