Copyright 1936 and 1948, by

Eula Whitehouse
Box 739, Southern Methodist University
Dallas 5, Texas

Printed and bound in the United States of America

First Edition 1936
Second Edition 1948

TEXAS WILDFLOWERS

PREFACE

For more than a century the wild flowers of Texas have been a source of study and pleasure to scientists and flower lovers. The state can boast of a varied and interesting flora which has attracted numerous plant collectors since the first specimens were collected in the Texas Panhandle by Dr. Edwin James, naturalist accompanying the Long Expedition in 1820. Dr. Louis Berlandier, a French botanist, endured the hardships of the Teran Expedition for the exploration of the boundary region between Texas and Mexico between 1826 and 1834 in order to collect plants in Texas.

Berlandier’s first collection was instrumental, a few years later, in arousing the interest of Thomas Drummond, a Scotch botanist and collector. In 1833-34 Drummond visited Southeast Texas and collected 700 species of plants. In 1836, Ferdinand Lindheimer, a German botanist, moved to Texas and began his noteworthy study and collection of Texas plants. Charles Wright, a Yale graduate, came to Texas in 1837, first collecting plants in East Texas and later making important additions in Southwest Texas. Since the work of these early pioneers, many scientists have visited nearly all parts of the state and have added many new names to the list of native plants.

Today nearly five thousand species of flowering plants have been reported from the state. About half of these have showy, conspicuous flowers, and many of them are very limited in their distribution in Texas. If the reader will keep these figures in mind, perhaps he will not be disappointed at not finding some of his favorite flowers in the following pages. As such a limited number could be included, it was thought best to use those widely distributed throughout the state, omitting some of the well-known plants which have been frequently illustrated in previous publications.

The present manual is not intended as a guide to the flora of the state, but it is hoped that it will prove helpful in identifying some of the common flowers. A few rare and beautiful flowers have been included so that they may be recognized and protected. In order to include representatives of the more important plant families, it was impossible because of lack of space to add many widely distributed members of other families represented. For example, the pea family, which has about 300 showy members in Texas, had to be limited to ten representatives.

The water color paintings on which the manual is based were made by the author. In nearly all cases they were made from fresh specimens carefully checked with verified material in the University of Texas Herbarium; a few which could not be painted at the time of collecting were later drawn from pressed specimens and colored from notes and memory.

The flowers of Texas have been so very abundant that only recently has it been considered necessary to protect them. The Legislature of 1933 passed a law forbidding the picking of flowers and injury to trees and shrubs along highways. Even this protection is not sufficient for some plants. A few years ago the writer happened to visit the shop of a cactus fancier just after he had returned from a collecting trip and saw with amazement the large tow-sacks filled with rare and highly prized cacti. Wagon loads of the large and vivid-blooming ribbed cacti have been observed as they were brought in for market. The bluebell, or purple gentian, is in need of protection since florists have been buying them up in such large quantities. The picturesque bunches of sotol are being rapidly destroyed, as ranchmen are stripping them of their saw-toothed leaves and feeding the stalks to their cattle. Yaupon and American holly, both slow-growing plants, are being destroyed to supply the market with Christmas greens.

A few flower sanctuaries have been established in recent years, but many others are needed. The decrease in our native flowers is primarily due to increase in population with the accompanying increases in homesteads and acres in cultivation, over-grazing, and improved facilities of travel. The limestone hill region was formerly a flower paradise but has been so heavily over-grazed by sheep in recent years that now the only flowers to be found are the unattractive rabbit-tobacco, horehound, and queen’s delight, or goatweed, so called because sheep and goats will not eat it.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the many friends who have assisted me in the preparation of this volume. I deeply regret that it has been necessary to increase the list price of this edition. The first edition of three thousand copies did not pay for the cost of publication. That deficit, added to the increased costs of printing and paper, have made an increase imperative.

September 1, 1948 Eula Whitehouse

CONTENTS

PAGE

Texas Wildflowers v

Preface vii

Reference Books on Texas Flowers xi

Plant Parts and Plant Names xiii

Plant Distribution xvi

Description of Plants 2

Finding Lists 194

Index 204

REFERENCE BOOKS ON TEXAS FLOWERS

For more detailed descriptions, description of other plants, flower uses, and flower legends and history, the following books will prove helpful:

Bailey, L. H., The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture.

Benson, L. and Darrow, R. A., A Manual of Southwestern Desert Trees and Shrubs.

Britton, N. L. and Brown, H. A., An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions.

Cory, V. L. and Parks, H. B., Catalogue of the Flora of Texas.

Coulter, John M., Cop. Botany of Western Texas (U. S. Nat. Herb. Contr., 1892, out of print).

Dorman, Caroline E., Wild Flowers of Louisiana.

Fassett, N. C., A Manual of Aquatic Plants.

Geiser, S. W., Naturalists of the Frontier. Southwest Press, Dallas.

Jaeger, E. C., Desert Wild Flowers.

Kearney, T. H. and Peebles, R. H., Flowering Plants and Ferns of Arizona.

Parks, H. B., Valuable Plants Native to Texas.

Preston, R. J., Rocky Mountain Trees.

Quillan, Ellen Schulz, Texas Wild Flowers.

Ranson, Nancy R., Texas Wild Flower Legends.

Reeves, R. G., and Bain, D. C., Flora of South-Central Texas.

Rydberg, P. A., Flora of the Prairies and Plains of Central N. A. (out of print).

Silveus, W. A., Texas Grasses.

Slater, Elsie M., A Hundred Flowers of the Mexican Border at El Paso.

Small, John K., Flora of the Southeastern United States, out of print; Manual of the Southeastern Flora.

Standley, P. C., Trees and Shrubs of Mexico (U. S. Nat Herb. Contr., 19—, out of print).

Stemen, T. B. and Myers, W. S., Oklahoma Flora.

Wooton, E. O. and Standley, P. C., Flora of New Mexico (U. S. Nat. Herb. Contr. Vol. 19, out of print).

COROLLA LOBES SEPARATE

STIGMA

STAMEN

PETAL

SEPAL

FLOWER-STALK (PEDUNCLE)

COROLLA LOBES UNITED

COROLLA LOBE

STAMEN

ANTHER (POLLEN-SAC)

FILAMENT

SEPAL

PISTIL

STIGMA

STYLE

OVARY

CALYX-TUBE

SEED

STIGMA

STAMEN

SEPAL

CALYX-TUBE

CAPSULE

BELL-SHAPE

CALYX-TUBE

TUBULAR

FUNNEL FORM

COMPOSITE FLOWER HEADS

INVOLUCRE

STIGMA

STYLE

STAMEN TUBE

DISK COROLLA

RAY COROLLA

DISK

FRUIT

BRACT (FLORAL LEAF)

FLORAL LEAF (BRACT)

LEAF BLADE

MIDRIB

LEAF-STALK (PETIOLE)

IRREGULAR LOBES

FRUIT OF COMPOSITE (ACHENE)

BRISTLES (PAPPUS)

SEED

SIMPLE LEAVES

LINEAR

LANCE-SHAPE

OBLONG

LANCE-OBLONG

OVATE

COMPOUND LEAVES

ONCE-DIVIDED

PALMATE or DIGITATE

SHARPLY TOOTHED

LEAFLETS

LEAF-STALK (PETIOLE)

STEM

PINNATE

TWICE-DIVIDED

LEAFLET

LEAF-STALK

PLANT PARTS AND PLANT NAMES

The diagram on the opposite page carries illustrations of most of the terms used in the following descriptions of plants. As it was intended that this manual should serve as a means of plant identification from illustrations, the descriptions have been made very brief. If the reader is interested in a more detailed description, technical books should be consulted. Some botanical terms are rather loosely used in the effort to avoid technical expressions; for example, the fruit of a daisy flower is known popularly as a seed but is an achene, a seed closely covered by the wall of the ovary.

The conspicuous parts of the flower commonly make up the corolla, each part being known as a petal; however, in some flowers the showy part is actually the calyx, as the outer whorl of parts around the stamens and pistil is always called. The divisions of the calyx are known as sepals. The stamens are made up of two parts—the anthers or small sacs which bear the pollen grains, a necessary part to fertilization, and the filaments or stalks which elevate the anthers so that the pollen grains can be scattered. The ovules which develop into seeds after fertilization are borne in the ovary, a part of the pistil. The pollen is deposited on the stigma and carried down the style to the ovule. Showy flower parts, nectar, and other devices attract insect visitors which aid in the transfer of pollen from one flower to another.

In order that botanists everywhere may make use of plant names and descriptions, these are written in Latin. The Latin name of the bluebonnet is Lupinus texensis, in which texensis represents the name of a species and Lupinus is the name of a genus, which is a group of closely related species. The plants making up the different species in a genus are usually so much alike in flower, fruit, and leaf characters that they can be recognized as belonging to the same group. Similar genera (plural of genus) are grouped together in families; the family name in Latin takes the ending -aceae. Thus while this book illustrates only 257 Texas plants, it is hoped that the reader will become familiar with many others which bear a close relationship.

Much effort has been expended to use scientific terminology in accordance with that preferred by experts on various plant groups, but continuing research changes many well known names. In this list the name used in the text is followed by the name now in good usage; the terms are not always synonymous. The authorities for the names are not given but can be checked in technical publications.

Aesculaceae

Hippocastanaceae

Allionia grayana

Mirabilis grayana

Amphiachyris dracunculoides

Gutierrezia dracunculoides

Argemone rosea

Argemone sanguinea

Argemone delicatula

Argemone pinnatifida

Asclepiodora decumbens

Asclepias capricornu

Baptisia bracteata

Baptisia leucophaea

Batodendron arboreum

Vaccinium arboreum

Capnoides montanum

Corydalis aurea

Capnoides curvisiliquum

Corydalis curvisiliqua

Carduus austrinus

Cirsium sp.

Carduus undulatus

Cirsium undulatum megacephalum

Cassiaceae

Leguninosae

Cebatha carolina

Cocculus carolinus

Cercis reniormis

Cercis canadensis texensis

Cochranea anchusaefolia

Heliotropium amplexicaule

Conoclinium coelestinum

Eupatorium coelestinum

Delphinium albescens

Delphinium virescens

Dendropogon usneoides

Tillandsia usneoides

Dichondraceae

Convolvulaceae

Dracopis amplexicaulis

Rudbeckia amplexicaulis

Epilobiaceae

Onagraceae

Erythraea

Centaurium

Fabaceae

Leguminosae

Filago prolifera

Evax prolifera

Filago nivea

Evax multicaulis

Geoprumnon mexicanum

Astragalus caryocarpus pachycarpus

Greggia camporum

Nerisyrenia camporum

Hamosa nuttalliana

Astragalus Nuttallianus

Hartmannia tetraptera

Oenothera speciosa

Hypoxis erecta

Hypoxis hirsuta

Ibidium gracile

Spiranthes gracilis

Jussiaea diffusa

Jussiaea repens

Keerlia bellidiflora

Chaetopappa bellidifolia

Krameriaceae

Leguminosae

Laciniaria punctata

Liatris punctata

Lepidium alyssoides

Lepidium montanum alyssoides

Leptoglottis uncinata

Schrankia Nuttallii

Leucophyllum texanum

Leucophyllum frutescens

Limodorum tuberosum

Calopogon pulchellus

Lithospermum linearifolium

Lithospermum incisum

Lithospermum gmelinii

Lithospermum carolinense

Megapterium missouriense

Oenothera missouriensis

Meriolix spinulosa

Oenothera serrulata Drummondii

Mimosaceae

Leguminosae

Nemastylis acuta

Nemastylis geminiflora

Nama ovatum

Hydrolea ovata

Nemastylis texana

Nemastylis sp.

Neopieris mariana

Lyonia mariana

Nuphar advena

Nuphar advenum

Oxytropis lamberti

Astragalus Lambertii

Parosela aurea

Dalea aurea

Parosela pogonathera

Dalea pogonathera

Pentstemon

Penstemon

Persicaria longistyla

Polygonum longistylum

Persicaria punctata

Polygonum punctatum

Phlox drummondii (purple variety)

Phlox Goldsmithii (left, p. 107)

Phlox drummondii (purple variety)

Phlox McAllisteri (right, p. 107)

Phlox helleri

Phlox littoralis

Phytolacca decandra

Phytolacca americana

Pleiotaenia nuttallii

Polytaenia Nuttallii

Ptiloria pauciflora

Stephanomeria pauciflora

Quamasia hyacinthina

Camassia scilloides

Rosa woodsii

Rosa foliolosa

Sabbatia

Sabatia

Senecio filifolius

Senecio longilobus

Sisyrinchium thurowi

Sisyrinchium exile

Sitilias multicaulis

Pyrrhopappus sp.

Sophia pinnata

Descurainea pinnata

Stenorrhyncus cinnabarinus

Spiranthes cinnabarina

Thrysanthema nutans

Chaptalia nutans

Thymophylla polychaeta

Dyssodia polychaeta

Thymophylla pentachaeta

Dyssodia pentachaeta

Toxicoscordion nuttallii

Zygadenus Nuttallii

Tradescantia bracteata

Tradescantia ohiensis

Verbena plicata

Verbena Cloveri

Vicia texana

Vicia ludoviciana

Yucca radiosa

Yucca elata

Yucca glauca

Yucca campestris

PLANT DISTRIBUTION

The above map[1] gives the larger natural areas of the state. The prairie regions afford the most profuse display of wild flowers. In the wooded area of East Texas, the shortleaf pine is abundant in the northern part, the loblolly in the southwestern part, and the longleaf pine in the southeastern part of the area, while hardwoods are found in the river bottoms. The chief trees in the post oak strip are post oak and black jack oak. Among the mountain cedars, live oaks and Spanish oaks, so common in the limestone hill region, may be found scattered trees and shrubs of the chaparral. The chaparral region is often broken by prairies but in some places is densely covered with shrubs and small trees which are usually thorny. The mesquite is abundant in this region and is more or less scattered throughout the prairie regions.

TEXAS FLOWERS

Author’s Note: The family characteristics are placed immediately below the illustrations at the beginning of each family group and set in smaller type to distinguish them from the individual group descriptions.

DESCRIPTIONS OF SPECIES

WATER-PLANTAIN FAMILY (Alismaceae)

Marsh or water plants; leaves mostly basal; sepals 3; petals 3, white or pink, tender; stamens 6 or more; pistils many, free; fruit a head of achenes.

Small Arrowhead (Sagittaria papillosa) is a common pond dweller in Texas and Louisiana. Like other arrowheads the flowers are borne in whorls, the upper having many stamens and the lower producing the seeds. It may be distinguished from other narrow-leaved forms by the rough (papillose) surface of the floral leaves.

Plains or Long-Lobed Arrowhead (Sagittaria longiloba) is common in shallow water on the plains from Nebraska to Mexico from April to October. The shape of the leaf of this and other species has given the common names of arrowhead and arrowleaf to this group. Like the water-plantain and bur-head the flowers have 3 tender white petals. The wapato duck potato (S. latifolia) may be found in East Texas. Growing in great abundance along the coast, the water potato or scythe-fruited arrowhead (S. falcata) is a showy plant 2-4 feet high with large lance-shaped leaves. The tubers and young shoots of both of these are considered excellent foods for ducks. Indians also valued the starchy tubers for food, and it was the duty of the women to grub in the mud for them.

PINEAPPLE FAMILY (Bromeliaceae)

Chiefly air-plants, some rigid-leaved land plants; floral leaves often conspicuous; 3 sepals; 3 petals; stamens 3-6; pistil 3-celled.

Spanish Moss (Dendropogon usneoides) has long zig-zag stems hanging in gray masses from the branches of many trees, especially live oaks, from the Coastal Plain of the United States to South America. Sometimes called Florida-moss, wool crape, crape-moss, and long moss, it has long been renowned in literature and industry. Indians and pioneers found many uses for it, and it is still used for padding, fodder for cattle, decoration, and the making of mattresses. The short leaves are scattered on the slender stem, which may be 1-6 yards long. The fragrant flowers are small and inconspicuous, being about ¼ inch long, blooming in early summer. The name means “tree-beard.”

Ball Moss. Bunch Moss (Tillandsia recurvata) has small and inconspicuous purple flowers which appear in the summer. Like the Spanish moss, it gets its nourishment from the air but may injure trees by crowding out the leaves. Both mosses bear no relation to the true mosses but belong to the same family as the pineapple. The ball moss is found on trees, wires, rocks, and other places. Bailey’s bunch moss is a large-flowered form growing in the lower Rio Grande Valley.

SPIDERWORT FAMILY (Commelinaceae)

Mostly succulent herbs with tuberous or fibrous roots; flowers arising from a cluster of leaf-like bracts; sepals 3; petals 3; stamens 6; ovary 3-celled; fruit capsular.

Giant Spiderwort (Tradescantia gigantea) grows in clumps of stout stems 2-3 feet high. The numerous flowers on short slender stalks hang out of a cluster of 2-3 upper leaves which have sac-like bases, velvety with soft hairs. The 3-petaled flowers vary in color from purplish-blue to rose or white and close at noon. The 6 stamens are adorned with lovely violet hairs. It is found in Central Texas in April and May.

The spiderwort group was named for Tradescant, gardener to Charles I. It is well represented in Texas, all of the many different species being easy to transplant and making attractive garden plants. The wandering jew, a well-known spiderwort in cultivation, is a native of South America.

Prairie Spiderwort (T. bracteata) is a smaller plant with bluer flowers. Ranging from Minnesota to Texas, it has its blooming season in Texas in April and May.

Curly-Leaved Dayflower. Widow’s Tears (Commelina crispa) has two large blue petals and a third, minute, white, and inconspicuous. The upper three stamens are 4-lobed and sterile, quite different from the 3 lower pollen-producing stamens, one of which is larger than the others. The petals are very tender and last only one morning. This dayflower may be distinguished from several others in the state by its crisped leaf-margins. It is very common on the South Central Plains from May to September. The name is given in honor of early Dutch botanists by the name of Commelyn.

Texas Dayflower (Commelinantia anomala) has two large petals like the dayflowers, but may be distinguished from them by their lavender color and by having the leaf around the flower-cluster more like the lower leaves in shape. The three upper stamens are bearded with violet hairs like those of spiderworts. It grows in rich moist soil in the limestone hills of the southern part of the state and the adjoining part of Mexico.

PICKEREL-WEED FAMILY (Pontederiaceae)

Aquatic plants; leaves alternate, often basal; sepals 3, petal-like; petals 3, sepals and petals partly united; ovary 3-celled.

Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is also called wampee, river raft, and water orchid. It grows so thick in places that water channels may be blocked, and island-like masses may serve as rafts. With its large spikes of lavender flowers and its broad shining leaves with their curious bulbous floats, it is the queen of our water plants. Many streams, lakes, and canals along the coastal highway offer living pictures which will not soon fade from the memory. The plants float by means of the bulbous enlargement of the leaf stalk. The flowers are somewhat 2-lipped, the 3 sepals and 3 petals somewhat alike but with a yellow spot on the upper petal.

Pickerel Weed (Pontedaria cordata) may be found growing in the mud of inland waters along the coast. It is a taller plant than the water hyacinth, the spikes are narrower, the flowers are a deeper purple, and the leaves are narrower and have no float.

LILY FAMILY (Liliaceae)

Aquatic plants; leaves alternate, often basal; sepals 3, petal-like; petals 3, sepals and petals partly united; ovary 3-celled.

Nuttall’s Death Camass (Toxicoscordion nuttallii) is a common prairie bunch-flower from Texas to Tennessee and Kansas. The leaves, which are mainly basal, long, narrow, and curved, and the stout stems 1-2 feet high arise from a large black-coated bulb which is poisonous. Many cream-colored flowers are borne in a round-topped cluster. The 3 sepals and 3 petals are alike, and the 6 stamens have large yellow anthers. The 3-beaked capsules have numerous seeds. The flowers bloom in April and May. The poisonous bulb is responsible for the name, which is derived from the Greek meaning “poison-onion.”

Wild Hyacinth (Quamasia hyacinthina) is also called indigo-squill or meadow hyacinth. Growing from a deep-rooted edible bulb, a slender stalk 1-2 ft. high bears a spike-like cluster of hyacinth-blue flowers at the top. The flowers are about ½ inch broad and have a most delightful fragrance. It is widespread from Pennsylvania to Texas, common in Texas along railroads in April.

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.