Part 2

Prairie Onion (_Allium nuttallii_) has short flower stalks 4-6 inches high growing from a very small bulb which has a brown, finely-woven outer coat. The flowers are nearly half an inch broad and vary from pale pink to a deep rose. _Allium_ is the Latin for “garlic,” and both the cultivated garlic and onion are members of this group. There are nearly twenty different wild onions in the state, many of which make lovely garden plants. _Allium mutabile_, a taller onion with very numerous white flowers, blooms in May. The prairie onion is the same as Heller’s onion (_Allium helleri_) and blooms in April.

Crow Poison. False Garlic (_Nothoscordum bivalve_) is one of the first flowers to appear in the spring on lawns, meadows, and roadsides throughout the Southern States and may bloom again in the autumn. It looks very much like the onions, but has fewer, larger flowers on long stalks and does not have the onion odor. It grows from an onion-like bulb. The name is from the Greek meaning “false garlic.”

Beargrass. Fine-Leaved Tree-Yucca (_Yucca elata_) belongs to a group widely represented in Texas by many different forms, those with thin thready leaves being known as beargrass, soapweed, “palmillo,” and Adam’s needle and those with thick, stiff, sharp-pointed leaves as Spanish bayonet or dagger. All have creamy or greenish-white bell-shaped drooping flowers borne in dense clusters on a long stalk growing out of a rosette of leaves. The fine-leaved tree-yucca sometimes grows 20 ft. high and is very abundant west of the Pecos River to Arizona. The budding flower stalk is quite tender and palatable and was often used as a food by early settlers. It is an excellent food for cattle, and they keep the stalks stripped of budding shoots, making the absence of seed pods quite conspicuous on the cattle ranges. Indians used the leaf fibers for making sandals.

Soapweed (_Yucca glauca_), the common yucca of the Panhandle of Texas and adjacent states, has an unbranched flower stalk. As in other yuccas, the roots yield soap when the bark is removed and crushed in water. The fruits of the stiff-leaved tree-yuccas are edible.

AMARYLLIS FAMILY (Amaryllidaceae)

Plants with bulbs or fibrous roots; leaves basal; sepals 3, petal-like; petals 3, sepals and petals united into a tube below; stamens 6; ovary inferior, 3-celled.

Small or Drummond’s Rain Lily (_Cooperia drummondii_) is known in cultivation as evening star. It does not have a stalked seed pod like the giant rain lily and has smaller flowers with much longer tube and shorter and narrower leaves. It blooms in the late summer and fall.

The cooperias were named in honor of Joseph Cooper, an English gardener. Drummond’s rain lily honors Thomas Drummond, a Scottish plant collector who visited the southeastern part of Texas in 1833-34.

Giant Rain Lily (_Cooperia pedunculata_) has lovely fragrant white flowers which last only a day or two. The tubular flowers appear funnel-shaped for some hours after opening, but the six broad lobes spread widely as the flowers mature. The leaves are all basal and grow from a large black-coated bulb; they are about a foot long and nearly half an inch wide. Shortly after heavy rains in spring and early summer, lawns, meadows, and woods in Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico are covered with the lovely blossoms. It is also called prairie lily, field lily, crow poison, and fairy lily.

Copper Lily. Texas Atamosco Lily. Stagger Grass (_Zephyranthes texana_) is a copper-colored lily blooming in August and September in Central Texas. The inner surface of the petals is yellow and shows a purple veining. The flowers stalks are 6-12 inches long, growing from a cluster of very slender leaves. The yellow atamosco (_Zephyranthes longifolia_) has yellow flowers. It may be found in West Texas to Arizona and Mexico in the late summer and fall.

Yellow Star Grass (_Hypoxis erecta_) has yellow flowers about an inch broad. It is one of the earliest and commonest spring flowers in the eastern pine woods, blooming in Texas in March and April.

The common century plant of the Big Bend is _Agave havardiana_. It is not as large as the widely cultivated American century plant introduced from Mexico. A candelabrum-like cluster of yellow flowers, which are provided with a vast quantity of nectar, grows at the top of a stout stalk, which is commonly 12-15 feet high. The stalk grows from a cluster of broad gray leaves, 1-1½ feet long, bordered with recurved prickles and ending in a sharp-pointed spine. Lecheguilla (_Agave lecheguilla_) is a much smaller plant with narrow spikes of greenish-white flowers.

Texas Spider Lily (_Hymenocallis galvestonensis_) grows in moist soil, in ditches, or on the edges of ponds. It is particularly abundant on the coastal prairie. A thick, fleshy flower stalk grows from a cluster of strap-shaped leaves about an inch broad and bears 4—6 white flowers in a cluster at the top of the stalk. The scientific name means “beautiful membrane” and refers to the delicate white funnel-tube uniting the bases of the 6 stamens. The 3 linear petals and the three similar sepals are about 6 in. long, united at their lower half into a slender tube. The upper half spreads, giving rise to the common name of spider lily. The flowers bloom from March to May. It was long ago introduced into cultivation and is considered quite hardy in the North.

Western Spider Lily (_Hymenocallis occidentalis_) has similar flowers, but blooms in the summer after the leaves die back. It is found in moist soil and on shaded hillsides from Northeast Texas to Indiana and Georgia.

IRIS FAMILY (Iridaceae)

Perennial herbs with bulbs, corms, or rhizomes; leaves usually basal and flattened at the sides; 3 sepals and 3 petals nearly equal; stamens 3; ovary below the perianth; fruit a 3-celled capsule.

Pleated-Leaf Iris (_Herbertia caerulea_) has pleated leaves like the celestials, but the flowers are quite different, the 3 sky-blue sepals being large and spreading and the 3 petals small and inconspicuous. The bases are white with violet markings. It is very abundant on the Coastal Plain of Louisiana and Texas in April and May. The name is in honor of William Herbert, a distinguished English botanist.

Prairie Celestial (_Nemastylis acuta_) has 6-parted sky-blue flowers with the 3 sepals and 3 petals nearly equal, white at the base. The 2-branched thread-like styles, from which the name is derived, spread horizontally between the 3 erect stamens. It grows on the prairies of North Texas to Kansas and Tennessee.

Woodland Celestial (_Nemastylis texana_) with its steel-blue flowers is more abundant in the southern part of the state in open post oak woods. Like the pleated-leaf iris, the flowers of the celestials open late in the morning and remain open only a few hours.

Sword-Leaved Blue-Eyed Grass (_Sisyrinchium ensigerum_) is one of many blue-eyed grasses in the state, most of which have purplish-blue flowers, 6-parted and about half an inch broad, marked at the base with yellow. The flower has 3 erect united stamens. The flowers hang on thread-like stalks from two boat-shaped leaves about an inch long. The stems are winged, sword-shaped or outcurved, and have very fine saw-toothed edges. South-central to Northwestern Texas in April and May. In East Texas the prairie blue-eyed grass (_Sisyrinchium campestre_) is common. It has pale blue flowers, and the outer floral leaf is prolonged to a slender point, being 1½-2 in. long.

Dwarf Blue-Eyed Grass (_Sisyrinchium minus_) has small reddish-purple flowers and an oblong seed capsule. Coastal Plain, Louisiana to Texas. Spring.

Thurow’s Blue-Eyed Grass (_Sisyrinchium thurowi_) is a very small plant with small yellow flowers found in the southeastern part of the state in damp places. Spring.

Giant Blue-Flag or Iris (_Iris giganticaerulea_) is a tall iris found in swampy places in East Texas and Louisiana, blooming in late April and May. The color of this iris is quite variable, ranging from dark violet to lavender and white. The recurved spreading sepals are 3-4 inches long, and the petals are shorter and erect. The capsules are 3-4 in. long with 6 rounded ridges.

Narrow Blue-Flag (_Iris virginica_) has been confused with the Carolina iris, according to Dr. Small of the New York Botanical Garden, who has recently described many new irises from Louisiana. The narrow blue-flag is colored similarly to the giant iris, but has shorter 3-angled capsules, very narrow leaves, and zig-zag stems. It is abundant on the Coastal Plain in early spring.

Red-Brown Flag (_Iris fulva_) is also found in the swamps in East Texas.

ORCHID FAMILY (Orchidaceae)

Air plants or tuberous-rooted; leaves alternate, undivided; sepals 3; petals 3, the middle one, or “lip,” often complex in structure; stamens 2 or 1, united to pistil; ovary below the perianth.

Slender Ladies’-Tresses (_Ibidium gracile_) is also called twisted-stalk or corkscrew-plant because of the twisting of the flower-stalk. The stems, which are 8 in. to 2 ft. high, grow from a cluster of tuberous roots and have two broad leaves at the base. This flower ranges from Texas to Nova Scotia.

Rose Pogonia. Snake-Mouth (_Pogonia ophioglossoides_) grows in swampy places from Texas to Newfoundland. Pogonia is from the Greek, meaning “bearded” and refers to the bearded lip.

Grass-Pink (_Limodorum tuberosum_) is a pink-flowered orchid of East Texas and the Eastern States similar to the rose pogonia, but does not have the short clasping leaf on the stem.

The orchid family is a large group of more than 15,000 species. Some orchids are air-plants, attaching themselves to tree-trunks, but none of these are found among the 25 orchids growing in Texas. Perhaps the handsomest orchid in the state is the red-flowered flame orchid (_Stenorrhynchus cinnabarinus_) found in the mountains of the Big Bend. All the Texas orchids are rare enough to need protection.

BUCKWHEAT FAMILY (Polygonaceae)

Leaves usually alternate; sepals 3-6, sometimes petal-like; petals absent; stamens usually 6-9; ovary 1-celled.

Many-Flowered Buckwheat (_Eriogonum multiflorum_) is also called umbrella-plant because of its spreading clusters at the top of the stem. It grows about 2 ft. high, being very abundant in sandy soil from South-central Texas to Arkansas and Louisiana in the late summer and fall. The name means “woolly knees,” referring to the jointed stems.

Buckwheat flour is made from the seeds of _Fagopyrum esculentum_, a closely related plant, similar in size, white-flowered, and with large 3-angled seeds. Queen’s crown or wreath (_Antigonon leptopus_), a lovely pink-flowered vine widely cultivated in Texas, is a member of the buckwheat family.

Annual Buckwheat (_Eriogonum annuum_), similar to the many-flowered buckwheat, but with leaves white-woolly on both sides and narrowed at the base, is very abundant in the northwestern part into New Mexico and Mexico. Acre after acre along the highways is often covered with it. Many other white-, yellow-, and red-flowered buckwheats are found in the mountains of West Texas.

Southern Smartweed (_Persicaria longistyla_), ranging from Mississippi to New Mexico is also called gander-grass or knotweed. It grows in wet places throughout the state and blooms in the late summer and fall. The dense spikes of small pink flowers are very attractive, the flowers having 5 pink sepals but no petals. The seeds are lens-shaped and covered with a black shining coat. The seeds of many of the smartweeds are considered good food for ducks.

Dotted Smartweed (_Persicaria punctata_) has scattered greenish-white flowers and 3-angled seeds. The leaves are much narrower than those of the Southern smartweed. Many other smartweeds are found in the state.

Curly-Leaved Dock (_Rumex crispus_), as well as several other docks, is common in the state. The leaves of some of them are used for greens. Canaigre is the dock of Western Texas and New Mexico, the roots of which have furnished tannin for commercial purposes.

FOUR-O’CLOCK FAMILY (Nyctaginaceae)

Leaves opposite or alternate; flowers often surrounded by colored bracts; calyx tubular, often petal-like; petals absent; stamens 1 to many; ovary 1-celled.

Gray’s Umbrella-Wort. Pink Four-O’clock (_Allionia grayana_) has delicate pink flowers which have no petals, but the 5 united sepals are petal-like in appearance. The flowers are spreading or funnel-shaped and open in the afternoon. Several flowers are borne together and are surrounded at their bases by 5 short united floral leaves, forming a pale green veiny involucre which is sometimes mistaken for the flower. The clusters terminate the branches on a widely spreading plant about 2 ft. high.

Small-Flowered Four-O’clock (_Allionia incarnata_) is very abundant in Southwestern Texas to Arizona and South America. It forms a low, spreading plant, which is profusely covered with small pink blooms less than half an inch broad.

Narrow-Leaved Sand-Verbena (_Abronia angustifolia_) is a low plant with a dense head of pink flowers which are so fragrant that one plant will perfume the air for some distance. In favorable seasons the hills around El Paso are pink with the lovely blooms. It is called sand-verbena because of the verbena-like clusters.

Devil’s Bouquet (_Nyctaginia capitata_) is also called skunk flower because of its heavy, disagreeable odor. The head-like clusters of scarlet flowers are very showy, being 2-3 in. broad. The 5-lobed flowers resemble those of the umbrella-worts and likewise open in the afternoons. The plants are low and scattered, but are quite common from Central and Southern Texas to Mexico and New Mexico from May to October.

Angel’s Trumpet (_Acleisanthes longiflora_) grows from long spreading stems with the long-tubed flowers sharply erect. The flowers are over an inch broad with a tube 4-6 in. long. It is most abundant in the spring, but may be found until October in the same range as the devil’s bouquet. Jimson-weed (_Datura_) is also called angel’s trumpet.

Bougainvillea is a member of this family frequently cultivated in the southern part of the state. The common four-o’clock is often seen in gardens and in some places has escaped cultivation.

POKEWEED FAMILY (Phytolaccaceae)

Leaves alternate, entire; sepals 4-5; petals absent; stamens 3 to many, sometimes united at the base; ovary with 1 to many distinct or united carpels.

Rouge Plant. Small Pokeberry (_Rivina vernalis_) was named for A. Q. Rivinus, a botanist of Leipzig. It was known as _Rivina humilis_, the latter name meaning low. It has small flowers, about ¼ in. broad, with 4 white or pink petal-like sepals and 4 stamens. The bright red berries often occur on the stems while flowers are still present. The low plants, a foot or more high, grow profusely in woods in Central Texas, but may be found from Arkansas to the tropics. When vegetable dyes were in common use, a red dye was obtained from the berries.

Ink-Berry. Large Pokeberry (_Phytolacca americana_) is a leafy, stout, branched plant 3-9 ft. high, with large leaves and spike-like clusters of white flowers and purple berries. It is a perennial that grows from a poisonous root. With special care in the picking and preparation, the young shoots are sometimes used for greens. The shoe-button-like berries were used for ink in pioneer days. Maine to Texas. Summer and fall.

PURSLANE FAMILY (Portulacaceae)

Herbs or undershrubs, often succulent; sepals 2; petals 4-6, soon falling; stamens few or many; ovary 1-celled; fruit a capsule opening by valves or a transverse split.

Lance-Leaved Portulaca (_Portulaca lanceolata_) is a weed found in sandy soil from Central and Southern Texas to Arizona. The flowers are less than half an inch broad with 5 pinkish-yellow petals and 7-27 stamens. It may be distinguished from other portulacas by the crown-like rim around the capsule. Hairy rose moss (_Portulaca pilosa_) is more abundant and showy, with purplish-red flowers nearly an inch broad, greatly resembling the large-flowered rose moss in cultivation. The capsule of the portulacas opens by a cap.

Small-Flowered Talinum (_Talinum parviflorum_) has small pink flowers about ½ in. broad, which, like those of the portulacas, require bright sunlight for opening. These dainty flowers grow on slender stalks from a cluster of short, rounded leaves and may be found in rocky soil from Minnesota to Texas during the summer months.

PINK FAMILY (Caryophyllaceae)

Stems usually swollen at the joints; leaves opposite; sepals 4-5; petals 4-5, or absent; stamens usually 8-10; ovary usually 1-celled.

Western Chickweed (_Cerastium brachypodum_) is one of the early spring flowers to be found throughout the state, ranging from Illinois to Oregon and Mexico. The 5 small white petals are notched at the apex. The name is derived from the Greek meaning “horny” and refers to the horn-shaped capsule from which the seeds are scattered through the opening at the top. Several other chickweeds are found in the state in early spring.

Nuttall’s Starwort or Chickweed (_Stellaria nuttallii_) is a lovely white-flowered chickweed found on moist sandy prairies or in open woods in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana in March and April. The flowers are about 1 in. broad, and the 5 broad petals are deeply notched at the apex.

The pink family is well represented in cultivation, including the carnation, sweet William, garden pink, baby’s breath, and others. The red-flowered catch-fly (_Silene laciniata_), found in the mountains of West Texas to Mexico and California, is known in cultivation.

WATER-LILY FAMILY (Nymphaeaceae)

Aquatic herbs; leaves long-stalked, often floating; flowers solitary, large; sepals 3-6; petals numerous; stamens numerous; carpels 8 or more.

Blue Water-Lily (_Nymphaea elegans_) is a common water-lily along the coast of Texas and Mexico, particularly in the vicinity of Corpus Christi. The flowers vary from nearly white to a purplish-blue or lilac and are 3-6 in. broad. The floating leaves, about 7 in. broad, are dark purple below and nearly round; sometimes they have a few scattered teeth on the margins. The blooms last 3 days, opening about 8 o’clock in the morning and closing shortly after noon.

Yellow Water-Lily (_Nymphaea flava_) is a yellow-flowered water-lily found on the Texas and Florida coasts. The sweet-scented white water-lily is abundant in the southeastern part of the state.

Spatter Dock. Yellow Pond Lily (_Nuphar advena_), with yellow cup-shaped flowers 2-3 in. broad, is the common water-lily of slow streams and ponds throughout the state and ranges to Labrador, Florida, and Utah.

The water-lilies form an important food and cover for fish; ducks and muskrats feed upon the many seeds produced.

CROWFOOT FAMILY (Ranunculaceae)

Perennials, annuals, or climbing soft-wooded plants; sepals 3 to many; petals few to many; stamens and carpels usually many.

Southern Anemone or Windflower (_Anemone decapetala_) has 10-20 sepals which resemble petals, varying from a greenish white and pink to the common pale purplish-blue. The plants are commonly low, about 6 in. high in flower, with a few leaves growing from a tuberous root. The leaves are 3-parted, the segments lobed and toothed. The anemone is the Texas harbinger of spring, appearing in late January, February, or March on plains and prairies, and in the chaparral. It ranges from the Southern United States to South America. The Carolina anemone, with bluer flowers and more finely-divided leaves, is abundant in the woods of East Texas.

The crowfoot or real buttercup family (the yellow evening primrose is also called buttercup) is considered by most botanists as the plant family from which other plants have been derived. In many the fruits look very much like the fruit head of the arrowleaf. The columbine is a member of this family frequently cultivated in the gardens of the state, but the few native ones are not very abundant.

White Larkspur (_Delphinium albescens_) is the common larkspur of prairies and plains of Texas and ranges to Southern Canada. In Texas it blooms most abundantly in May. The white flowers resemble rabbit faces and are tinged with green and purple. It is the bane of ranchmen, for it is poisonous to cattle.

Carolina Larkspur (_Delphinium carolinianum_) commonly has lovely deep blue flowers, though white forms may be found. It is very abundant in East Texas in March and April, growing 1½-2 ft. high. The plants have few leaves, and these are 3-5 parted, each part being divided into narrow linear lobes. It is very much like the Texas larkspur (_Delphinium vimineum_), which has blue or white flowers, grows taller, and is more leafy than the Carolina larkspur.

“Delphinium” is derived from the Latin meaning “dolphin,” so-called because of the resemblance of the spurred flowers to a dolphin. The common garden larkspur is native to Southern Europe. Some of the larkspurs furnish drugs.

Large Buttercup (_Ranunculus macranthus_) has handsome, golden-yellow flowers about 2 in. broad. There are 10-15 broad yellow petals which are longer than the sepals and have a nectar pit at their base. The leaves are mainly basal, long-stalked, and divided into wedge-shaped lobes. It ranges from Central to Southwestern Texas and is most abundant in April. It is a plant which does well in cultivation but requires plenty of water; it blooms in the shade better than most garden plants.

Many of the buttercups grow in marshy places, a fact which is responsible for the old Latin name meaning “little frog.” Many different kinds are found along roadside ditches and in marshy places in East Texas. Some members of the crowfoot family, including the wood-anemone and the marsh marigold, common in the Northern States but not native to Texas, yield poisonous honey.

Drummond’s Virgin’s Bower. Old Man’s Beard (_Clematis drummondii_) is a vine growing in great profusion, covering shrubs and fences from Central Texas to Arizona and Mexico. The 4 petal-like sepals are pale greenish-yellow, almost white, narrow and thin with margins somewhat crinkled, about ½ in. long. The flowers bloom in the summer, being inconspicuous among the branching leafy stems. The stamen-bearing flowers are on a separate vine from the seed-producing flowers. The seeds mature in a few weeks, and soon the vine is covered with iridescent masses of silky, feathery plumes, 2-4 in. long, which grow out from the seed cover. These plumes are elongated, persistent styles and are responsible for many common names given to the vine, including grandfather’s beard, gray beard, goat’s beard, and love-in-the-mist.

Western Virgin’s Bower (_Clematis ligusticifolia_), with white flowers and leaves with 5-7 leaflets, has been reported from the mountains of West Texas.