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 |
Calochortus nitidus | Broadfruit Mariposa Lily | |
Calochortus nudus | Naked Mariposa Lily | |
Calochortus nudus | Naked Mariposa Lily | |
Calochortus nuttallii | Sego Lily Mariposa Lily Sego-lily | |
Calochortus nuttallii | Sego Lily Mariposa Lily Sego-lily | |
Calochortus nuttallii | Sego Lily Mariposa Lily Sego-lily | |
Calochortus nuttallii | Sego Lily Mariposa Lily Sego-lily | |
Calochortus nuttallii | Sego Lily Mariposa Lily Sego-lily | |
Calochortus nuttallii | Sego Lily Mariposa Lily Sego-lily | |
Calochortus nuttallii | Sego Lily Mariposa Lily Sego-lily | |
Calochortus nuttallii | Sego Lily Mariposa Lily Sego-lily | |
Calochortus obispoensis | San Luis Mariposa Lily | |
Calochortus obispoensis | San Luis Mariposa Lily | |
Calochortus obispoensis | San Luis Mariposa Lily | |
Castilleja occidentalis | Western Indian Paintbrush | |
Castilleja occidentalis | Western Indian Paintbrush | |
Castilleja occidentalis | Western Indian Paintbrush | |
Calystegia occidentalis | Chaparral False Bindweed | |
Calystegia occidentalis ssp. occidentalis | Chaparral False Bindweed | |
Calystegia occidentalis ssp. occidentalis | Chaparral False Bindweed | |
Calystegia occidentalis ssp. occidentalis | Chaparral False Bindweed | |
Calystegia occidentalis var. tomentella | Chaparral False Bindweed | |
Camissonia ovata | Goldeneggs Sun Cups | |
Calla palustris | Water Arum Water-dragon Wild Calla | |
Calla palustris | Water Arum Water-dragon Wild Calla | |
Campanula parryi | Parry's Bellflower | |
Campanula parryi | Parry's Bellflower | |
Campanula parryi | Parry's Bellflower | |
Callirhoe papaver | Woodland Poppymallow Woodland Poppy-mallow Woodland Poppy Mallow | |
Calochortus palmeri | Palmer's Mariposa Lily | |
Calochortus palmeri | Palmer's Mariposa Lily | |
Calochortus palmeri | Palmer's Mariposa Lily | |
Camissonia palmeri | Palmer Evening-primrose Palmer Evening Primrose | |
Calopogon pallidus | Pale Grass-pink | |
Calopogon pallidus | Pale Grass-pink | |
Calopogon pallidus | Pale Grass-pink | |
Calopogon pallidus | Pale Grass-pink | |
Calibrachoa parviflora | Seaside Petunia | |
Calycoseris parryi | Yellow Tackstem | |
Castilleja parviflora var. olympica | Olympic Indian Paintbrush | |
Caltha palustris var. palustris | Yellow Marsh Marigold Marsh-marigold Cowslip | |
Caltha palustris var. palustris | Yellow Marsh Marigold Marsh-marigold Cowslip | |
Calochortus persistens | Siskiyou Mariposa Lily | |
Calochortus persistens | Siskiyou Mariposa Lily | |
Campanula piperi | Olympic Bellflower | |
Campanula piperi | Olympic Bellflower | |
Calochortus plummerae | Plummer's Mariposa Lily | |
Calochortus plummerae | Plummer's Mariposa Lily | |
Calochortus plummerae | Plummer's Mariposa Lily | |
Calochortus pulchellus | Mount Diablo Fairy-lantern | |
scientific name | common name(s) | image gallery |