Hi. I was hoping someone would recognize this white wildflower that is taking over my yard. It is very prolific with a good majority of the seeds germinating every Spring, and it produces a lot of seeds. I don't mind it too much because the butterflies love it and it's easy to pull up and keep under control. It seems to spread by having seeds that cling to clothing. I live on the Mississippi Gulf coast. If anyone knows the common name, scientific name or both I would love to know. Thanks.
Looks like a tickseed, those here have yellow rays but maybe there are species with white rays or it is a related genus.
Hi and thank you for the response. Researching Tickweed, it seems to be another name for Coreopsis. I don't think this is a coreopsis since what I have is an annual and the seed structure is different. Thank you for the suggestion.
Since the seeds resemble elongate beggarsticks, (probably what Ron meant by tickseed in his post), how about a Bidens. Possibly B. pilosa, common name Spanish Needles? See the following website for a comparison photo. http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cwe/illinois_plants/ThePlants/BGenera/BidPil/BidPil.html Were you able to id the butterfly? Great photo of him. Harry
You guys are both right. Thanks a million Harry for ID'ing the plant for me. I had no luck searching for it. It is definitely the White Beggarticks or Spanish Needles, and the butterfly is a Common Buckeye. We have had a lot of these in the yard this year, I counted 15 one day. The picture I posted was a male chasing a female who was only interested in eating. If anyone is interested in having the seeds to this plant, let me know. I have a million of them and they grow real easy and fast and do well in the deep south. From the link you attached they appearantly do quite well as far north as Illinois also. Thanks again. Steve
Again, great butterfly pics. I keep trying to get pictures of the local insect life and a bird or two, but by the time I'm ready to take the picture, the subject has moved on. Have a lot of pictures of a bare branch or flower as a result. :) Harry
Thanks Harry and Weedbender for liking my pictures. I know what you mean by getting pictures of bare branches, it's so frustrating. I have had a couple butterflies I have seen only once in my yard and I could not get within 15 feet of them and they took off never to be seen again. I found a way to trick the birds though. I built a bird "blind" out of PVC pipe and a camo tarp. Wal-Mart sells a camoflage tarp that is about an 8 x 12 foot size. I made a square frame about 44 inches square out of 3/4" PVC and cut the tarp into 4 foot wide sections. I then stapled some velcro at the corners as I wrapped the tarp around the frame. Also used some sticky-tape velcro on the frame. Once covered I then cut some holes for my camera lens and slits for my eyes. I set this up about 10 feet from my feeders and got some great shots of Cardinals, Blue-Jays, Thrashers, doves, mockingbirds and best of all some Cedar Waxwings. Sometimes the birds are skiddish but other times they are landing on top of my blind. I attached a picture so you can see it. Yeah, I know, you might be a redneck. :o)>
Great photos. We're getting a bit off topic here, but if you're interested in seeing some of my photographs, such as they are, my web page is at http://www.icehouse.net/samohteh/ Just to prove I'm not? a red-neck. :) Harry
