Wine Cup

Wine Cup, Callirhoe involucrata

A native wildflower to Texas and other parts of the Great Plains, the drought tolerant perennial Wine Cup spreads over the ground in a vine-like fashion. While they close in the evenings, they are unique in that they will close permanently after pollination. A signal of pollination status is not uncommon among angiosperms. The flowers of lungwort, for example, have color variation indicating age and therefore nectar and pollen status as younger flowers tend to have more of both.