And a close up.
Gardening with Texas Native plants @ Wildflowers. Part 3.
Speaking of bull nettles..... have you ever eaten the seeds... they are quite tasty. Getting them out of their husks... thats another story... Tom
Josephine,
Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country calls the all white one Hymenopappus scabiosaeus. I'm hoping to collect seed from it if I can keep my husband and his shredder away from it. I'll let you know if I get some.
Tom, I've read that the seeds are edible, but how do you take out the seeds without getting the stinging hairs all over them? Do you rinse the seeds before eating them? Are they peeled first? We've almost eradicated them from our property, but our neighbor's pasture is full of them. I don't think the cows would feel the sting. Their hide is so tough, but I do worry about the young calves.
Veronica
Tom, I did get some seeds one time with tongs and thick leather gloves on . I did try one and it tasted o.k. but I wanted to save them so I could propagate the plant. I had tried transplanting and it didn't work, so I wanted to try the seeds, but they didn't germinate for me, so I gave up on trying to grow a Bull Nettle. My idea was to have it potted so it wouldn't spread, but no luck.
I thought it would be a conversation piece, oh well, sometimes things don't work the way we want.
Bettydee, nice to hear from you, and thank you for the seeds. Did you know that your Herbertia and Senecio are also endemic to Texas?
So far I think you have more endemics than any of us, unless we count the Crabgrass, did you notice that it is an endemic too?
Josephine.
Josephine,
The Herbertia lahue is endemic to Texas, but Herbertia lahue ssp. caerulea is not. It grows in Louisiana as well. The majority of the Herbertia that grow here belong to the subspecies. Those Herbertia that don't close by 3:00 PM are the species lahue.
I collected some Woolley White seeds this afternoon. Unfortunately, I also got a lot of petals and a few Lovebugs mixed in with the seed so I have to let everything dry for a few days. It was unbelievable. There were hundreds and hundreds of Lovebugs all over the Woolley White. I collected enough seed for 3 or 4 packets. Is anyone else interested in Woolley White?
On my way to the patch of Woolley White, I ran over an area covered in Lemon Beebalm, Monarda citriodora. I had to stop for a moment to enjoy that wonderful aroma. The flowers in this area are such a pale pink that they're almost white. The bracts are paler as well. Most photographs show the purple version also known as Purple Horsemint.
Here's a close up of the flowering stem.
On my way back to the house, I ran over some Spotted Beebalm, Monarda punctata. By that time the wind was so bad, it was impossible to photograph these out in the field. I put them in a vase to photograph. I think the bracts on these start out cream colored then turn purple. I placed the two phases side by side so you could see the difference. I like the odor of the leaves better. It has a cleaner lemony odor as well as taste.
I placed one flowering stem from each of the two species together to compare them. I had never paid much attention to the differences before. Although I have never tried it, tea can be made from the Lemon Beebalm leaves. I can't find any information on whether Spotted Beebalm can be used for the same purpose. The leaves of the Spotted Beebalm have an anitseptic called thymol.
Excellent report and photos, Veronica! The Spotted Beebalm that you have sure is different from the one around here, ours seems to have more of the white bracts and less color on the flowers. Yours are beautiful.
Thank you for posting, I was starting to feel lonely on this thread.
Here is an adorable native, Meadow Pink, ( Sabatia campestris ) This is a small annual plant may be 20 inches high, but the ones I have seen are smaller. Wildflowers of Texas says that it often covers acres of rangeland, but I have never seen more than a few plants together.
We found this one at Pappy Elkins' on our mothers day walk.
One of my sons paid me a surprise visit for my birthday for 4 days this past week-end. I didn't go near a computer while he was here. He's always very helpful around the ranch when he's here. Had to take advantage of his visit.
Down here Meadow Pinks are called Texas Stars, emphasizing the need for using scientific names. I've seen large patches, but never a field. We have small patches here and there on the ranch. The esplanades or ditches along side roads have larger patches.
Hi Veronica, how nice of your son to come and visit for your birthday and mothers day.
It is also good that he likes to help, many don't.
How funny, they call the Meadow Pink ,Texas Star, you are right if we didnt have the latin names we would all be very confused. I wish I could see a field of those, it would really be lovely, but I guess I'll have to be content with a few.
Josephine, don't be lonely! I've been lurking in the shadows, just enjoying. But I will let you know that I'm doing so, in the future. By the way, I was just telling my son yesterday about the endemics. He was so impressed at my knowledge! I had to confess, but he was still impressed that all this is going on in this thread. :-)
There are many other lurkers I am sure! ;-)
Only the Shadow knows...
OH NO, My identity is out. oh wo is me. ;o>
Kipper, Firebug, Firespark, ?Shadow?
I'm still here too....!
Thank you Everyone, It is nice to know that you are all there watching and listening.
Josephine.
Another lovely find at Pappy Elkins, we were quite lucky that day. This native plant grows just about everywhere even through asfalt, but beleive it or not, I just can't get it to do well in my garden. May be my soil is too rich for it, I don't know. This one has specially large flowers.
Silver-Leaf Nightshade, ( Solanum elaeagnifolium ) this is a perennial and they claim very difficult to eradicate, it is also poisonous. The berries mashed and mixed with cream are said to be a cure for poison ivy. There is also a white flowered form, not as common.
A close up of the flowers of Silver-leaf Nightshade, this plant is a relative of our Potato, Tomato
and many other plants. I think the flowers are lovely.
I'm sorry Josephine, I'm here too! I've been busy and normally don't have a lot to add to the conversation, but I do enjoy reading and learning!
Josephine,
Your close-up photo led me on a hunt. I found an error in Texas Wildflowers. It's Silver-leaf Nightshade looks like your photo, but the Silver-leaf Nightshade in Wildflowers of Texas doesn't look like your photo.
Because we have both species of Solanum, I've already spoken with our local extension agent about the differences between Silver-leaf Nightshade, Solanum elaeagnifolium, and Western Horsenettle, Solanum dimidiatum.
Nightshade: Leaves lanceolate, gray-green Flower tips look rounded Few soft prickles
Horsenettle: Leaves ovate, lobed, green Flower tips pointed Lots of stout prickles
This is a photo of Silver-leaf Nightshade. At night in the light from a vehicle, the gray-green plants really stand out.
A close-up of the Silver-leaf Nightshade flower. The five tips of the flower look rounded.
Your photo looks like this Western Horsenettle.
I am constantly amazed that anyone can keep these things straight!
A close-up of the Horsenettle flower. The flower has a pointed starlike appearance.
We've definitely entered the yellow flower period here in central Texas. I've found about 12 Tickseed plants, Coreopsis lanceolata, growing about 10 feet from my greenhouse.
Every once in a while, among the more common Coreopsis tinctoria is an all yellow one. It's a little larger than the yellow and rust ones.
A few Texas Dandelion seed heads have been protected from the wind by the greenhouse and the house.
I thought I had found something new in my garden. The green phyllaries are so prominent behind the ray flowers.
Two days later I discovered it was a Black-Eyed Susan, aka Brown-Eyed Susan. I was so disappointed.
I have a yard full of Brown-Eyed Susan and they have attracted lots of butterflies. This butterfly a large angry face when its wings are folded up.
Another Brown-Eyed Susan with a butterfly on it. Anyone know the name of the butterfly? As the wings near the body, the colors blur into a grayish mess making it difficult to distinguish body from wing.
Betty, post your butterfly pics in the Butterflies and Hummers Forum for everyones learning benefit.
John
It looks like a Painted Lady to me, but Konkrete will be along soon and set us straight!
Mel
It is a PL. I've had quite a few of them lately. :)
Hello Bettydee, Wow! girl, you have been busy, taking pictures posting and checking things out. I love your pictures, and also the butterflies, I know they are hard to catch just right.
I do beleive that the flowers of nightshade I pictured are not the same as the silver- leaf nigthshade that you have, I guess mine is Solanum Dimidiatum, although the silver- leaf nightshade flower that you showed close up, does have a lighter color stripe down the center of each petal, but with so many variations it is hard to pinpoint.
Oh well, at least it is nightshade, but not silver- leaf. Keep up the good work!
I have a lot to tell about the Texoma Roundup, I will do it as soon as Frank gets the pictures ready for me to upload.
Josephine.
There is a definite 5 pointed star pattern in both Solanum flowers that shows as a paler color in photographs. Some blues and lavenders are very difficult to duplicate in a photograph.
Veronica
Bettydee is not Betty. She is Veronica!
Here are the promised pictures from the Roundup. I am only posting the ones that have participated on this thread, the others can be seen on the Roundup Pictures Forum.
Staci, Sweezel, and her daughter.
