Thursday, March 20, 2025

Bravely blooming underfoot

So tiny! I was looking at lichens on old logs on the Oyster Bay dunes, when I realized I was kneeling on a carpet of flowers smaller even than the lichens.

Draba sp., possibly Draba verna.

The flowers of Draba verna, the common draba, have 4 white petals, each petal divided into two "Mickey Mouse ears" (says my guide book). The petals are about 2.5 mm. long, not much bigger than a grain of sand. That looks about right.

Some are going to seed already; look in the lower right corner of the photo for one. Here are more:

The silicles will be up to 1 cm. long, 4 times the size of the petals.

I submitted the photos to iNaturalist.

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¡Tan minúsculos! Estaba observando líquenes en los troncos viejos de las dunas de Oyster Bay, cuando me di cuenta que estaba de rodillas encima de un tapete de flores más chicas aun que los líquenes.
  1. Draba sp., probablemente Draba común, D. verna. Las flores de esta especie, según mi libro guía, tienen 4 pétalos, cada uno de estos divididos en dos. "Orejas del Ratón Mickey" los llama el libro. Los pétalos miden 2,5 mm., aproximadamente el tamaño de un grano de arena grande.
  2. Algunas flores ya están formando semillas. Las silículas llegan hasta 1 cm. de largo, 4 veces el tamaño de los pétalos.
Subí las fotos a iNaturalist.


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