Part 3

Texas Leather Flower. Scarlet Clematis (_Clematis texensis_) has maroon or scarlet bell-shaped flowers about 1 in. long. It is a climbing vine found along streams in Central Texas, growing 6-10 or more feet high. The leaves are thickened, entire or lobed, ovate to rounded. This clematis is a hardy climber, well known in cultivation, giving rise to many hybrids when crossed with the marsh leather flower (_Clematis crispa_), which is a low climber, 3-4 ft. high, with lavender bell-shaped flowers. The leather flowers have no petals, the showy bells being made up of 4 thickened sepals. The flattened fruits grow in head-like clusters about an inch thick and have plumose tails 1-2 in. long.

Purple Leather Flower (_Clematis pitcheri_), together with the marsh leather flower, is often called blue bell. Except in color, the flower is very much like the scarlet clematis. The leaflets are more frequently 3-lobed, and the tails on the fruits are silky but not plumose. It grows in damp woods from Indiana to Mexico, beginning to bloom in Texas in April and continuing into the summer.

BARBERRY FAMILY (Berberidaceae)

Herbs or shrubs; leaves simple or compound; sepals 6, similar to petals; petals 6; stamens 6, irritable, opening by valves; ovary 1-celled; fruit a berry.

Agarita. Texas Barberry (_Berberis trifoliolata_), known also as agrito (meaning “little sour”), chaparral berry, and wild currant, is an evergreen shrub forming an important part of the chaparral in the central and southwestern parts of the state and adjacent Mexico. The thick gray-green leaves are divided into three leaflets which have 3-7 lobes ending in sharp spines. The stiff spreading branches form a compact shrub 4-5 feet high.

The clusters of fragrant flowers are among the first spring blossoms to appear in late February and March. With 6 spreading yellow sepals and 6 yellow petals forming a cup around the stamens and pistil, the small flowers are somewhat like those of the narcissus. The acid berries ripen in May and June, being used for jellies and wines; the flowers are an important source of nectar; and the wood and roots furnish a yellow dye which was used by Indians and pioneers.

May Apple. Mandrake (_Podophyllum peltatum_) is abundant in moist woods in East Texas. The white flower growing in the fork of the stem is overtopped by the two umbrella-shaped leaves.

MOONSEED FAMILY (Menispermaceae)

Usually twining shrubs or small trees; flowers small, unisexual and perfect; sepals 6; petals 6, or absent; stamens 6-12; carpels 3-6; fruit berry-like, 1-seeded.

Moonseed Vine (_Cebatha Carolina_) is a vine with clusters of small red berries. It is very abundant throughout the state in woods and on fences, ranging north to Kansas and Virginia. It is also called coral-bead, margil, coral-vine, and red-berried moonseed. “Cebatha,” from the Greek, alludes to its climbing habit, while “moonseed” refers to the curved seed of the fleshy red berries which ripen in the fall and remain on the vines long after the leaves have fallen. The small white flowers bloom during the summer and fall. The leaves are quite variable, sometimes entire and sometimes distinctly 3-lobed and rarely 5-lobed, being smooth above and downy beneath.

The berries of the Indian moonseed contain an acrid poison which is used by the Chinese in catching fish, as it will temporarily stun or intoxicate the fish.

POPPY FAMILY (Papaveraceae)

Annuals or perennials with colored juice; sepals 2-3; petals 4-6, rarely more or wanting; stamens numerous; carpels 2 or more united; capsules opening by valves or pores.

Rose Prickly Poppy (_Argemone rosea_) is one of the loveliest flowers of South Texas. It is very abundant along the Rio Grande, extending into Mexico and northward almost to San Antonio. The large flowers vary in color from pale pink to rose and purple-rose and are more cup-shaped than the white-flowered species. It has gray-green leaves conspicuously blotched with white along the midribs, the slightly wavy margins being armed with sharp spines. Like other prickly poppies, the flowers have 6 petals, the 3 outer a little different in shape from the 3 inner, and an orange-colored sap. Long considered a variety of the western prickly poppy (_Argemone platyceras_), which has very spiny leaves and stems and white flowers, it may readily be separated because of its seed-pods, which are about 2 in. long and decidedly broader above the middle.

_Argemone_ is from the Greek meaning an eye disease, supposedly cured by the plant. The opium poppy (_Papaver somniferum_) has been widely planted in gardens, and has escaped in places in the state.

Rough-Stemmed or White Prickly Poppy (_Argemone hispida_) is a bushy, leafy-stemmed plant growing about 2-3 ft. high. It is distinguished from several other very abundant white-flowered poppies by the fact that it has rough hairs as well as spines on the stem. The flowers as a rule are larger, often being 4-6 inches broad. The unusual sepals of the prickly poppies should be noted, as they sometimes cause the flower buds to be confused with the fruits. There are usually 3 sepals, which are horned or hooded, armed with spines, and snugly overlapping each other by a narrow margin. In the rough-stemmed prickly poppy the horns are large and triangular in shape. It ranges from Texas to Kansas and California.

Texas Prickly Poppy (_Argemone delicatula_) is not so branched or leafy and has flowers somewhat smaller, 2½-3 in. broad. The stigmas are purple instead of red, and the capsules are less than an inch long. This poppy grows in dry soil in Central Texas. The prickly poppies bloom most profusely in April, but scattered blooms appear throughout the summer and fall.

Yellow Prickly Poppy. Mexican Poppy (_Argemone mexicana_) is a common weed in tropical America, extending into Southwest Texas in the vicinity of Laredo and Del Rio, and has been introduced into many other countries. It is also called bird-in-the-bush, devil’s fig, flowering or Jamaica thistle, and Mexican thorn poppy. It has smaller flowers than the white and rose prickly poppies. It blooms in Texas in March and April and throughout the summer if the stems are cut. For cut flowers, the stems should be burned immediately upon gathering; otherwise the flowers soon wither.

The seeds of the Mexican poppy are valued for the painter’s oil obtained from them. The oil from the seeds is also said to act as a mild cathartic, the plant otherwise possessing emetic, anodyne, and narcotic properties.

FUMITORY FAMILY (Fumariaceae)

Leaves usually much divided; sepals 2; petals 4 in 2 series, outer usually spurred, the 2 inner usually crested and united; stamens 4 or 6; seeds shining.

Golden Corydalis. Plains Scrambled-Eggs (_Capnoides montanum_) is a common plant throughout the central and western parts of the state, ranging to Arizona and Montana, and blooming in Texas with the earlier spring flowers in March and April. By some botanists it is placed in the _Corydalis_ group, which was named because of the resemblance of the flower spur to that of a lark. The pods are about an inch long, and the seeds are black, smooth, and shining. The short-podded scrambled-eggs (_Capnoides crystallinum_) comes into the northern part of the state from Kansas and Missouri. The pods are over half an inch long, about ¼ in. broad, and covered with blisters.

Texas Corydalis or Scrambled-Eggs (_Capnoides curvisiliquum_) grows in the sandy regions of the state. It is usually a more bushy plant than the preceding ones, with longer 4-angled pods.

Dutchman’s breeches (_Dicentra cucullaria_), so called because of the shape of the flower, does not come into the state. The plant in Texas which is called Dutchman’s breeches from the shape of the seed case is _Thamnosma texana_, a member of the rue family.

MUSTARD FAMILY (Cruciferae)

Annual or perennial herbs; sepals 4; petals 4, standing opposite each other in a square cross; stamens, 4 long and 2 short; fruit a special pod called a silique.

Wedge-Leaved Whitlow-Grass (_Draba cuneifolia_) is so small that it might be overlooked if it bloomed at any other time than early spring. Growing from a cluster of basal leaves, the stems are topped by the cluster of small, alyssum-like flowers. It grows throughout the Southern United States and Mexico.

Alyssum-Flowered Peppergrass (_Lepidium alyssoides_) is a low bushy perennial plant with numerous clusters of small white flowers. It grows in the western part of the state, ranging to Arizona and Colorado. Many other peppergrasses are found in the state, some with inconspicuous flowers, but all having the small, flat, roundish seed-pod which is usually notched above. The foliage and pods have an aromatic-peppery flavor. In some species the leaves are used for salad and the seeds for bird food, but the seeds from some native species have been fed to canaries with fatal results.

The mustard family is a large group well represented in Texas among the early spring flowers and includes many of our vegetables, such as mustard, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, and water-cress.

Tansy Mustard (_Sophia pinnata_) grows in dry soil across the continent, blooming in Texas in March and April. The narrow pods are about half an inch long, erect or ascending. The flowers are small, the petals yellow. In the southern part of the state it is very abundant and grows 2-3 ft. high. The name was given because of medicinal properties accredited to the plant.

Slender Bladder-Pod. Cloth-of-Gold (_Lesquerella gracilis_) can be recognized by its bladder-like pods, which are responsible for its common name of pop-weed. The yellow petals are narrowed at the base and streaked with orange. The first flush of yellow on plains and prairies is usually due to the bladder-pods. There are more than 20 species in the state, most of them being very abundant. The scientific name is in honor of Leo Lesquereux, a Swiss and American botanist.

The western wall-flower (_Erysimum asperum_), which grows in sandy areas in West Texas, is one of the showiest yellow mustards in the state. Several large-flowered purple mustards are common, including _Streptanthus bracteatus_.

Greggia (_Greggia camporum_) is a white-flowered mustard which looks like the yellow western wall-flower. The flowers are about half an inch broad and sometimes tinged with purple. The stems are about a foot high and almost concealed by the broad gray-green leaves. The woolly pods are narrow, flattened, and about half an inch long. It is one of the commonest flowers in Southwestern Texas, blooming in April, May, and June.

Spectacle-Pod (_Dithyraea wislizeni_) is a common plant on sandhills and gravelly mesas in Western Texas and ranges to Utah and Mexico. Any one seeing the seed pods will think that the common name is most appropriate. The plants grow 1-2 ft. high and are topped by the showy clusters of white flowers. The leaves and flowers are very much like those of greggia, but the fruits easily distinguish them. It was first collected by Wislizenus in New Mexico in 1846.

PITCHER-PLANT FAMILY (Sarraceniaceae)

Herbs with tubular leaves; flowers nodding; sepals 4-5; petals 5, or absent; stamens numerous; style often umbrella-like; ovary 3-5-celled.

Yellow Pitcher-Plant. Trumpet-Leaf (_Sarracenia sledgei_) is also called trumpets, water-cup, watches, and biscuits. The last two names are suggestive of the broad, umbrella-shaped structure bearing the stigmas and occupying the center of the flower. The other names refer to the tubular, ribbed, trumpet-shaped leaves. The flowers are drooping at maturity, with 5 fiddle-shaped yellow petals and 5 shorter yellow sepals tinged with brown or red. It grows in swamps from East Texas to Alabama and is quite similar to the eastern _Sarracenia flava_. April-May.

The pitcher-plant is a most efficient collector of insects. The upper part of the leaf bends over, forming a lid whose inner surface is covered with minute honey-glands attractive to insects. The upper part of the tube is smooth, affording little foothold and causing the insect to fall into and drown in the sticky fluid given off in the lower part of the tube. Downwardly directed hairs prevent his escape. After a time his body is dissolved and absorbed by the plant. An overdose of animal food causes the browning and decay of the leaves.

ORPINE FAMILY (Crassulaceae)

Usually succulent herbs; leaves opposite or alternate; sepals 4-5; petals 4-5; stamens 5 or 10; carpels 4-5, free.

Prairie or Nuttall’s Stonecrop (_Sedum nuttallianum_) is an annual with forking branches covered with small yellow star-like flowers. The succulent leaves are short and rounded. The sedums are characterized by 4-5 sepals and petals, 8-10 stamens, and 4-5 small spreading seedcases. The prairie stonecrop grows in dry, open places from Missouri to Texas and blooms from April to June. It makes an excellent carpeting plant when used in sunny places.

The stonecrop belongs to a large group of plants, including live-forever and many other cultivated favorites, most of which are used for rockeries. Wright’s stonecrop (_Sedum wrightii_) is a white-flowered plant, very much like the prairie stonecrop, found in the mountains in the western part of the state, New Mexico, and Mexico. Sedum is from the Latin meaning “to sit” and refers to the low growth habit. In the same family are included the house-leeks, some of which are known as hen-and-chickens, or old-man-and-woman, because of the detached offshoots which form new plants.

ROSE FAMILY (Rosaceae)

Trees, shrubs, or herbs; leaves simple or compound, stipules present; sepals 5; petals 5; stamens numerous; carpels 1 or more; sepals and petals borne on rim of calyx-tube.

White Prairie Rose or Woods’ Rose (_Rosa woodsii_) at first glance may be confused with the dewberry because of the low, bushy creeping stems and similar white flowers. The stems are 1-3 ft. high and are armed with straight prickles, usually in pairs; the leaves have 5-9 oval leaflets ½-1½ in. long. The flowers bloom in late May and early June, the dark red globe-shaped hips maturing in the late summer and fall. It may be found from Texas to Minnesota and Colorado. The white flowers are commonly two inches broad and very much like those of the McCartney rose, but it is more closely related to the cinnamon rose.

The McCartney rose (_Rosa bracteata_), early introduced from China into the Southern States and planted for windbreaks, is still very abundant on the coastal prairie, often forming great mounds about 10 ft. high. The thick evergreen leaves are divided into 5-9 oval leaflets, which are bright green and shining above. The sepals and the broadened portion of the stem below the white flower are densely silky.

Pink Prairie Rose or Climbing Rose (_Rosa setigera_) has climbing branches 6-15 ft. long with straight scattered prickles. The leaves are divided into 3-5 leaflets which are sharply pointed and 1-3 in. long. The showy pink flowers, 2 in. broad, grow in terminal clusters. This plant is considered one of the finest foods and covers for quail, grouse, and other birds. Native from Ontario to Texas and Florida, it is a hardy climber which has been widely introduced into other places, Baltimore Belle being one of the early cultivated forms. It is particularly abundant in Texas in the vicinity of Tyler, blooming in late May and June.

The wild roses are fairly rare in the state, but many cultivated roses are grown. Tyler has recently become a center of rose-growing, and carloads of rose plants are shipped throughout the United States. The scientific name retains the ancient Latin name.

Southern Dewberry (_Rubus trivialis_) has large white flowers very much like those of the wild rose, but the petals are narrower, particularly at the base. The fruit is a head of small, fleshy-seeded fruits, purplish-black when ripe. The flowers bloom in March and early April, the sweet and palatable berries ripening in the latter part of April. The plant is an evergreen shrub with trailing or low climbing stems, 10-15 ft. long, heavily armed with prickles. Fences along the roadside are often covered with dense masses of the stems.

Bush Blackberry (_Rubus argutus_) grows in moist woods in East Texas and on through the Gulf States to New Jersey. The stems are 3-4 ft. high, the branches erect. The flowers are white and grow in thick clusters. The berries are somewhat dry, oblong, and edible, but not very palatable.

MIMOSA FAMILY (Mimosaceae)

Usually trees or shrubs; leaves mostly twice pinnate; flowers small, in heads or spikes; sepals 5, calyx tubular; petals 5; stamens 5 or more; ovary 1-celled; fruit a pod.

Huisache (_Acacia farnesiana_), also known as opoponax, popinac, cassie, and sweet acacia, is a tropical shrub or small tree native to the Americas but widely introduced in other countries. The wide-spreading, graceful trees are almost evergreen, as the leaves are not shed before new ones appear unless affected by the cold. The slender, sharp spines occur in pairs at the base of the fern-like leaves, which are dark green and have 2-5 pairs of divisions with 10-25 pairs of narrow leaflets about ¼ in. long. The ball-like clusters of deep-yellow fragrant flowers usually appear before the leaves. The clusters are over half an inch broad, the many tubular flowers bearing numerous stamens, which give a feathery appearance to the clusters.

Various products from the trees are in use in many countries—forage from leaves, honey and perfume from the flowers, tannin from the bark and fruit, ink from the fruit, and medicinal products from nearly every part. In Southern Texas it is highly valued as a honey crop, the flowers blooming from February to April as a rule, but occasionally as early as December.

Mesquite (_Prosopis juliflora glandulosa_) is found on prairies throughout the state but grows luxuriantly in the southwestern part. In moister regions it is a graceful tree with lacy yellow-green leaves and is armed with stout, vicious spines over an inch long, but in the drier regions it is a spreading shrub with large underground roots which Mexicans dig up for fuel. Spikes of greenish-white or cream flowers appear at intervals during the warm months. Long beans, 4-8 in. long, soon turning pale yellow, mature in a few weeks. The leaves have 2 or 4 widely spreading divisions and commonly bear 6-15 pairs of leaflets about 1 in. long.

Like the huisache, the mesquite has many uses. The beans are edible, the pulp containing 25-30 per cent grape sugar. The Indians used the beans for a food, first grinding them into meal in holes in the rocks. They form a valuable stock food in Hawaii, where the trees have been introduced. The wood is hard and takes an excellent polish, but is chiefly used for fence-posts, railroad ties, fuel, and paving blocks. The honey produced from the flowers is not so good as huisache honey nor is so much produced.

Pink Sensitive Briar (_Leptoglottis uncinata_) is also called pink mimosa and shame-vine, the latter name being given because of the leaf’s habit of closing when touched. The vines sprawl on the ground, growing out 2-4 ft. They are densely covered with small, recurved prickles. The leaves are divided as in other mimosas, having 4-8 pairs of divisions each bearing 8-15 pairs of short leaflets. The small, fragrant pink flowers are borne in dense heads. The pods are nearly round, densely covered with spines, and about 1½ in. long. It grows in dry soil from Virginia to Mexico, blooming in Texas in April and May.

Yellow Sensitive Briar (_Neptunia lutea_) is very much like the pink briar but has oblong heads of yellow flowers. The pods are smooth and flat and markedly narrowed at the base. The yellow briar grows in sandy soil from Oklahoma and Texas to Florida, blooming in June.

SENNA FAMILY (Cassiaceae)

Trees, shrubs, or rarely herbs; leaves usually once or twice pinnate; flowers mostly showy; sepals 5; petals 5; stamens mostly 10; ovary 1-celled; fruit a pod.

Texas Redbud (_Cercis reniformis_) is one of the handsomest shrubs of the limestone hill region of Texas and New Mexico. The pea-shaped flowers appear on last year’s wood in February or March, often remaining lovely for a month before the leaves appear. The leaves are a glossy green above, rounded and sometimes deeply notched or kidney-shaped (reniform), and usually 3-4 in. broad. The clusters of numerous red seed-pods are very conspicuous in the summer and autumn. The flat pods have a narrow wing on one side and are pointed at both ends, 2½-3 in. long and over ½ in. broad.

The Canadian or eastern redbud is found in the northern and eastern part of the state. It has smaller flowers and very pointed leaves. The western redbud grows in the mountainous region of the state and has similar leaves but smaller flowers.

The Asiatic redbud is called Judas-tree because Judas is supposed to have hanged himself from one of the trees. Redbud flowers, served either fried or pickled for salads, are sometimes eaten by people. It is an excellent shrub or small tree for highway and garden planting.

Two-Leaved Senna (_Cassia roemeriana_) gets its common name from the two spreading leaflets into which the leaf is divided. They are 1-2 in. long and have a slender stalk about the same length. The stems are commonly about 8-12 in. high, growing from a woody perennial root. The sparsely-flowered clusters of yellow flowers appear from spring until fall. The seed-pods are about an inch long and half an inch wide. This senna is very abundant from Central Texas into Mexico and New Mexico. It bears the name of Roemer, a geologist sent from Germany to study the geology of the grant made to the German colonists at New Braunfels. He was in Texas from 1845 to 1847, visited and botanized with Lindheimer at New Braunfels, and carried many new Texas plants back to Germany.

The senna group is very large and mainly tropical in distribution, many species being noted for medicinal properties. The coffee senna (_Cassia occidentalis_) and the American senna (_Cassia marilandica_) are common weeds in the eastern part of the state. The velvet-leaved or Lindheimer’s senna grows in the western part of the state.

Partridge Pea. Prairie Senna (_Chamaecrista fasciculata_) is also called large-flowered sensitive pea, dwarf cassia, and magoty-boy-bean. It blooms in the summer months and is very abundant in sandy soil in Central and Eastern Texas, ranging to Mexico and the northern part of the United States. The oblong leaves have 8-14 pairs of linear leaflets and a conspicuous orange or brown gland near the base. The flowers have five yellow petals, somewhat unequal and irregular in shape. Several buds grow on a short stalk between the leaves, but usually only one flower on the stalk opens at a time. It is an erect annual plant growing about 2½ feet high and often widely branched above. The pods are flattened, about ¼ in. wide and 2 in. long.