A small perennial graced with tiny flowers appeared some years ago in my garden. The plant is airy in form, only about 18 inches tall and 12 to 18 inches wide.

It took me a while to discover the identity of this petite pretty, but as I researched, the form of the bloom familiar to me, that recognition niggled deep in the recesses of my brain: I knew I’d seen a plant with a similar flower. I finally realized that the lavender lovely was structured like the flowers of a Mexican plant I grew at the time, the Mexican Hummingbird Bush, Dicliptera suberecta. The form of that flower pointed me to its genus and after some sleuthing, I identified the sweet native plant, Branched Foldwing, Dicliptera brachiata.

Branched Foldwing flowers in late summer during the hottest time of year, continuing into October as things cool off. I’ve only seen honeybees nectaring at the blooms, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see skippers or small native bees visit. The Texan crescent butterfly relies on this plant as its host and it’s a butterfly that I routinely see in my garden, especially in spring and early summer.

Clearly, little spiders set up their nets in the structure of the foldwing too, no doubt to ensnare critters smaller than themselves.

There are several individual plants currently in bloom in my back garden. Each are in a shade/part shade area; the foldwing doesn’t want to fry in the Texas sun.

Branched Foldwing has been a welcomed, though not planned, gift in my garden. Perhaps the original plant was given by a nice bird or small mammal after having munched a wee seed, then winged or ambled their way through the garden–the rest a history of the critter’s digestive system. Branched Foldwing is not a plant that nurseries carry as it’s small and unobtrusive, with only tiny, not-too-showy flowers. I appreciate its contribution to my shady space–a simple, but lovely little addition.