Snow-on-the-Prairie

Not wishful thinking, but a lovely discovery at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve this morning. According to some nature writers, if you see Snow-on-the-Prairie in Texas, it must be August. We got relief from the heat. It was only seventy degrees this morning, nice for a walk up the Pond Trail. These striking plants sent me into Euphorbia bicolor. No, these plants, Euphorbia bicolor, sent me into euphoria. What a perfect plant for Texas!  It likes dry climes, wet climes, and poor soil, plus blooms when we really need a hint of snow.

Odd then that Euphorbia is the family of the cursed spurge, that obnoxious weed with the sticky white sap that bedevils suburbanites. If we complained of summertime boredom as kids, my parents sent us out to pull spurge and dig dandelions. I hate that stuff!

Up the trail, the pond has really shrunk. Didn't spy any snakes today, but lots of dragonflies and the biggest frog I've ever seen "in the wild". The Halloween Pennant dragonfly has beautiful red and copper highlights.

I know you are wondering.  Euphorbia plants derive from the name of a Greek physician of the first century A.D., Euphorbus. Euphoria, I can ecstatically report, comes from the Greek roots eu-, well, and pherein, to bear. Please comment below if you experience sympathetic delusions.

© 2013 Nancy L. Ruder