Texas Virgin's Bower

Member of Crowfoot family Blooms: April - September

This vine is low and sprawling. It loves to twine around everything in it's path, leaving everything covered with beautiful white flowers. It grows in dry sandy soils. These were found in a ditch along both sides of the highway.

My wildflower books say it does not grow in North East Texas, but have found a spot where it is growing everywhere. The first picture was taken in September and I have pulled it up to compare with what it looks like now in December, after the plant has been killed by the frost.

It's seeds are in a small, tight cluster, each seed with a long feather "tail" or "plume", the whole making an iridescent, silk, feather ball. These feathery fruits give rise to many common names for the vine including Old Man's Bear, Love-in-The Mist and Barbas de Chivato, which in Spanish means "Goat's Beard".

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glority your Father which is in Heaven."

Matthew 5:16