Part 6

Wild Dill. Prairie Parsley (_Pleiotaenia nuttallii_) is a conspicuous plant on prairies throughout the state and ranges to Michigan and Alabama. The flowers bloom in April and May, and the seeds mature and fall in June and July. The stiff, stout stems, commonly two feet high, become dry and brown but remain standing through the winter months. The upper leaves are not divided so much as the lower, which are deeply divided and have broad segments. The flowers are small and greenish-yellow and grow in clusters about 2 inches broad.

The foliage and seeds were used for seasoning by pioneers. It is very much like the cultivated dill (_Anethum graveolens_), a native of Southeastern Europe. The latter is taller and has leaves with threadlike divisions.

Other well-known members of the carrot family include the parsnip, parsley, myrrh, chervil, caraway, and celery. The well-known poison hemlock (_Conium maculatum_), by which Socrates met his death, is a native of Europe but may now be found in North and South America. It grows in great abundance along the streams of the Edwards Plateau between Fredricksburg and Austin.

HEATH FAMILY (Ericaceae)

Herbs or shrubs; sepals 4-5; corolla urn-shaped or cylindric, 4-5-lobed; stamens 8 or 10; anthers opening by terminal pores; ovary superior or inferior.

Tree-Huckleberry. Farkleberry (_Batodendron arboreum_) is also known as upland-huckleberry, sparkleberry, and gooseberry. The name is Greek and means “blackberry tree.” The huckleberries are often placed in a family separate from other heaths. The tree-huckleberry is a shrub or small tree, very abundant in the woods of East Texas and the Southern States. The dainty, drooping sprays of white bell-shaped flowers remind one of the lily-of-the-valley. The shining oval leaves are short-stalked, 1-2 in. long. The black berries are not edible.

Well-known members of the heath family include the trailing arbutus, cranberry, blueberry, bean-berry, winter-green, rhododendron, and azalea. Thickets of the pink azalea or swamp-honeysuckle (_Azalea nudiflora_) occur in a few places in East Texas. In the mountains of Southwest Texas may be found the arbutus-tree, madroña, or naked Indian, so called because of its red wood and scaling bark. Its small, red fleshy fruits look like strawberries. Stagger-bush (_Neopieris mariana_) is a common shrub in swampy places.

PRIMROSE FAMILY (Primulaceae)

Leaves often basal; sepals usually 5, often leafy; corolla tubular, 5-lobed; stamens 5, opposite the petals; ovary superior; fruit a capsule.

Texas Water-Pimpernel. Brookweed (_Samolus cuneatus_) is a plant found wherever springs or moist ledges occur in limestone hills of Texas. The plants have a basal rosette of broad rounded leaves. The slender stems are 6-12 inches high and bear a few leaves which are narrowed at the base. The 5-lobed white flowers are short and bell-shaped and appear from April to September. The pink water-pimpernel (_Samolus ebracteatus_) grows in sandy soil along the coast.

Shooting Star (_Dodecatheon stanfieldia_) is a rare plant and should be afforded protection. It is found in rich, moist soil from Central Texas to Louisiana. The flowers are very much like those of _Dodecatheon meadia_ but are larger and have broader petals.

The primrose family is represented in horticulture by many primroses from Asia, cyclamens from Greece to Syria, and the cowslip from Europe. The scarlet pimpernel (_Anagallis arvensis_) is found on sandy prairies in South Texas in the spring.

EBONY FAMILY (Ebenaceae)

Trees or shrubs; leaves usually leathery; calyx 3-11-lobed; petals united, 3-7; stamens 6-14, or more; ovary superior.

Mexican Persimmon (_Diospyros texana_) is also called ’possum plum, “chapote,” and black persimmon. It is a shrub or small tree found in river-valleys and on limestone hills from Central Texas to Mexico. It may be easily recognized by its smooth, light-gray bark, small leaves, and creamy heath-like flowers. The bell-shaped flowers are in dense clusters on the tree which has pollen-bearing flowers, whereas the seed-bearing flowers, which grow on a separate tree, are larger and fewer in number. The black fruits ripen in August, when the pulp becomes juicy but somewhat insipid.

The black wood is hard and, like other species of ebony, takes an excellent polish. It is used for making tools. The Mexicans use a black dye obtained from the fruits in dyeing sheep-skins. The common persimmon (_Diospyros virginiana_) is found wild from Connecticut to East Texas, where the sprouts are vicious pests in plowed lands.

GENTIAN FAMILY (Gentianaceae)

Leaves opposite; calyx usually tubular, 5-lobed; petals united at base, 4-12; stamens as many as petals; ovary superior.

Mountain Pink. Showy Centaury (_Erythraea beyrichii_) grows on gravelly limestone hills in Texas and Arkansas. The stems are branched near the base and often form hemispherical clumps a foot in diameter which are covered with pink flowers in June. The plants are being rapidly exterminated for ornamental purposes, for they are very showy and the flowers will last two weeks or more. The flowers have a united tubular corolla with 5 lobes.

The scientific name is from the Greek meaning “red.” The flowers of some species are red, but those in Texas are pink. The Texan centaury (_Erythraea texense_) is a very small plant with small flowers. It is found from Texas to Missouri in June and July. Buckley’s centaury or pink gentian (_Erythraea calycosa_) is found in moist soil in the western part of the state. It is a tall, slender plant 1-2 ft. high. It ranges from Missouri to Mexico. The centaury plants were formerly valued as a medicine for fever. They were gathered and dried at flowering time.

Purple Gentian. Bluebell (_Eustoma russellianum_) is also called Russell’s eustoma, Texas bluebell, blue gentian, blue marsh lily, and bosque blue gentian. The latter name is used in El Paso, where the purple gentian grows on the flood plain of the Rio Grande River. It is one of the loveliest flowers in the state, sometimes occurring in great profusion on moist prairies from Mexico to Colorado and Louisiana. It is especially abundant in Southeast Texas, where it is gathered in wholesale quantities by florists. It is an excellent cut-plant, the flowers lasting for several days and new buds continually opening.

Few people have had success in transplanting the purple gentian into their gardens. Only recently has there been a report of seeds successfully germinated. It is said that soaking for 48 hours in water will produce germination. Each flower produces a number of very minute seeds.

The large, bell-shaped flowers, 2-3 inches broad, are a bluish-purple; in fading, they spread widely and take on more of the blue tinge. They are constricted into a short narrow tube at the base. Inside, the flowers are marked with yellow at the base and have purple markings in the throat. The five stamens with large anthers are attached to the corolla tube. At the time the pollen is shed, the anthers lie in a horizontal position around the style. The stigmas are interesting. There are two diamond-shaped lobes which are erect until they are ready to receive pollen, and then they take a horizontal position. The calyx has five linear lobes which are united at the base with a colorless membrane. The oblong capsules are about half an inch long.

The plants are very smooth and are erect, with a few erect branches. The leaves are ovate-oblong and are usually 1-2½ inches long.

“Eustoma” means “open mouth”, referring to the large throat of the flower. The smaller bluebell in Southern Texas and Northern Mexico is _Eustoma gracile_.

Pink Texas Star. Prairie Sabbatia (_Sabbatia campestris_) is also known as meadow pink, rose pink, pink prairie gentian, marsh pink, and sea star. It ranges from Missouri and Kansas to Texas and is found on moist prairies throughout Central Texas from April to June. It is particularly abundant on southern coastal prairies where it makes a showy landscape display with phlox, coreopsis, and other plants in March and April. The sabbatias are named in honor of two Italian botanists, L. and C. Sabbati.

The plants are low, 3-12 inches high, and have wing-angled stems and short smooth leaves about ½-1¼ inches long. The flowers are about 1½ inches broad, much larger than those of the mountain pink, and more cup-shaped. They are usually deep pink in color, but purplish-pink and white forms may occasionally be noted. Around the throat are yellow, star-shaped markings over the white base of the petals. The long, linear calyx lobes are quite conspicuous when the flower is in bud or after the corolla has wilted.

DOGBANE FAMILY (Apocynaceae)

Plants with milky juice; sepals usually 5; corolla tubular, 5-lobed; stamens usually 5, inserted on corolla tube and alternate with the lobes; ovary superior; fruit mostly of 2 spreading follicles.

Blue Texas Star. Texas Dogbane. Blue-Star (_Amsonia texana_) belongs to a group named in honor of Charles Amson, a colonial physician. The stems are usually unbranched, 8-12 inches high, and are covered with narrow linear leaves. Like that of other amsonias, the tubular throat is lined with white hairs. The name of twin-pods might be given to the amsonias. The numerous seeds are borne in two narrow, erect pods which are united at the base and split along the inner sides. The pods are 3-4 inches long. The plant is perennial, growing in low clumps on limestone hillsides of Texas. The plants in North Texas form a conspicuous bluish-green line on low hills, when the flowers bloom in late March and April.

The oleander, periwinkle, and vinca are well-known members of the dogbane family. They all have a milky sap which is quite poisonous in the oleander, Indian hemp, and others. “Bane” is the common word in Northern Europe for “murderer” and is applied to poisonous plants.

MILKWEED FAMILY (Asclepiadaceae)

Leaves usually opposite or whorled; sepals 5; petals 5, usually reflexed and with a 5-lobed crown; stamens 5, the pollen united into 1 or 2 waxy masses in each sac; carpels 2, free except for the united disk-like stigma.

Green-Flowered Milkweed. Silkweed (_Asclepiodora decumbens_) is a widespread plant from Arkansas to Utah and Northern Mexico. It is found on the central and western plains, blooming in early spring and sometimes again in the fall. The stout, leafy stems, topped by the ball-shaped heads of flowers form conspicuous clumps about a foot high. The flowers have a sweet nectar which draws many insect visitors. They bloom in April and early May, and the large warty pods mature in a few weeks. As the seeds bear a tuft of hairs at one end, they are easily scattered by the wind and other agents. It is one of the first plants to appear on burned-over areas.

The milkweeds get their name from the bitter milky sap. The flowers are quite different from other flowers in that there is a crown between the petals and the stamens. In many the pollen is borne in two pear-shaped masses with a thread-like connection. In the green-flowered milkweed, purple hoods are attached to the crown and hang over the pollen-sacs.

Butterfly-Weed. Pleurisy-Root (_Asclepias tuberosa_) is a well-known plant in dry fields from Maine and Ontario to Northern Mexico. In Texas it is found in the sandy areas of the eastern and central parts. It blooms in the late spring and summer. Other common names include orange milkweed, orange-root, Indian posy, and orange swallow-wort. The leaves are poisonous to stock, but the honey is not considered poisonous. The monarch butterfly is a voracious feeder on the plant. It was at one time valued for its medicinal properties, but is now little used. Several plants are known by the common name of “swallow-wort” and are so called because they bloom in the spring when the swallows appear.

The leafy stems often grow one to two feet high. At the top of the stem are several clusters of small orange-colored flowers. The petals hang down when the pollen is ready to be shed. There is a crown of five erect, orange-colored hoods around the flat stigma.

DICHONDRA FAMILY (Dichondraceae)

Herbs with creeping stems; sepals 5; corolla bell-shaped, 5-lobed; stamens 5; carpels 2, separate.

Carolina Dichondra. Ground Ivy (_Dichondra carolinensis_) is, of course, not even kin to the ivy, but it does form a green carpet over the ground in places. It is widely scattered in the state and in many other localities. The greenish-white flowers are small and inconspicuous under the round leaves and are almost buried in the soil. The leaves are about an inch broad and are slender stalked. The plant is a perennial which is often hard to remove from lawns. The silvery-leaved dichondra (_Dichondra argentea_) occurs in West Texas.

DODDER FAMILY (Cuscutaceae)

Pretty Dodder. Love Vine. Strangle-Weed (_Cuscuta indecora_) may be noted in conspicuous orange or gold masses covering other plants. It is a leafless parasitic vine bearing small clusters of white flowers. The flowers are less than one fourth inch broad and have the petal-tips turned inward. There are many dodders in the state, and each kind is parasitic only on certain plants. The pretty dodder attacks the wild verbena and other herbs and low shrubs from Illinois to Texas and other parts of America.

MORNING-GLORY FAMILY (Convolvulaceae)

Plants twining or erect; sepals 5; corolla mostly funnelform, 5-lobed; stamens 5, on corolla tube; ovary superior; fruit usually a ball-shaped capsule separating into 2-4 lobes.

Texas Bindweed (_Convolvulus hermannioides_) has small white morning-glory flowers with a dark-red center. They are seldom more than an inch broad. The spreading or twining vines reach a length of several feet. The leaves are very variable in shape and often have spreading lobes at each side of the base like the hoary bindweed (_Convolvulus incanus_). Both grow on Texas plains, but the hoary bindweed is widely distributed from Kansas and Arkansas to Mexico. The Texas bindweed may be distinguished by the ear-like projections at the base of the sepals. The flowers bloom from April to August.

Purple Morning-Glory. Bindweed. Tie-Vine (_Ipomoea trifida_) is a lovely but pernicious vine of Texas, Mexico, and tropical America. The roots are perennial and very difficult to eradicate from cotton and corn fields. It blooms from spring to fall, the flowers opening only in the morning. The morning-glory group is very large, and many showy forms are found in Texas. The sweet potato (_Ipomoea batatas_) and others are valued for their tuberous roots.

PHLOX FAMILY (Polemoniaceae)

Mostly annual and perennial herbs; calyx 5-lobed; corolla tubular, 5-lobed; ovary usually 3-celled; style often 3-parted; stamens 5, inserted on corolla-tube; capsules small.

Standing Cypress. Red Gilia (_Gilia rubra_) might also be called torch flowers, for the tall spikes with their masses of red tubular flowers make flaming spots of color on the edges of the post oak woods in May and June. It is sometimes known as Indian plume, Texas plume, or red Texas star.

The plants are usually unbranched and grow two to three feet high; however, if the top of the stem is removed or injured near the time of flowering, it will branch into several flowering spikes. The stems are pale green and quite leafy with the finely dissected leaves. The narrow tubular flowers are over an inch long and have broad spreading lobes which, on their inner surface, are a pale orange-red dotted with a darker red. The flowers, which resemble those of the cypress vine, are closely clustered on the stem, those at the top opening first. The capsules are nearly an inch long and contain numerous papery seeds.

Blue Gilia. Golden Eye (_Gilia rigidula_), differing markedly from the red gilia in the shape of the flowers, has a short, broadly flaring corolla with a conspicuous yellow center. The flowers are nearly an inch broad. The plants are perennial and are often widely branched at the base, forming clumps nearly a foot broad. The blue gilia is found on hills and stony plains from Central Texas to Mexico and New Mexico and blooms from March to October.

White Gilia. Long-Flowered Gilia (_Gilia longiflora_) has slender, erect stems, 1-2 feet high, terminated by a flat-topped cluster of tubular white flowers. The flowers have a narrow tube, about 1½ inches long, and 5 broad, spreading lobes. The leaves have threadlike divisions. The plants are very showy when they are in bloom and are especially abundant in sandy regions of Northwest Texas in the late summer and fall.

Few flower groups show such a decided red, white, and blue as the gilias. The group is a large one, mostly of Western North America, and is named in honor of the Spanish botanist, Philipp Salvador Gil. Some of the gilias are known in cultivation and are considered hardy plants of easy culture. The standing cypress may be grown from seeds planted in August or September, or plants may be transplanted in the spring.

Drummond’s Phlox (_Phlox drummondii_) has rightly been called “Texan pride.” A drive late in April through the post oak sandy region east of Austin to the Brazos River and southeast to Victoria will disclose it in all its glory. The seeds were collected by Thomas Drummond in 1834 and sent to W. J. Hooker in the spring of 1835. Hooker, an eminent botanist, described it from the plants grown from those seeds in the Kew Gardens in London. According to his description, the plants were mostly of a brilliant rose-red with more or less purple in the flowers of some plants and darker red eyes in nearly all. It is quite probable that Drummond collected his seeds in the vicinity of Gonzales, the western limit of his Texas trip, where today wild phloxes which match his description occur in great profusion. The seeds collected may have included some from hybrid plants, as red phloxes with a white eye are found on the eastern edge of the red-phlox area, and the dark-eyed purple and red are found on its western limits in close proximity to the “phlox purple” variety.

The plant has long been a horticultural favorite, and more than 200 varieties have been described, few of which excel the native varieties in size or coloring.

Purple Phlox (_Phlox drummondii_-purple varieties) grows in sandy soil in Central Texas. The variety with the white throat and red-star eye is common in the southeastern part of the state. It is especially abundant in Wilson and Karnes Counties, where extensive masses of purple may be noted in open sandy places among mesquite and post oak trees. This is a very vigorous phlox and produces large stems and flowers. Studies are being made to determine whether these purple phloxes are varieties of Drummond’s phlox or should be called by other names.

The variety with the purple throat and the two white marks at the base of each corolla lobe grows northwest of the range of the red-flowered Drummond’s phlox. It blooms from April to June and seems to withstand cold better than any of the annual phloxes except the dwarf phlox.

Berlandier’s Phlox (_Phlox glabriflora_) differs from Drummond’s phlox in many particulars. The flowers are usually a bluish-lavender which at a distance suggests the wild verbena. Like the other phloxes on this page, it has both stem and leaves clothed with scattered, long, soft hairs. The large corolla is marked with white at the base of the lobes and has a short, smooth tube. The vigorous plants branch profusely and often form masses two and three feet broad. This phlox may be found on sandy prairies south of Kingsville and west of Hebbronville in the winter and spring months but is at its best in February and March. It was first collected by Louis Berlandier at several places along the southern coast in 1828 and 1829.

Heller’s Phlox (_Phlox helleri_) is a close relative of Berlandier’s phlox but has a hairy corolla-tube, smaller flowers, and shorter leaves. It is found from March to May in sand near the coast around Copano, Aransas, and Nueces bays.

Slender Phlox (_Phlox tharpii_) has a long, hairy corolla-tube, and the slender stems are usually unbranched. Only four flowers are borne in a cluster. It is very abundant in Frio and Dimmit Counties in April. Theodore Roosevelt, in describing a peccary hunt south of Uvalde in April, 1904, mentions these fields of purple.

Roemer’s Phlox (_Phlox roemeriana_) has lovely flowers which vary in color from deep rose to phlox purple or pink. It is the only annual phlox marked with yellow around the eye or throat. Its large capsule, containing 12 or 15 seeds, is another conspicuous feature and shows its relationship with the perennial phloxes of West Texas. It forms a lovely display with bluebonnets and low prairie spider-worts in the limestone hill region in April and early May.

Dwarf Phlox (_Phlox tenuis_) is the smallest and most widely distributed of the annual phloxes, ranging from the south-central coast to Louisiana and into Southern Oklahoma. It is found on the coastal prairie and in sandy soil along the edges of post oak woods from March to May. The plants are usually six to eight inches high and unbranched, but branched varieties are known. The flowers are about half an inch broad, with narrow lobes which are marked with two reddish-purple lines at their base.

Prairie Phlox. Prairie Sweet William (_Phlox pilosa_) has a delightful fragrance common in lesser degrees to many of the phloxes. The widespread prairie phlox was named in 1753 from plants taken to France from Virginia. The stems are low and have a few opposite leaves which are pointed and widely spreading. The flat-topped clusters of pale pink, blue, white, or purple flowers bloom in March and April in Texas. The stems and flower clusters are clothed with soft hairs.

Large-Flowered Prairie Phlox (_Phlox villosissima_) grows in a strange environment for a phlox. Charles Wright found it in 1849 on the gravelly bars of the Nueces River, where it still grows. It is also found on other rivers in Southwest Texas. It has long, woody roots reaching toward the necessary moisture. The flowers are very large, and only a few are open at a time. It differs from the prairie phlox in its shorter and more numerous leaves, its larger flowers with their broader lobes, and alternate branches in the flower cluster. The prairie phloxes are perennial and are easily grown in Southwest gardens.

WATER-LEAF FAMILY (Hydrophyllaceae)

Flowers usually in curled clusters; calyx deeply 5-lobed; petals united, usually 5; stamens 5, on corolla-tube; ovary superior; styles 2.

Baby Blue-Eyes. Flannel Breeches (_Nemophila phacelioides_) forms a lovely carpet on banks and in moist woods near the prairie regions of Texas and Arkansas. The dainty flowers are about one inch broad, with 5 broadly-spreading lobes of lavender, paler at the base. The leaves are divided into 5-9 broad segments which are irregularly toothed. It is not known in cultivation, but a similar plant from California is used to cover beds in which bulbs are planted.