Cercis texensis: Showy Pink to Purple Red Flowers of Texas Redbud

Summary: Cercis texensis is a New World tree native to Oklahoma and Texas. Texas Redbud upholds the redbud tradition of early spring profusion of showy pink flowers.

Texas Redbud, Government Canyon State Natural Area, Bexar County, south central Texas; Monday, March 12, 2012: sfbaywalk, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Cercis texensis (pronounced as SER-sis kan-uh-DEN-sis variety teck-SEN-sis) is a New World tree native to two states in the south central United States. Cercis texensis claims homelands in Oklahoma and in Texas.

Texas Redbud exemplifies the dynamic flux of botanical nomenclature via its classification as a species or a subspecies.

As a species, its scientific name is Cercis texensis, which identifies it as a distinct species in the global genus of redbud trees, Cercis.

As a subspecies, its scientific name is Cercis canadensis var. texensis, or Cercis canadensis texensis, which identifies its relationship as a geographic variety of Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis).

Cercis texensis is known commonly in English as Texas Redbud.

Cercis reniformis has been considered as a synonym for Cercis texensis. The common name of Oklahoma Redbud reflects the appearance of Cercis reniformis in the Sooner State.

Texas Redbud accepts the variety of habitats that characterize their extensive homelands in Oklahoma and Texas. In addition to tolerance of cold, drought and heat, Texas Redbud also accepts a range of soil characteristics, from well-drained to calcareous, clay, rocky and sandy.

Texas Redbud may be enjoyed outside of its native range. Cercis texensis easily adapts to USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 5A through 9A, with average annual minimum temperatures ranging from minus 20 to minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 28.8 to 26.1 degrees Celsius) to 20 to 25 degrees F (minus 6.7 to minus 3.9 degrees C). Texas Redbud thrives as an introduced or naturalized tree throughout the continental, or Lower 48, United States, with the exception of Minnesota and North Dakota.

Texas Redbud attains a maximum height of around 25 to 30 feet (7.62 to 9.1 meters) and a maximum spread of 15 to 25 feet (4.5 to 7.62 meters).

Propensities as a redbud for low branches and multi-trunks contribute to natural gracefulness of Cercis texensis. As with other redbuds, Cercis texensis traces the silhouette of a globe or of a vase.

Flowers eagerly precede foliage to open as early spring bloomers in February. Showy reddish pink to rose purple flowers profusely bloom on branches and along the trunk.

Leaves emerge in shiny, dark greenness amidst flower blossoms. Tips are blunt or rounded on thick, heart-like or reniform (Latin: ren, “kidney” + formis, “having the form of”) shaped foliage. In autumn, leaves turn appealingly into golden colors of yellow or greenish yellow.

Seeds are encased in showy purple seedpods.

Texas Redbud has an ample ethnobotany. Native Americans of California's Central Valley, such as the Nisenan, and of northern California, such as Maidu, Mewuk and Pomo, use bark and wood for baskety. Native Americans in north coastal California's Mendocino County, such as the Pomo and the Yuki, incorporate the bark into a remedy for chills and fever.

The Havasupai (Havasupai: Havsuw’ Baaja) of the Grand Canyon make bows, fence posts and tool handles from the tree’s wood.

The Navajo (Navajo: Diné or Naabeehó) of the southwestern United States feature leaves as incense in their Mountain Chant and also favor roasted seeds in their cuisine.

Texas Redbud exudes a natural grace that is apparent not only in cultivated landscapes but also in wild areas.

Symmetrical placements along driveways and entry walks as well as groved or solitary designs and wild appearances showcase the pleasing palette and welcoming elegance of Cercis texensis.

Cercis reniformis varieties are appreciated outside of Oklahoma and Texas; Cercis reniformis 'Traveller' (Cercis canadensis subsp. texensis 'Traveller') grows as a dwarf, weeping redbud with nativity in northern Mexico and in the United States in Oklahoma and Texas; the dwarf, weeping redbud was discovered as "a seedling in a row of trees in Madrone Nursery, San Marcos, Texas," according to North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox; "rounded, weeping form" of Cercis canadensis var. texensis 'Traveller', JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh, North Carolina: JC Raulston Arboretum, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Texas Redbud, Government Canyon State Natural Area, Bexar County, south central Texas; Monday, March 12, 2012: sfbaywalk, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfbaywalk/6834266464

Cercis reniformis varieties are appreciated outside of Oklahoma and Texas; Cercis reniformis 'Traveller' (Cercis canadensis subsp. texensis 'Traveller') grows as a dwarf, weeping redbud with nativity in northern Mexico and in the United States in Oklahoma and Texas; the dwarf, weeping redbud was discovered as "a seedling in a row of trees in Madrone Nursery, San Marcos, Texas," according to North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox; "rounded, weeping form" of Cercis canadensis var. texensis 'Traveller', JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh, North Carolina: JC Raulston Arboretum, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox @ https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cercis-canadensis-var-texensis-traveller/

For further information :

Gilman, Edward F., and Edward G. Watson. "Cercis canadensis var. texensis: Texas Redbud." Fact Sheet ENH309. November 1993; reviewed May 2014. University of Florida IFAS Extension > Redbud > Southern Trees Fact Sheets > Leguminosae (Fabaceae)(taxonomic family).
Available @ http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st150

"Gold Miner - Ken Fox Statue." Roadside America.
Available @ http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14434

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis mexicana: Purple Pink Spring Flowers of Mexican Redbud." Earth and Space News. Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-mexicana-purple-pink-spring.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis siliquastrum: Deep Pink Spring Flowers of Judas or Judea Tree." Earth and Space News. Monday, April 27, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-siliquastrum-deep-pink-spring.html

Cercis mexicana: Purple Pink Spring Flowers of Mexican Redbud

Summary: Cercis mexicana is a New World deciduous tree native to the Trans Pecos region of Texas and northeastern Mexico. Mexican Redbud produces showy pink flowers.

Mexican Redbud, Demonstration Garden, Superior, Pinal County, south central Arizona; Friday, March 7, 2014, 14:13:41: William Herron, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Cercis mexicana (pronounced as SER-sis meck-sih-KAY-nuh) is a perennial New World deciduous tree native to south central North America.

In the United States, Cercis mexicana is native to southwestern Texas, from Crockett and Val Verde counties westward across the Pecos River into the nine counties of the Trans-Pecos region, also known as Far West Texas: Brewster, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves and Terrell.

Cercis mexicana’s furthest southern range extends into eight states in Northeastern and North Central Mexico. Cercis mexicana is native to three states in northeastern Mexico: Coahuila, Nuevo Léon, Tamaulipas. Cercis mexicana has homelands in two states in north central Mexico: Querétaro, San Luis Potosí. Cercis mexicana is native to three states in east central Mexico: Hidalgo, Puebla, Veracruz.

Cercis mexicana is known commonly in English as Mexican Redbud.

As a dynamic discipline, the science of botany reviews and expands knowledge and understanding of the world's flora, or plant life. Reflective of ongoing botanical analyses, Mexican Redbud is classed either as a species or as a subspecies.

As a species, its scientific name is Cercis mexicana.

As a subspecies, its scientific name is Cercis canadensis var. mexicana to reflect its relationship as a geographic variety of Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis).

Thriving in hilly and mountainous habitats, Mexican Redbud is undaunted by the challenges of calcareous and rocky soils. As a native of the Chihuahuan Desert that monopolizes the Trans Pecos, stretches southward into Mexico across western and southeastern Coahuila, and slivers into northwestern Nuevo Léon, Mexican Redbud is tolerant of drought, heat and sandy soils.

Mexican Redbud easily adapts to USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6B to 8B, encompassing average annual minimum temperatures ranging from minus 5 to 0 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20.6 to minus 17.8 degrees Celsius) in Zone 6B to 15 to 20 degrees F (minus 9.4 to minus 6.7 degrees C) in Zone 8B.

In the United States, planting Cercis mexicana as an introduced tree may be expanded beyond the tree's native range to claim coast-to-coast homelands in southern states as well as farther north on the west coast into the Pacific Northwestern states of Oregon and Washington on the west coast and on the east coast as far as Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Mexican Redbud attains an equi-proportionate, maximum height and spread of 18 to 25 feet (5.4 to 7.2 meters). Its graceful silhouette traces globe, or rounded, shapes as well as vase shapes with branches angling sharply upward from the trunk and flaring outwardly at tips.

Flowers emerge prior to leaves as early spring harbingers in February. Showy purple-pink flowers profusely decorate the multi-trunked, low-branched tree.

Amidst the floral pastel palette, cordate (Latin: cor, “heart”), or heart-shaped, leaves unfurl as silvery green with undulate (Latin: undula, “small wave,” diminutive of unda, “wave”), or wave-like, edges and blunt tips. Leaves turn to showy yellow for their autumnal coloring.

Green seedpods ripen into brown or reddish purple.

As a species in Cercis, the global genus of redbud trees, Mexican Redbud serves as a host plant for Henry’s Elfin (Callophrys henrici) butterfly. Also known as Woodland Elfin, the North American native favors Mexican Redbuds as arboreal sites in the Trans Pecos for laying eggs and as the food source for emerging caterpillars.

As with all redbuds, Cercis mexicana produces edible flowers, foliage and seedpods.

The vibrant cuisine of northern Mexico features fried flowers and seedpods.

Mexican Redbud upholds the redbud tradition of attractiveness both in the wild and in cultivation. Its coloring, ethnobotany and silhouette endear it to human landscapes and attract wildlife.

In Far West Texas, also known as Trans Pecos, Mexican Redbud is the favorite hostplant for Henry's Elfin butterfly (Callophrys henrici): Megan McCarty, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Mexican Redbud, Demonstration Garden, Superior, Pinal County, south central Arizona; Friday, March 7, 2014, 14:13:41: William Herron, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/wdherron/13433154914/

In Far West Texas, also known as Trans Pecos, Mexican Redbud is the favorite hostplant for Henry's Elfin butterfly (Callophrys henrici): Megan McCarty, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry%27s_Elfin,_Megan_McCarty98.jpg

For further information:

Gilman, Edward F., and Dennis G. Watson. "Cercis mexicana: Mexican Redbud." Fact Sheet ENH310. November 1993; reviewed May 2014. University of Florida IFAS Extension > Redbud > Southern Trees Fact Sheets > Leguminosae (Fabaceae)(taxonomic family).
Available @ http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st151

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis siliquastrum: Deep Pink Spring Flowers of Judas or Judea Tree." Earth and Space News. Monday, April 27, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-siliquastrum-deep-pink-spring.html

Cercis siliquastrum: Deep Pink Spring Flowers of Judas or Judea Tree

Summary: Cercis siliquastrum is a small Old World tree native to southern Europe and western Asia. The Judas Tree is noted for deep pink flowers in spring.

Cauliflorous blossoms prettify long trunk of Cercis siliquastrum, Chesterton Road, Cambridge, South East England (tree unfortunately destroyed in car accident in 2006): Andrew Dunn, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Cercis siliquastrum is a small Old World deciduous tree with nativity in southern Europe and western Asia.

Cercis siliquastrum especially favors the Mediterranean region, with homelands in Asia Minor, southern France, Greece, the Iberian Peninsula, Israel and Italy.

Cercis siliquastrum is known commonly in English as the Judas Tree. According to popular tradition, Judas Iscariot hanged himself from the small deciduous tree after his betrayal of Jesus.

The common name may also derive from Judea's Tree as a reflection of the tree's thriving ubiquity in the historical region of Judea, the mountainous southern region of the Holy Land.

Cercis siliquastrum presents a lively silhouette in the landscape, with a maximum height of around 39 feet (12 meters) and a spread of around 32 feet (10 meters). The trunk features grey bark characterized by a cracked, scabrous (Latin: scaber, "rough, scaly") maze.

Flowers open early in spring as profusely blooming racemes (Latin: racemus, “cluster of grapes”) of deep pink.

Consistent with the trademark floral shape of the Fabaceae family, Cercis siliquastrum displays a floral shape of five fused sepals with five free petals. Blossoms also sprout vividly as cauliflorous (Latin: caulis, "stalk, stem"; cognate with Ancient Greek καυλός, kaulós, “stem” + Latin: flos, "flower") flowers in stunning growths along the trunk and on branches.

As with other species in the redbud genus of Cercis, leaves emerge during -- not before -- early floral blossoming. Heart-shaped, with rounded tips, leaves offer a verdant palette of bright greenness.

Flat, long seedpods hang down in youthful greenness, signaling ripeness by browning.

closeup of Cercis siliquastrum flowers; Saturday, April 18, 2009, 21:00: Sballal, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

As a species in the edible Cercis genus, Judea's redbud offers palatability of its flowers, leaves and seedpods.

Especially favored are the tree's pretty pink flowers, which contribute color and bitter sweetness to salads. Flower buds are pickled for enjoyment as a piquant condiment.

As a member of the pea family of Fabaceae, Cercis siliquastrum contributes to soil enrichment via nitrogen fixation, a desirable process beneficial in agriculture and in horticulture. Rhizobia (Ancient Greek: ῥίζα, rhíza, "root" + βίος, bios, "life"), nitrogen-fixer bacteria, form symbiotic nodules in the tree's root system for converting atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogen compounds essential for plant growth.

The pretty pastel of the flowers is abuzz with pollinators such as bees and sunbirds. Comprising the passerine family of Nectariniidae, sunbirds are distant relatives of America's hummingbirds (Trochilidae family) and of Oceania's honeyeaters (Meliphagidae family).

In the eastern Mediterranean, especially in northern Israel, Cercis siliquastrum associates abundantly with familiar arboreal flora: terebinth (Pistacia palaestina), a deciduous shrub with shiny red flowers; common Israeli, or Palestinian, oak (Quercus calliprinos), an evergreen with dark green foliage; Tabor, or valonia, oak (Quercus ithaburensis), deciduous tree with seeds roasted as coffee substitute; and storax (Styrax officinalis), a deciduous shrub renowned anciently for incense from its resin, styrax.

The Royal Horticultural Society, based in London, England, since its founding in 1804, recognized Cercis siliquastrum for excellence in gardens by bestowing its prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 2012.

Judea's tree upholds the tradition of the small Cercis genus as pleasing spring florals.

flowering Judas Tree, Golan Heights; Saturday, March 19, 2005, 09:21: Orna Lotan, CC BY 2.5 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Cauliflorous blossoms prettify long trunk of Cercis siliquastrum, Chesterton Road, Cambridge, South East England; tree unfortunately destroyed in car accident in 2006: Andrew Dunn, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cercis_Siliquastrum_Trunk_and_Blossom.jpg

closeup of Cercis siliquastrum flowers; Saturday, April 18, 2009, 21:00: Sballal, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_bud_2009.jpg

flowering Judas Tree, Golan Heights; Saturday, March 19, 2005, 09:21: מאוסף התמונות של אורנה לוטן (source: orna lotan via the PikiWiki -- Israel free image collection project), CC BY 2.5 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_3421_Geography_of_Israel.jpg

For further information:

"Cercis siliquastrum." Plants for a Future (PFAF).
Available @ http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Cercis+siliquastrum

"Cercis siliquastrum (Judas Tree)." Natural History Museum > Nature online > Species of the day > Evolution.
Available @ http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/species-of-the-day/evolution/cercis-siliquastrum/index.html

River Cooters: Circle-, Doughnut-Patterned, Horned Brown-Yellow Shell

Summary: North American river cooter habitats get c-, circle-, doughnut-marked dark uppers, 12-scuted, x-marked pale lowers, 12 scutes per side and webfeet.

Yellow chin stripes that are wider than head stripes and fork over upper and lower jaws characterize Eastern river cooter (Pseudemys concinna concinna); Saturday, July 19, 2008, 13:38: T. Voeckler, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

North American river cooter habitats assume distribution ranges from coastal Virginia southward through Florida, Texas and New Mexico and westward through Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois and Oklahoma and everywhere in-between.

River cooters bear their common name as eastern, Suwanee and Texas subspecies that bask with mixed species on lake, marshy, river, spring run and stream banks. They carry the species and the eastern, Suwanee and Texas subspecies names Pseudemys concinna (false-turtle well-arranged), Pseudemys concinna concinna, Pseudemys concinna suwanniensis and Pseudemys concinna texana. John Eatton Le Conte's (Feb. 22, 1784-Nov. 21, 1860) descriptions in 1830 and Archibald Fairly Carr, Jr.'s (June 16, 1909-May 21, 1987) in 1937 dominate taxonomies.

Texas, Suwanee and eastern river cooter life cycles expect brackish tidal marshes, lakes, rivers and streams with moderate currents and spring runs with rocks for basking.

March through May, April/May through July and August through September fill Texas, Suwanee and eastern river cooter lifestyles with breeding, egg incubation and hatchling emergence months.

Texas, Suwanee and eastern river cooters grab the day's rays on waterside groundcovers, rocks and soils like related Emydidae box, marsh and pond turtle family members. They head for shallow lake, marsh, river, spring and stream waters to hide under waterbed debris and rocks from hostile competitors, enemies, intruders, predators and rivals. Defensive involvements initiate inserting head, legs and tail back into horn-textured, scute-covered shells with 6 paired lower-shell scutes and, for each upper-shell side, 12 marginal scutes.

Agro-industrialists, breeders, collectors, polluters and predatory alligators, American crows, muskrats, opossums, raccoons, raptors, red foxes, river otters, snakes and weasels jeopardize North American river cooter habitats.

River cooters know elaborate courtships as emydid members of the Emydidae box, marsh and pond turtle family that keeps male foreclaws long for stroking female heads.

One to six May through July clutches each leave 12 to 25 1.41- to 1.74-inch (35.8- to 44.3-millimeter) by 0.88- to 1.09-inch (22.5- to 27.6-millimeter) eggs. Hard-shelled, oval, pink-white eggs manifest 1.06- to 1.54-inch- (27- to 39-millimeter-) long, 0.18- to 0.49-ounce (5.2- to 14-gram) hatchlings in 1.5-inch- (3.81-centimeter-) round, yellow-marked green shells. Hatchlings from August and September need crustaceans, fish and invertebrates whereas clams, crayfish, eelgrass, elodea, fish, green algae, insects, pondweeds, snails, tadpoles and turtle-grass nourish adults.

North American river cooter habitats offer season-coldest temperature ranges, northward to southward, from minus 5 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20.55 to minus 3.88 degrees Celsius).

Freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers, springs and swamps and saltwater tributaries 98.42 feet (30 meters) from grassy, herbaceous foraging, nesting and sheltering sites protect river cooter lifespans.

Five and three-fourths- to 16.35-inch (14.61- to 41.59-centimeter) lengths respectively queue up for female and male brown, rough-scuted upper-shells (carapaces) with cream yellow-marked concentric circle patterns. Adults reveal brown upper-shells with cream-yellow concentric circle marks, c-patterned costal scutes, dark doughnut-marked marginal scute undersides, yellow lower-shells with dark-seamed scutes and x-patterned front lobes. Texas river cooters showcase narrow-lined lower-shell scute seams and one notched cusp along upper jaws whereas all Texas, Suwanee and eastern males sport long, straight foreclaws.

North American river cooter habitats tender cream-yellow, concentric circle-marked brown upper-shelled bodies, dark-, doughnut-marked horned scutes and yellow lower-shells with dark-seamed scutes and x-marked front lobes.

(figure 3, upper right) river cooter, depicted under synonym Emys concinna in illustration "Taken from a young Specimen," at one-third natural size ("1/3 n.s."); Baron Cuvier, The Animal Kingdom, Arranged According to Its Organization, Serving as a Foundation for the Natural History of Animals: and An Introduction to Comparative Anatomy, vol. II (j1834), Reptilia Plate 2, page 6: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Yellow chin stripes that are wider than head stripes and fork over upper and lower jaws characterize Eastern river cooter (Pseudemys concinna concinna); Saturday, July 19, 2008, 13:38: T. Voeckler, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pseudemys_concinna_concinna.jpg

(figure 3, upper right) river cooter, depicted under synonym Emys concinna in illustration "Taken from a young Specimen," at one-third natural size ("1/3 n.s."); Baron Cuvier, The Animal Kingdom, Arranged According to Its Organization, Serving as a Foundation for the Natural History of Animals: and An Introduction to Comparative Anatomy, vol. II (j1834), Reptilia Plate 2, page 6: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/animalkingdo02cuvi/page/3/mode/1up

For further information:

Aardema, J.; S. Beam; J. Boner; J. Bussone; C. Ewart; I. Kaplan; K. Kiefer; S. Lindsay; E. Merrill; W. Moretz; J. Roberts; E. Rockwell; M. Reott; J. Willson; A. Pickens; W. Guthrie; A. Young; Y. Kornilev; W. Anderson; G. Connette; E. Eskew; E. Teague; M. Thomas; and A. Tutterow. "River Cooter Pseudemys concinna." Herps of NC > Amphibians and Reptiles of North Carolina > Turtles.
Available @ https://herpsofnc.org/river-cooter/

Baur, G. (George). 1893. "Notes on the Classification and Taxonomy of the Testudinata. Read . . . May 5, 1893: Pseudemys texana, sp. nov." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. XXXI (January-December 1893): 223-224. Philadelphia PA: Printed for the Society by MacCalla & Company, 1893.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7219903
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofamep31amer#page/223/mode/1up

Carr, A.F. (Archie Fairly), Jr. 1938. A New Subspecies of Pseudemys floridana, With Notes on the Floridana Complex." Copeia, vol. 1938, no. 3 (Sept. 24, 1938): 105-109.
Available via JSTOR @ http://www.jstor.org/stable/1436587?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Carr, A.F. (Archie Fairly), Jr. 1937. A New Turtle From Florida, With Notes on Pseudemys floridana mobiliensis (Holbrook). Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology University of Michigan, no. 348 (March 12, 1937): 1-7.
Available via IUCN/SSC (Species Survival Commission) Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (TFTSG) @ http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Articles/Carr_1937.pdf

Etchberger, Cory R.; and John B. Iverson. 1990. "Pseudemys texana Baur. Texas cooter." Catalogue of American Amhibians and Reptiles 485.1-485.2.
Available via University of Texas Library Repository@ https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/44679/0485_Pseudemys_texana.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Holbrook, John Edwards. 1836. "Emys Hieroglyphica." North American Herpetology; Or, A Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. Vol. I: 47-50. Philadelphia PA: J. Dobson.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4075487

Le Conte, Major J. (John Eatton). 1830. "Description of the Species of North American Tortoises. Read December 7, 1829.: 6. Testudo concinna, L.C." Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, vol. III: 106-108. New York NY: Printed for The Lyceum by G.P. Scott & Co., 1828-1836.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16077217

"New World pond turtles (Emydidae)." Pages 105-107. In: Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Volume 7, Reptiles, edited by Michael Hutchins, James B. Murphy, and Neil Schlager. Farmington Hills MI: Gale Group, 2003.

"River Cooter, Pseudemys concinna." Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency > Wildlife/Biodiversity > Reptiles > Turtles in Tennessee.
Available @ https://www.tn.gov/twra/wildlife/reptiles/turtle/river-cooter.html

"River Cooter Pseudemys concinna." Indiana Herp Atlas > Turtles.
Available @ https://inherpatlas.org/species/pseudemys_concinna

Uetz, Peter. "Pseudemys concinna (Le Conte, 1830)." Reptile Database.
Available @ http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Pseudemys&species=concinna&search_param=%28%28search%3D%27pseudemys+floridana%27%29%29

Uetz, Peter. "Pseudemys texana Baur, 1893." Reptile Database.
Available @ http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Pseudemys&species=texana&search_param=%28%28search%3D%27pseudemys+floridana%27%29%29

Ward, Joseph P. 1984. "Relationships of the Chrysemyd Turtles of North America (Testudiies: Emydidae)." Special Publications The Museum Texas Tech University, no. 21: 1-50. Lubbock TX: Texas Tech Press.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/55023580

Smooth Cordgrass Announces Crime Scenes on Elementary's Under My Skin

Summary: Smooth cordgrass on boot treads allow a consulting detective to apprehend the killer of three drug mules on Elementary's Under My Skin April 23, 2015.

Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) displays late winter's golden browning, along with black needlerush (Juncus roemerianus) in Florida salt marsh; Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2006; photo credit Bill Lea, Southern Research Station (SRS), U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Smooth cordgrass alerts a consulting detective to a drug smuggling ring between São Paulo, Brazil, and New York City in Elementary procedural drama television series episode Under My Skin April 23, 2015.

Director Aaron Lipstadt and writer Jeffrey Paul King bring closure in the third season's 21st episode to three unwitting drug mules' families and friends by backtracking from smooth cordgrass on boot treads. The third season's 21st episode, as the series' 69th overall, casts Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) into crime-solving United States citizens who consider cheaper surgeries southward. Sherlock discovers Maggie Halpern (Sarah Bolt) dead from non-surgically slashed throat and surgically removed gall bladder, intestinal section and right kidney, not from gastric bypass surgery.

Smooth cordgrass on Wallace Turk's (Jerry Serpico) boot treads and surgical expertise of two medical school ex-roommates expose execution sites and executioners in intertidal salt marshes.

Wallace's sister Connie fits into São Paulo society as wife of Bruno Escanso, University of Manhattan roommate of Wallace's future employer, furtive Marty Ward (Fisher Stevens).

Smooth cordgrass grows less frequently from germinated seeds than from horizontal underground stems that generate clumped colonies in brackish (from Middle Dutch brac, "slightly salty") waters. The scientific name Spartina alterniflora (from Greek σπαρτίνη, "cord" and Latin alterna, "alternate" and flora, "flower") honors Spanish broom-like (Spartium junceum) cordage and stems flowering single-sidedly. Smooth cordgrass initiates inconspicuous inflorescences (from Latin inflōrēscentia, "flower cluster") June through October northward and April through November southward and inconsequential seeding on one stem side.

Spring through fall temperatures southward and summer temperatures northward respectively below and above 65 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (18.33 to 35 degrees Celsius) jeopardize seed germination.

Smooth cordgrass keeps on one side of every stem five to thirteen 1.97- to 7.87-inch- (5- to 20-centimeter-) long, spring-yellowed, winter-browned racemes (from Latin racēmus, "cluster").

Racemes lodge pollen-producing 0.19- to 0.24-inch- (5- to 6-millimeter-) long anthers; 0.32- to 0.47-inch (8- to 12-millimeter) florets; and 0.39- to 4.13-inch (10- to 105-millimeter) spikelets. Fringed 0.039- to inch- (1- to 1.8-millimeter-) long ligules (from Latin ligula, "strap") marks the blade-sheath mergers of 3.94- to 35.43-inch- (10- to 90-centimeter-) long leaves. Smooth-surfaced, 0.019- to 0.079-inch- (0.5- to 2-millimeter-) wide leaves nestle into 1.64- to 9.84-foot- (0.5- to 3-meter-) tall, 0.039-inch (1-millimeter) diameter above-ground, green, hollow-stemmed, winter-browned culms.

Smooth cordgrass, observed scientifically by Jean Louis Auguste Loiseleur-Deslongchamps (March 24, 1774-May 8, 1849), offers downward-rooting, outward-spreading, upward-shooting rhizomes (from Greek ῥίζα, "root" and σῶμα, "body").

Atlantic and Gulf coastal North America possesses smooth cordgrass from Newfoundland, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and Maine through Florida and from Florida through Texas.

Smooth cordgrass qualifies as everglade, mangrove (Rhizophora) and prairie cover amid inundated grassland Distichlis, Juncus and Phragmites and marshland cypress (Taxodium), gum (Liquidambar) and oak (Quercus). Needle rush (Juncus roemerianus), Olney three-square (Scirpus americanus), saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) and saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens) require saltmeadow rush (Juncus gerardii) landward and smooth cordgrass seaward. Smooth cordgrass survives soil pHs 3.7 to 7.9, 46.85- to 59.06-inch (1,190- to 1,500-millimeter) annual rainfall and 20-hour inundations in salinities of 60 parts per thousand.

Turning intertidal salt marshes into drug-mule watery graves turns up organic nutrient levels, turns away smooth cordgrass and turns up common reed (Phragmites australis) and saltgrass.

Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) and Alfredo Llamosa (Ato Essandoh) in Morland Holmes' Brooklyn brownstone in CBS Elementary's Under My Skin (season 3 episode 21): Elementary @ElementaryCBS, via Facebook April 22, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) displays late winter's golden browning, along with black needlerush (Juncus roemerianus) in Florida salt marsh; Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2006; photo credit Bill Lea, Southern Research Station (SRS), U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Florida_salt_marsh.jpg

Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) and Alfredo Llamosa (Ato Essandoh) in Morland Holmes' Brooklyn brownstone in CBS Elementary's Under My Skin (season 3 episode 21): Elementary @ElementaryCBS, via Facebook April 22, 2015, @ https://www.facebook.com/ElementaryCBS/posts/427727554019028

For further information:

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. 1892. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. London, England: George Newnes Ltd.

Elementary @ElementaryCBS. 22 April 2015. "This is what Sherlock does best." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/ElementaryCBS/posts/427727554019028

Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, J.L.A. [Jean Louis Auguste]. 12 April 1807. "2. Spartina Alterniflora. N." Flora Gallica, Seu Enumeratio Plantarum in Gallia Sponte Nascentium Pars Secunda. Cum Tabulis Æneis XXI. II: 719. Paris, France: Matthæi Migneret.
Available via La biblioteca digital del Real Jardín Botánico @ https://bibdigital.rjb.csic.es/viewer/11180/

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 April 2015. “Pablo Picasso Painting Woman Reading on Elementary's A Stitch in Time.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/pablo-picasso-painting-woman-reading-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 February 2015. “Extinct Quagga Plains Zebra on Elementary's The Female of the Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/extinct-quagga-plains-zebra-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 23 January 2015. “Elementary's Yellow Clivia and Yellow Clivia Botanical Illustrations.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/01/elementarys-yellow-clivia-and-yellow.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 December 2014. “Elementary's Nutmeg Concoction and Nutmeg Botanical Illustrations.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/12/elementarys-nutmeg-concoction-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 November 2014. “Elementary's Bird in Blue-Throated Macaw Natural History Illustrations.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/11/elementarys-bird-in-blue-throated-macaw.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 October 2014. “Bearded Dragon Natural History Illustrations: Not Elementary's Nemesis.” Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/10/bearded-dragon-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 May 2014. “Ficus Benjamina Botanical Illustrations and Elementary's Stunted Tree.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/05/ficus-benjamina-botanical-illustrations.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 February 2014. “Dimetrodon Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Dimetrodon.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/dimetrodon-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 January 2014. “Nanotyrannus Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Dead Clade Walking.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/01/nanotyrannus-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 December 2013. “Fruit in Osage Orange Botanical Illustrations and Elementary Series.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/12/fruit-in-osage-orange-botanical.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 November 2013. “George Stubbs Painting The Godolphin Arabian and Elementary's Nutmeg.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/george-stubbs-painting-godolphin.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 November 2013. “John Wootton Painting The Darley Arabian and Elementary's Studhorse.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/john-wootton-painting-darley-arabian.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 8 November 2013. “John Wootton Painting The Byerley Turk and Elementary's Thoroughbreds.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/11/john-wootton-painting-byerley-turk-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 August 2013. “Turner Fighting Temeraire Painting in Elementary Series Episode The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/turner-fighting-temeraire-painting-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 June 2013. “Paul Gauguin Painting Tahitian Women on the Beach in Elementary's The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/paul-gauguin-painting-tahitian-women-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 May 2013. “Rubens Painting The Incredulity of St Thomas in Elementary's The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/rubens-painting-incredulity-of-st.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 May 2013. “Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Painting Rousse in Elementary Episode The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec-painting.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 May 2013. “The Bruegel Painted Parable in the Elementary Series Episode The Woman.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-bruegel-painted-parable-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 February 2013. “Osmia Avosetta Natural History Illustrations for Elementary's Bee.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/osmia-avosetta-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 February 2013. “Russian Tortoise Natural History Illustrations and Elementary's Clyde Jan. 31, 2013.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/russian-tortoise-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 25 January 2013. “Costliest, World-Most Expensive Chopard Watch: 201 Carats at $25 Million.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/costliest-world-most-expensive-chopard.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 January 2013. “Chopard Watch Worth $25 Million on Elementary Episode The Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/chopard-watch-worth-25-million-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 January 2013. “Claude Monet Painting Nympheas 1918 in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/claude-monet-painting-nympheas-1918-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 January 2013. “Paul Cézanne Still Life Painting Fruit in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/paul-cezanne-still-life-painting-fruit.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 December 2012. “Paul Signac Painting Women at the Well in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/paul-signac-painting-women-at-well-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 21 December 2012. “The Van Gogh Pietà Painting in Elementary Series Episode The Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-van-gogh-pieta-painting-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 December 2012. “Edward Hopper Painting Western Motel in Elementary Series' Leviathan.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/edward-hopper-painting-western-motel-in.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 November 2012. "Anisakis Worms That Adulterate Sushi Are Not Elementary's Lesser Evils." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/11/anisakis-worms-that-adulterate-sushi.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 November 2012. "Saltmeadow Cordgrass Adheres to a Body on Elementary's Flight Risk." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/11/saltmeadow-cordgrass-adheres-to-body-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 October 2012. "Elementary's The Rat Race Accesses Vanilla Latte from Vanilla Orchids." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/10/elementarys-rat-race-accesses-vanilla.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 October 2012. "Why Are Lemon Presses for Lemons on Elementary's Child Predator?" Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/10/why-are-lemon-presses-for-lemons-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 8 October 2012. "Bach Chaconne Absorbs Anguish on Elementary's While You Were Sleeping." Earth and Space News. Monday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/10/bach-chaconne-absorbs-anguish-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 September 2012. "Are Lesser Clovers Sherlock's Lucky Shamrocks on Elementary's Pilot?" Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/09/are-lesser-clovers-sherlocks-lucky.html

"Spartina alterniflora." Signature Horticultural Services > Plants > Grasses and Grass Like Species > Native Herbaceous Perennial.
Available @ http://www.signaturehort.com/Plants/Spartina-alterniflora.html

"Under My Skin." Elementary: The Third Season. Los Angeles CA: Paramount Pictures Corporation, April 23, 2015.

Walkup, C. J. 1991. "Spartina alterniflora." In: Fire Effects Information System [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer).
Available @ https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/graminoid/spaalt/all.html

Lyrid Meteor Shower: April's Annual Shooting Stars From Comet Thatcher

Summary: The Lyrid meteor shower is responsible for April's annual shooting stars from Comet Thatcher and is the oldest recorded meteor shower.

Lyrid meteor (perpendicular to central Florida) and lightning flashes over Cuba, Florida, and the eastern Gulf Coast as imaged by American astronaut, astrophotographer and chemical engineer Donald Roy Pettit (born April 20, 1955) from International Space Station, April 22, 2012, at 5:34:22 Universal Time (UT) during Expedition 30; image credit NASA/JSC/D. Pettit: "Stunning Lyrids Over Earth at Night," NASA image article, May 18, 2012, Generally not subject to copyright in the United States, via NASA

Known as April Lyrids or simply as the Lyrids, the Lyrid Meteor Shower is the oldest recorded meteor shower.

The Lyrids have been happening for over 2,700 years, which amounts to more than two and one-half millennia. A description from 687 BCE appearing in Zuo Zhuan (Chinese: 左傳; Wade–Giles: Tso chuan, "Commentary of Zuo"), an ancient Chinese narrative history covering 722 to 468 BCE, serves as the first recorded sighting of the Lyrids.

A meteor shower is linked to debris from a comet, a small solar system body (SSB) with a nucleus, or solid center, composed of dust, frozen gases (ammonia, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, etc.), rocks and water ice. Comet C/1861 G1, known as Comet Thatcher, a long-period comet with a 415-year orbit around the sun, produces the debris that lights up in Earth's atmosphere as Lyrid shooting stars.

American amateur astronomer Albert E. Thatcher is credited with the discovery of Comet C/1861 G1 in New York City on Thursday, April 4, 1861. The comet's discovery date occurred the week before the bombardment of Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday, April 12th, initiated the War Between the States (April 12, 1861-May 9, 1865).

Comet Thatcher's next return for visibility by Earthlings is expected in 2276. The comet's next return date of 2276 marks the quincentennial of the United States of America (USA). The New World country was founded Thursday, July 4, 1776, via the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress (May 10, 1775-March 1, 1781) in the Province of Pennsylvania's powerful port city of Philadelphia.

Meteor showers derive their names from the constellation appearing nearest to the radiant, or apparent radiant, which is the point, as viewed by Earthlings, from which the meteors seem to originate. The radiant for the Lyrids is in seeming proximity to Alpha Lyrae (α Lyr, α Lyrae), known as Vega, the brightest star in the constellation of Lyra the Harp.

Lyra offers low visibility from its low-in-the-sky position in autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Lyra offers easy visibility from its high-in-the-sky position beginning in spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Lyrid Meteor Shower occurs annually in late April, from around April 16 to 26. Peak showers usually take place around April 22. The prominent nightly display by the April Lyrids represents an output averaging around 5 to 10 meteors per hour and usually peaking at a maximum hourly rate of 15 to over 20.

Unexpectedly, the Lyrids may exhibit dramatic, sustained outbursts of over 100 meteors per hour, with the last such instance occurring in 1982. Thus far, outburst occurrences are unpredictable with activation due to unknown causes.

In April in the Northern Hemisphere, Lyra rises in the northern to northeastern sky around 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (2 a.m. Coordinated Universal Time).

Vega sits as a handle in the tiny triangle atop the small parallelogram that defines Lyra as the harp of ancient Greece's tormented, mythical musician, Orpheus. The Lyrids are visible near Vega throughout the night.

Every April I look forward to the Lyrid Meteor Shower, which enchants with its familiarity and predictability.

The April Lyrids' dazzling display in spring's night sky complements the splendid floral landscape of spring in my yard, down here on Earth.

night sky for Lyrid meteor shower as viewed over New York, Friday, April 21, to Saturday, April 22, 2006, with screenshot via Stellarium: Eric Skiff (ericskiff), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Lyrid meteor (perpendicular to central Florida) and lightning flashes over Cuba, Florida, and the eastern Gulf Coast as imaged by American astronaut, astrophotographer and chemical engineer Donald Roy Pettit (born April 20, 1955) from International Space Station, April 22, 2012, at 5:34:22 Universal Time (UT) during Expedition 30; image credit NASA/JSC/D. Pettit: "Stunning Lyrids Over Earth at Night," NASA image article, May 18, 2012, Generally not subject to copyright in the United States, via NASA @ http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/watchtheskies/lyrids1.html

night sky for Lyrid meteor shower as viewed over New York, Friday, April 21, to Saturday, April 22, 2006, with screenshot via Stellarium: Eric Skiff (ericskiff), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericskiff/132402655/

For further information:

“2. The Comet Discovered by Mr. Thatcher.” The American Journal of Science and Arts, second series, vol. XXXII (November 1861): 134. New Haven CT: E. Hayes, 1861.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37026463
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/inu.32000007831789?urlappend=%3Bseq=150

Friedlander, Blaine. "Lyrid meteor shower peaks this weekend: its brush with history." The Washington Post > Blog > Capital Weather Gang. April 19, 2013.
Available @ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/04/19/lyrid-meteor-shower-peaks-this-weekend-its-brush-with-history/

Hill, Tanya, and Michael J.I. Brown. "The Lyrids meteor shower should put on a show overnight." The Conversation. April 21, 2014.
Available @ http://theconversation.com/the-lyrids-meteor-shower-should-put-on-a-show-overnight-25746

Howell, Elizabeth. "Lyrids: Leftovers of Comet Thatcher." Space.com. October 23, 2013.
Available @ http://www.space.com/23315-lyrid-meteor-shower.html

Kronk, Gary W. “Lyrids.” Meteor Showers Online > Lyrids.
Available @ http://meteorshowersonline.com/lyrids.html

“Vega.” Constellation Guide > Stars. June 15, 2014.
Available @ http://www.constellation-guide.com/vega/