( Native Shrub ) Texas Mountain Laurel, ( Sophora secundiflora ) Beautiful evergreen
slow growing shrub.
The gorgeous purple flowers hav the scent of gape cool-aid and give a heady aroma to your yard.
Very highly recommended. See the plant files http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55062/index.html
Texas Mountain Laurel, four years old. First time to Bloom.
Acerola, Barbados Cherry, Wild Crapemyrtle (Malpighia glabra), Malpighiaceae Family, native to Texas and the Virgin Islands, blooms mid-spring to early summer, may be considered a large shrub or small tree
It has beautiful small flowers in clusters that are followed by red berries which are edible and jave a high nutrient value. Birds love the berries.
For more information see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/57614/index.html
Acerola, Barbados Cherry, Wild Crapemyrtle (Malpighia glabra)
A closer view of the blooms which are small and very delicate looking, but make an impact because they are in groups and quite numerous.
Fragrant Mist Flower, White Mistflower, Shrubby Boneset, White Boneset, Thoroughwort, Barba de Viejo (Eupatorium havanense), Asteraceae Family, endemic Texas native, blooms late summer until first frost
I have found that it will not take full preferring AM sun/PM shade or light filtered shade. It has small white bloom clusters that resemble the West Texas Mistflower.
For more information see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/64856/index.html
Fragrant Mist Flower, White Mistflower, Shrubby Boneset, White Boneset, Thoroughwort, Barba de Viejo (Eupatorium havanense)
A closer view of the blooms ...
Giant Ragweed, Great Ragweed, Palmate Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida - may be Texas Giant Ragweed, Ambrosia trifida var. texana; but, I am not sure), Asteraceae Family, Texas native, subshrub, blooms in mid-summer through early fall, bloom is green, invasive, considered a weed by many
For more photos and more information see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/32069/index.html
Giant Ragweed, Great Ragweed, Palmate Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida - may be Texas Giant Ragweed, Ambrosia trifida var. texana; but, I am not sure)
The leaves are very large.
Giant Ragweed, Great Ragweed, Palmate Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida - may be Texas Giant Ragweed, Ambrosia trifida var. texana; but, I am not sure)
Growth habit ...
Giant Ragweed, Great Ragweed, Palmate Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida - may be Texas Giant Ragweed, Ambrosia trifida var. texana; but, I am not sure)
A closer view ...
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), Verbenaceae Family, Texas native, perennial, blooms mid-spring through mid-summer, berries
A truly outstanding large shrub; needs a lot of space.
For more information see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2657/index.html
This message was edited Jul 16, 2005 9:38 AM
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)
Some berry groups are shown against my hand to indicate the size of the clusters.
Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra), Anacardiaceae Family, Texas native, perennial, deciduous, good fall color, blooms in mid-summer
It is a large shrub or can be a small tree to about 15 feet.
For more information and photos, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/62278/index.html
This message was edited Jul 18, 2005 3:42 AM
Evergreen Sumac, Tobacco Sumac, Lentisco (Rhus virens), Anacardiaceae Family, Texas native, semi-evergreen (leaves turn and drop and are replaced within a week in winter), blooms late summer and early fall, drupes, fast growing
Common throughout the Hill Country and usually found on rocky slopes, this attractive tree or large shrub is evergreen except in the coldest winters (below 5 degrees). It can attain a height of up to 12 feet tall (3.6 m) and a width of 15 feet. Sometimes it can be found in a tree form (up to 15') as seen at Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve near Austin. It has a moderate growth rate. The leathery, shiny dark green leaves are paler colored on their undersides.
The ripe red fruit are a favorite of songbirds and this is important to other wildlife as well. It is not deer resistant; deer love the young plants.Native Americans collected the fruits to use in making a refreshing drink.
It can be killed by overwatering so the soil in which it is planted needs to be well drained. With its dark grren leaves, blooms and red fruit, the Carolina buckthorn makes an attractive specimen, hedge, or background plant. It is generally insect and disease-free, and drought-tolerant and should be planted more often in the landscape.
Evergreen Sumac, Tobacco Sumac, Lentisco (Rhus virens)
A closeup of the blooms ...
Evergreen Sumac, Tobacco Sumac, Lentisco (Rhus virens)
The bark ...
Native Texas plant, Truk's Cap, Wax Mallow,( Malvaviscus drummondii ) Lovely shrub 4 to 6 feet tall, evergreen untill freeze, dies to the ground in zone 8 comes back in the spring. Full sun, part shade to shade. The lovely red flowers never quite open, and hummingbirds love to eat from them. Close up of the flower.
See the plant files, http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/56887/index.html
A large plant in bloom,
A Turk's Cap seedling 4 weeks old.
Pyramid Bush, Wooly Pyramid Bush, Tea Bush, Malva Rosa, Raichie, (Melochia tomentosa), Sterculiaceae Family, Texas native, subshrub, perennial, blooms in late spring through mid-fall
This small erect shrub is a member of the Chocolate Family, It grows natively in southern Florida and southern Texas through the West Indies and Central America into Brazil and Colombia. In Texas, the species can be found on sandy or rocky soil in dry streambeds, mesquite thickets and palm groves. It inhabits pinelands in southern Florida. It adapts to a wide variety of well-drained soils that are derived from igneous and sedimentary rocks. It is an excellent xeriscape plant that grows quickly and provides lots of color in the heat of the summer.
The ovate to lanciolate, 1.5 to 10.5 cm long by 0.9 to 8.5 cm wide leaves are covered with a short wooly hair giving the plant a gray flannel look and are attached by short petioles. They have serrated margins. The 8 to 13.5 mm long, 5-petaled blooms are a beautiful bright, violet to violet-pink. It produces pyramidal capsules that are 6 to 9 mm across and which contain reddish brown, 2 mm long seeds.
In a natural habitat, it contributes to wildlife cover, soil stability and bio-diversity. Sheep and goats tend to munch it when it is growing with other native plants they like, but cattle tend to leave it alone. Bees and butterflies love the blooms’ nectar. A tea can be made from the foliage to treat colds and as an eye wash.
The pyramid bush makes an excellent border plant in areas that do not receive very much water. It is a great choice for rock gardens and wildscapes. With its lovely blooms that are ever present until the first frost, unusual and full foliage and compact size, pyramid bush as a great plant to use in the landscape. It is difficult to find specimens in nurseries. I love mine so much, I am going to buy another one if and when I am able to locate one
For more comments and information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/73674/live_view/
This message was edited Jul 23, 2005 1:58 PM
Devil's Shoestring, Ribbon Grass, Lindheimer's Nolina, Lindheimer’s beargrass (Nolina lindheimeria), Liliaceae Family, Endemic Texas native, perennial, blooms mid-spring to early summer
Devil's shoestring is an evergreen endemic Texas native and is endemic to the Edward's Plateau region. Devil's shoestring adapts to a wide variety of soil types, but is at home in the limestone based alkaline Hill Country soils as long as the site has excellent drainage. The plant whose photo is posted here was destroyed a few days after I photograhed it as the road was being widened. I wish I had known this was going to happen because I would have dug it up and tried to plant it in my yard. It is difficult to transplant because it is difficult to not injure the taproot as it is being dug up.
Considered a small shrub, devil's shoestring would be an excellent choice as an accent plant or groundcover for areas with dry well drained soil and could be used as a groundcover in partial shade instead of invasive vinca. Mix it in with blackfoot daisy or xemenia for summer color. Watering should be unnecessary after the plant is established.
For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/68395/live_view/
For more photograhs, see this site:
http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/mbierner/bio406d/images/pics/nol/nolina_lindheimeriana.htm
Devil's Shoestring, Ribbon Grass, Lindheimer's Nolina, Lindheimer’s beargrass (Nolina lindheimeria)
A leaf blade which is very finely toothed ...
Devil's Shoestring, Ribbon Grass, Lindheimer's Nolina, Lindheimer’s beargrass (Nolina lindheimeria)
A view of the thin unripe fruit borne on a stout stem that rises 3 or more feet above the mound ...
Devil's Shoestring, Ribbon Grass, Lindheimer's Nolina, Lindheimer’s beargrass (Nolina lindheimeria)
The small fruit turn a lovely shade of maroon. They keep the color when dried.
Golden Daleais (Dalea aurea), Texas native, perennial, blooms rom late May to July
An upright, woody, taprooted plant, it is a legume which is found on the sandy or limestone soils of open prairies and pastures. In Texas, it is foind in the Edwards Plateau and South Texas Plains regions. It is about 12-30 inches in height. It is single-stemmed or sometimes branched above. The blooms may be golden-yellow or pale yellow. The individual flowers are about 3/8 to 1/2 inch long. They form a circle around the flower spike.
For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/68331/live_view/
Golden Daleais (Dalea aurea), Texas native, perennial, blooms rom late May to July
It has sparse foliage ... the leaves are about 3/4 to two inches long with about five leaflets.
Beaked Yucca, Big Bend yucca, Soyate, Palmita (Yucca rostrata), Texas native which is listed as endemic by some references, but it grows in Mexico too, perennial, blooms in may through August
Beaked yucca is a native plant that naturally inhabits only western Texas and northern Mexico in the states of Chihuahua and Coahuila. Beaked yucca, is usually found growing on rocky bajadas, ridges or slopes that are comprised of limestone gravel. It grows much faster in alkaline soils.
For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/45486/
The beaked yuccas are the two large specimens in the center of the photo. They are groring at the Sunken Gardens in San Antonio.
This message was edited Jul 24, 2005 7:59 AM
Banana Yucca, Fleshy-Fruited Yucca, Datil Yucca, Banana Spanish Dagger (Yucca baccata var. baccata), Agavaceae Family, perennial, blooms mid-spring to early summer
For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/68225/index.html
The cream colored flowes are sometimes striped in purple. (Shown in April)
Whitebrush, White-Brush, Beebrush, Jazminillo, Chaparro Blanco, Privet Lippia, Tronsco, Cedron (Aloysia gratissima), Verbenaceae Family, perennial, blooms sporadically March through November (especially after rains)
It can be found occurring on limestone bluffs, sandy soil and gravelly hillsides. It tolerates poorly drained soils and is drought tolerant. The blooms have a vanilla scent which attracts butterflies and bees.
For further information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/67283/index.html
Just starting to bloom ...
Whitebrush, White-Brush, Beebrush, Jazminillo, Chaparro Blanco, Privet Lippia, Tronsco, Cedron (Aloysia gratissima)
Tiny white flowers appear on loose, 1 to 3 inches spikes from spring until fall.
Whitebrush, White-Brush, Beebrush, Jazminillo, Chaparro Blanco, Privet Lippia, Tronsco, Cedron (Aloysia gratissima)
A closer view of the blooms for identification purposes ...
Prickly-Mallow, Prickly Fanpetals (Sida spinosa), Malvaceae Family, Texas native, annual/perennial, subshrub, shrub, forb/herb, blooms May to October
It inhabits croplands, abandoned fields, cultivated fields, pastures, gardens, empty lots, grassy areas along railroads and roadsides and waste areas with recently disturbed soil. It has a shallow taproot that divides into secondary roots and spreads by reseeding itself occasionally forming colonies. Although this plant is considered to be a weed by many, it is valuable to wildlife. The blooms attract various bees, including bumblebees, little carpenter bees and halictid bees, as well as small to medium-sized butterflies and skippers. Among them are the clouded sulfur, little yellow, cabbage white, checkered white and common checkered skipper. The foliage may be eaten occasionally by mammalian herbivores. Prickly Sida is a rather unique plant. At first glance, it does not closely resemble other Mallows which are either tall wetland species, small weedy vines, with large blooms or plants that have purple or pink blooms.
For further information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/62753/live_view/
This message was edited Jul 25, 2005 10:05 AM
Prickly-Mallow, Prickly Fanpetals (Sida spinosa)
This Texas wildflower has small delicate blooms with an apricot to orangish color as shown here; but, it may be a pale yellow or pale goldish-yellow also.
Prickly-Mallow, Prickly Fanpetals (Sida spinosa)
A bloom bud ...
( Native ) Rock Rose, ( Pavonia lasiopetala ) Small perennial shrub with gray green leaves and lovely little hibiscus type flowers in a bright shade of pink.
See plant files http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/57756/index.html
( Native ) Flame Anisacanthus, ( Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii )
Lovely perennial shrub with beautiful bright red-orange tube flowers.
Terrific hummingbird attractor, blooms till frost.
See plant files, http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/60921/index.html
Flame Anisacanthus, (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii)
A diffferent view of the blooms, leaves and seeds just beginning to form ...
American Elder, Common Elderberry (Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis), Caprifoliaceae Family, Texas native, perennial, blooms in late spring through early summer
Elderberry is a large shrub or small tree often with multiple stems that are spreading or arching. Every part of this plant can be used to sustain human life either as food or as natural medicines. It is considered a sacred plant by many Native American tribes. It is great for naturalizing an area and helps sustain the wildlife population. Watch out though, it spreads by runners which can travel quite a distance.
For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/36371/
A young elderberry plant emergng from an underground runner attached to the mother plant that is 6 feet away
American Elder, Common Elderberry (Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis)
The blooms in very large clusters ...
Sunshine Mimosa, Powderpuff, Sensitive Plant, Verguenza, Herbaceous Mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa); Mimosaceae Family; Texas native; perennial; listed as a subshrub, shrub, forb/herb, but is not tall and is more of a groundcover; blooms in early spring through fall
Distribution in Texas: http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/cgi/vpt_map_name?reg=1,2,3,4,6&name=%3Ci%3EMimosa+strigillosa%3C/i%3E+T.+&+G.
Usually growing 3 to 4 inches tall, this native plant is a legume that fixes nitrogen in addition to functioning as a fast growing, mat-forming, evergreen groundcover and can even be substituted for lawn grass. It is found in many counties along the Texas Gulf Coast. Although most specimens do not have prickles there are variations between the members in the upper Gulf Coast region and members in the Rio Grande valley. Specimens collected in the valley frequently have woody stem bases and have a few prickles.
It serves as a larval food source for the Little Sulphur, White-striped Longtail Skipper, Mimosa Yellow and Reakirt's Blue butterfly caterpillars. The foliage is browsed by white-tailed deer and cattle.
For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1873/index.html
The bristles along the stems are not prickly to the touch. A view of the flower buds ...
This message was edited Jul 27, 2005 7:36 AM
