This thread reminded me of a flower mystery that has haunted me since childhood.
Ok, maybe haunted is a strong word, but it’s bugged me for a while.
As a child growing up in West Central Florida (howdy Pinellas Dopers!) I was baffled by a botanical phenomenon that occurred after every rain. White, tulip-like flowers would appear in our yard, which my sister and I dubbed Rain Flowers.
I haven’t seen them since I moved when I was 7, even though we only moved to a different part of the city. Obviously, the rain connection was important, since my sister and I saw fit to refer to them as Rain Flowers. Also, as any Floridian can tell you (at least in my neck of the woods) it rains, like clockwork, for 30 minutes every afternoon during the summer. These flowers were not a very common occurance, so my guess is they bloomed sometime in late spring- otherwise my yard would have been full of them all the time.
Anyone know what I’m talking about, or experienced anything similar? I don’t know where to look, and since they’re weeds, I think the folks at the local nursery would look at me kinda funny. It’d be like asking them to identify Bee Flowers (my sister and I had such clever names for things) a ubiquitous Florida flower with white petals and yellow center that bees seem rather fond of. It, too, is a weed. Although I’d probably have more luck with that one, since I see them everywhere. Rain Flowers, as far as I can tell, only existed in my yard during the late 80s.
