Native Plants
Bransford, W.D. and Dolphia
Bill (W.D.) (1913-1996) and Dolphia Bransford (1915-2015) moved from San Angelo to Kingsland, Texas in 1950. There they established the first fish camp in the area. A carpenter, Bill built small cabins and a larger building which served as a general store.Bill was interested in photography so he and Dolphia would set out in their camper taking pictures of wildflowers and scenery along the way. After plants were photographed, Dolphia researched them and recorded their botanical name, family and common name on each slide. The Bransfords would travel for two or three months at a time and eventually visited nearly every corner of the United States and Canada. They spent 40 years pursuing their favorite pastime and stopped only when Bill’s vision diminished.
At the beginning, Bill photographed plants mostly from a distance, often too far to see enough detail necessary to identify his subjects. Dolphia encouraged him to get close-ups of the plants so that they could be identified and so that their full beauty could be appreciated. Many times he would lie flat on the ground to get the perfect shot. His extra effort shows in the quality of his photographs.
Bill enjoyed presenting prints of his photographs in collections, displaying images of entire genera or families in a single frame. In one case, it took six years of effort to get the photograph of a single species necessary to complete one of these framed collections.
Wishing to find a suitable, permanent home for their work, Mr. and Mrs. Bransford began donating their slide collection to the National Wildflower Research Center in 1987 and were privileged to enjoy Mrs. Johnson’s company on several occasions. Over the years, countless thousands of visitors to this website have enjoyed the work and study of this devoted couple.
Today, the nearly 4500 native plant slides contributed to the Wildflower Center by Bill and Dolphia Bransford remain one of the largest image collections in the NPIN Image Gallery.
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is committed to developing the premier resource for native plant images in North America through continued growth of the Plant Image Gallery. You can help us achieve our mission ...to increase the sustainable use and conservation of native wildflowers, plants, and landscapes... by becoming a contributor.
scientific name | common name(s) | image gallery |
Allium crenulatum | Olympic Onion | |
Allium crispum | Crinkled Onion | |
Allium douglasii | Douglas' Onion | |
Allium drummondii | Drummond's Onion Wild Garlic Drummond Wild Onion | |
Alophia drummondii | Propeller Flower Purple Pleat-leaf Pinewoods Lily Prairie Iris Pleatleaf Iris | |
Aloysia gratissima | Whitebrush Bee-brush White-brush Common Bee-brush Beebrush Privet Lippia | |
Allium howellii | Howell's Onion | |
Allium howellii | Howell's Onion | |
Allium hyalinum | Glassy Onion Onion Lily | |
Allium hyalinum | Glassy Onion Onion Lily | |
Allionia incarnata | Trailing Windmills Trailing Four O'Clock Pink Windmills Trailing Allionia | |
Allionia incarnata | Trailing Windmills Trailing Four O'Clock Pink Windmills Trailing Allionia | |
Allium kunthii | Kunth's Onion | |
Allium kunthii | Kunth's Onion | |
Aletris lutea | Yellow Colicroot Yellow Colic-root | |
Aletris lutea | Yellow Colicroot Yellow Colic-root | |
Aletris lutea | Yellow Colicroot Yellow Colic-root | |
Aletris lutea | Yellow Colicroot Yellow Colic-root | |
Allium monticola | San Bernardino Mountain Onion | |
Allium nevadense | Nevada Onion | |
Allium nevadense | Nevada Onion | |
Aletris obovata | Southern Colicroot Blunt-leaved Colic Root | |
Allium parvum | Small Onion | |
Allium parvum | Small Onion | |
Allium praecox | Early Onion | |
Allium stellatum | Autumn Onion Prairie Onion | |
Aliciella subnuda | Coral Gilia | |
Aliciella subnuda | Coral Gilia | |
Aliciella subnuda | Coral Gilia | |
Aliciella subnuda | Coral Gilia | |
Allium textile | Textile Onion | |
Allium textile | Textile Onion | |
Allium unifolium | Oneleaf Onion | |
Allium unifolium | Oneleaf Onion | |
Allium validum | Pacific Onion Tall Swamp Onion Swamp Onion | |
Amelanchier alnifolia | Saskatoon Serviceberry Western Serviceberry Juneberry | |
Amsonia ciliata | Fringed Bluestar Bluestar Texas Bluestar | |
Amsonia ciliata | Fringed Bluestar Bluestar Texas Bluestar | |
Amsonia ciliata | Fringed Bluestar Bluestar Texas Bluestar | |
Amsonia ciliata | Fringed Bluestar Bluestar Texas Bluestar | |
Amsonia ciliata | Fringed Bluestar Bluestar Texas Bluestar | |
Amsinckia douglasiana | Douglas' Fiddleneck | |
Amsinckia douglasiana | Douglas' Fiddleneck | |
Amphiachyris dracunculoides | Prairie Broomweed Broomweed | |
Amelanchier laevis | Allegheny Serviceberry Allegheny Service-berry Serviceberry | |
Amsonia longiflora | Tubular Bluestar Trumpet Slimpod | |
Amsonia longiflora | Tubular Bluestar Trumpet Slimpod | |
Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia | Common Fiddleneck Intermediate Fiddleneck | |
Amianthium muscitoxicum | Fly Poison Crow Poison | |
Amianthium muscitoxicum | Fly Poison Crow Poison | |
scientific name | common name(s) | image gallery |