Wagon Wheels - Verbena canadensis

"Wagon Wheels" - Verbena canadensis

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Final Four Photos courtesy Outback contributor Mike Hall.

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Mike sent these to me to showcase a special capture of a humming bird moth visiting Phlox. What a find. Only problem, these blooms aren't phlox. It's an easy id miss. These Verbena and the Blue (Purple) Phlox now blooming are of similar color and size. Quick differences (beside the leaf) -- The Verbena tends to grow in very visible "wheel" patterns, while the Phlox tends to a circular dome. Beyond that, the Phlox has an open "well" in the center, while the Verbena are a more like a covered pit, with stamen(?) hairs filling up the center of each flower.

It appears however, that both the Phlox and the Verbena are composed of a 5 "lobed" Corolla. The lobes are not the same a petals, in that -- if you look at the flower from the back, all five lobes are part of the same funnel shaped "mono-bloom."