Seedbox

Member of Primrose Family

Blooms: June - August

I have trying to identify this little flower for almost a year. Turns out the red is not the flower, but the sepals, leaf-like parts that support the flower. Its blooms are a four petal bright yellow flower. Their petals shed very quickly once they open and the sepals turn to this red color. You can see the colors changing as it progresses up the stem to the top. It reminded me of a poinsettia, the red part are the leaves and not the actual bloom.

The Seedbox is a perennial herb that can grow up to about 2 feet tall. I found this one in early fall, after it had stopped flowering. It was growing in a creek bed that was very sandy and it was in full sun. If you look to the center of the red sepals you can see the square "box" from which this plant gets its name. It is full of many very tiny seeds.