Ellis County Master Gardener AssociationTexas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Wildflower of the Month

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Prairie Spiderwort – Dayflower Family (Commelinaceae) Tradescantia accidentalis (Britt.) Smyth

Region: 1 through 10 (Ellis County is in Region 4)

Size: 6 – 36 inches

Blooms: February – July, Perennial                                        

Tradescantia species are in the same family as dayflowers. Like dayflowers, spiderworts bloom for one day, usually in the morning, but have three radially symmetric petals, whereas dayflowers are bilaterally symmetric, or have two large petals and one small one. The flowers of spiderworts are usually bluish purple, but are sometimes violet, pink or white. The plant itself is erect to trailing, with succulent stems. Alternate, narrow leaves are a foot or more long and look as though they have been folded lengthwise, sheathing the stem. The top two leaves subtend the flower cluster like bracts. Spiderworts do well in cultivation, preferring a moist, sandy soil. The succulent leaves and stems are edible, either raw or cooked, but the roots may be poisonous. The fourteen Texas species hybridize, making them difficult to distinguish.

Melinda Kocian, ECMG Emeritus

Prairie Verbena – Wildflower of the Month

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Prairie Verbena – Verbena Family (Verbeaceae)
Verbena bipinnatifida Nutt.

Region:     1 through 10 (Ellis County is Region 4)

Size:           12 – 18 inches

Blooms:    Jan. – Dec., Perennial

Usually no more than a foot high and often reclining, prairie verbena sometimes paints large areas of lavender, pink, bluish or purple. Plants are hairy, with square stems, trumpet-shaped with five flattened lobes, the tiny flowers are clustered into half-globes. Opposite, stalked leaves are divided twice into finely cut foliage that adds a lacy background to the rounded flower clusters. Prairie verbena quickly

covers barren areas, but is crowded out as other species invade. It is an important nectar plant for butterflies, blooming throughout the year. It often roots from reclining lower stem joints. Texas has thirty-six species of verbena, many essentially similar.

by Melinda Kocian, ECMG Emeritus

Cowpen Daisy- Wildflower of the Month

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Cowpen Daisy, Sunflower Family (Asteraceae)

      Verbesina enceliodes Gav.) Benth. & Hook.

Region:                 2 – 10 (Ellis County is in Region 4)
Size:                      1 – 4 feet
Blooms:                February – December, Annual

 

Yellow, daisy-like flower heads with prominent, yellow-orange centers top the slender stems of this bush composite. A covering of hair gives the stems and foliage a blue-green or gray-green appearance. Flowers vary in size to two and one-half inches across, and there are three deeply cut teeth at the tips of each of the twelve to sixteen petals. Thick leaves are shaped like arrowheads, coarsely toothed on the edges and prominently veined on the underside. A Spanish name, anil del muerto, meaning “sunflower of the dead,” was given to this plant because of its strong, unpleasant odor when crushed. A salve made from cowpen daisy has been used as an anti-inflammatory agent; cowpen tea is said to relieve an early peptic ulcer and some believe it may break a fever by inducing sweating relaxation Its seeds have a high oil content.

Melinda Kocian. ECMG

Gayfeather- Wildflower of the Month

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Gayfeather, Blazing Star, Sunflower Family (Asteraceae)
Liatris spp.

Region: 1 through 10, (Ellis County is in Region 4)
Size: 1 – 3.5 feet
Blooms: August – October, Perennial

Across Texas, one species or another of Liatris will be seen along roadsides in gravelly, sandy or calcareous soils, on plains, prairies, edges, hillsides, slopes and roadsides. The stiffly upright plants grow from a corm (an underground bulb-like stem) which may produce a few to many stalks forming a clump. There are no petals, but four to eight disk flowers form flower heads that cluster densely, opening from the top of a terminal spike downward. The spikes may be twelve inches in length. Leaves are mostly narrow and in some species are six inches long near the stem’s base. They are crowded and spiral up the stem, becoming progressively smaller until they are small bracts in the flowering spike. Liatris has had many medicinal uses; as a diuretic, as a mild kidney or liver tonic. A root tea has been used for laryngitis.

 

Article by: Melinda Kocian

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Blue Star- Wildflower of the Month

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Blue Star – Dogbane Family (Apocynaceae)
Amsonia spp.

Region: 1 through 10 (Ellis Co is in Region 4)
Size: 1 – 4 feet
Blooms: April – November, Perennial

Amsonia is stiffly upright, with dark green, shiny foliage setting off the inflorescence. Blue, pale blue, or white star-shaped flowers, are loosely clustered at the top of each stem, often barely surpassing the alternate leaves. Normally blue star grows in a moist environment, often in marshes, ditches, bogs or floodplains. It is recommended for use in the garden where it thrives with a little extra water, but A.ciliata, a western species of this lovely plant, lives in drought-prone habitats, growing on limestone and chalky hills in Regions 4, 5, 7 and 8.

 

Article by: Melinda Kocian

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Dayflower

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Dayflower – Dayflower family (Commelinaceae)

Commelina erecta L.

Region: 1 through 10 (Ellis County is in Region 4)

Size: 6-18 inches

Blooms: May through October, Perennial

Dayflower is first erect, then trailing, occasionally reaching three feet. There are a number of species in Texas similar enough to be difficult to distinguish. All have three petals, the upper two of which can range from white to, more commonly, a beautiful clear blue. Below these is a third, insignificant, whitish petal which may or may not be noticed. Several buds are clustered in a boat-shaped, sheathing bract, forming a spathe, from which the flower stalks emerge. Squeezing the spathe gently will produce a tear-like drop of liquid, suggesting another common name, widow’s tears. The base of the long, linear leaves wraps the succulent stem in a sheath. Dayflowers close early in the day. Edible stems, leaves and flowers of tender young plants have a pleasant flavor used raw, stewed or sautéed.

Article by: Melinda Kocian

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Silverleaf Nightshade

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Silverleaf Nightshade, Nightshade Family (Solanaceae)

Solanum eleagnifolium Cav.

Region: 1 through 10 (Ellis County is in Region 4)

Size: 1 – 3 feet

Blooms: March through October, Perennial

The stems and leaves of this prickly plant are covered with tiny stellate or star-shaped, hairs that give it a silvery-green or gray-green appearance. Leaves are one and one-half to six inches long, with shallowly wavy edges. The five petals of the blue to purple flowers unite at the base for about half their length, then separate into five wide lobes. They look a little like fat, one-inch stars. Flowers are centered with very conspicuous, erect, yellow anthers. Silverleaf nightshade is considered a problem plant by farmers. The wild flower enthusiast, however, can appreciate the beauty of the blue and silver plants growing in masses along roads, in pastures, and abandoned places. This relative of the tomato is highly toxic to livestock and humans. Its fruit, a half-inch yellow berry, is sometimes used as a substitute for rennet in making cheese.

Article By: Melinda Kocian

 

 

 

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Prairie Bluebell – Gentian Family (Gentianaceae)

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Prairie Bluebell – Gentian Family (Gentianaceae)
 Eustoma grandiflorum, (Raf.) Shinners

Region: 1 through 10 (Ellis Co is Region 4)

Size: 1 – 2 feet

Blooms: June – September, Annual/Biennial

Texas has two species of Eustoma. Both have paired, smooth, bluish green leaves that clasp the stem. Bluebells (E. exaltatum) are difficult to distinguish. Flowers are cup-shaped, with five to seven blue to deep blue-violet petals, although the color can vary from pinkish to light blue or white. A dark, purple blotch surrounded by a light halo is centered in the cup, as is a prominent two-lobed yellow stigma. Flowers are two to four inches across. These handsome plants are available in nurseries. They were first cultivated by the Japanese, who recognized their horticultural merit more than thirty years ago. Bluebells prefer seasonally stands, such as roadside ditches, meadows or prairie swales. Sometimes a single plant or only a few are seen at one location; in other places, bluebells may blanket many acres.

  Article by: Melinda Kocian

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Small Coast Germander

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Small Coast Germander – Mint Family (Labiatae)
Marshallia caespitosa DC

Region: 2 – 4, 6, 10 (Ellis County is Region 4)

Size: 2 feet

Blooms: March through December, Annual/Perennial

Germander is represented in Texas by three species with several subspecies. Germander has square stems and opposite leaves. All species form colonies. Small coast germander has lobed, cleft or scalloped leaves. Stalked white flowers are three-fourths of an inch long. T. laciniatum, cutleaf germander, flowers in the leaf axils. It has half-inch white flowers and the broadly lobed leaves are incised nearly to the midrib. T. canadense, American germander, or wood sage, has flower spikes up to eight inches long, with individual flowers reaching a length of one-half to three-quarters of an inch. They may be creamy white, pale pink or pale lavender.

  Article by: Melinda Kocian

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Barbara’s Buttons – Sunflower Family (Asteraceae)

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Barbara’s Buttons – Sunflower Family (Asteraceae)
Marshallia caespitosa DC

Region: 1 through 8 (Ellis County is Region 4)
Size: 6-8 inches
Blooms: April through June, Perennial

No one knows how Barbara’s buttons got its name, but there is no doubt that this dainty little flower attracts the eye. Most often it is white, but it may also be pale pink, creamy or lavender. The flower head, topping a slender stem, is one and one-half inches across and is composed of numerous fragrant disk flowers that form a lacy-looking ball. Stems may be solitary, or several, forming a clump. There are two varieties of this plant. M caespitosa var. caespitosa has slender leaves, six inches long, crowded near the base, with bare stems supporting the flower heads. M caespitosa var. signata has leafy stems and is endemic to south and Midwest Texas, where it sometimes forms colonies.

Article by: Melinda Kocian

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