Texas Native Plant Pictures by color ( Purple )

Callirhoe involucrata, Purple Wine Cup, Purple Poppy-Mallow, Malvaceae Family, Texas native, perennial.

A low sprawling herbaceous plant to 6 - 12 inches tall with trailing stems 18 inches long . The stems are hairy. The palmately divided 5 to 7 lobed leaves are 1 - 2 inches long and 1 - 2-3/8 inches wide. The goblet shaped flowers have 5 reddish-purple petals 1" long and white at the base. The stamen column is whitish or yellowish. Below the petals are 5 bracts, and below the bracts are 3 bract-like structures collectively called the involucel. There are 2 varieties of C. involucrata: C. involucrata var. involucrata (Purple Wine Cup) and C. involucrata var. lineariloba (Pure white or white with reddish-purple streak down the center of each petal) C. involucrata is the only wine cup with involucels in Texas.

The photo shows a Purple Wine Cup flower on the left side of the photo. A Wine Cup bud to the left of the flower shows the 5 bracts that enclose the petals. Below the bracts, the involucel can be seen. A Drummond Phlox flower is shown on the right.

Callirhoe involucrata var, lineariloba, Wine Cup, Purple Poppy-mallow, Variegated Wine Cup, White Wine Cup, Malvaceae Family, Texas native, perennial.

A low, sprawling herbaceaous plant 6 - 12 inches tall with trailing stems 18 inches long. Hairy stems. The palmately divided 5 - 7 lobed leaves are 1 - 2 inches long and 1 - 2-3/8 inches wide. The glblet shaped flowers have 5 white with a reddish-purple stripe down the center of each petal. The petals are 1" long. The stamen column is whitish or yellowish. Below the petals are 5 bracts, and below the bracts are 3 bract-like structures called the involucel.

The involucel differentiate C. involucrata from other wine cup species.

( Native ) Wine-cup, ( Callirhoe involucrata ) Perennial blooms March-July.
See plant files http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/695/index.html

Skeleton Plant, Purple Dandelion, Milk pink and Flowering Straw (Lygodesmia texana), Asteraceae Family, Texas native, perennial, blooms late spring to early fall

It grows in the western 2/3 of Texas. It does not grow in north east Texas, but does grow from Beaumont southward along the coastal region. It is interesting because by the time the buds form, the basal leaves wither and die and the upper leaves are just scales. The plant looks as though something has eaten all of the leaves. Bees love it and butterflies use it as a source of nectar.

For further information, see its entry in the PlantFiles: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/59966/index.html

The 1.5 to 2 inch bloom has erect dark lavender or purple striped styles.

Skeleton Plant, Purple Dandelion, Milk pink and Flowering Straw (Lygodesmia texana)

The seedhead ...

Horse Nettle, Silverleaf Nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium), Solanaceae Family, Texas native, perennial, blooms in mid-spring through early fall

For further information, see its entry in the PlantFiles: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/31750/index.html

The pollen is released through pores at the tips of the banana-shaped anthers.

Horse Nettle, Silverleaf Nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium)

A view from the side in morning light ...

( Native ) Brazos or Gulfcoast Penstemon, ( Penstemon tenuis )
Lovely perennial plant up to three feet tall, bees love the flowers. Bloom period
March-May. See plant files, http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55963/index.html

Close up of flowers.

( Native ) Mealy Sage, ( Salvia farinacea ) Mint family. Lovely perennial, bloom period March to November, up to three feet high, drought tolerant, very popular plant.
See plant files, http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/127

Close up of bloom cluster.

Obedient Plant, False Dragonhead (Physostegia virginiana), Lamiaceae Family, Texas native, perennial, blooms late summer through late fall, can be invasive (but great if you want to cover an area over time), requires moist soil

Mine receives some morning sun and afternoon shade and started blooming about a week ago. A view of the blooms backlit by morning sun ...

For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/23/index.html

This message was edited Aug 8, 2005 6:33 PM

Obedient Plant, False Dragonhead (Physostegia virginiana)

A closer view of the bloom ...

Desert Petunia, Florida Bluebells, Mexican Petunia, Mexican Blue Bells, Blue Shade (Ruellia brittoniana), Acanthaceae Family, naturalized, perennial, blooms from early spring until the first freeze, dies down and comes back from the roots

Blue shade is a wonderful groundcover that blooms nonstop and takes no care unless it spreads where you don't want it (easily removed). It is a fast grower that will cover an area quickly. It can also be grown in hanging baskets and containers. Not picky about soil, not needing a lot of water, appearing to be insect pest free, fast growing, nice foliage and beautiful flowers make this an excellent ground cover. It makaes a great xeriscape, rock garedn (under a large shrub) or wildscape plant.

For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/38180/index.html

Desert petunia's, (blue shade's) growth habit and new leaves. The leaves may appear a grayish green due to the fine hairs on the leaves.

This message was edited Aug 8, 2005 6:39 PM

Desert Petunia, Florida Bluebells, Mexican Petunia, Mexican Blue Bells, Blue Shade (Ruellia brittoniana)

The bloom ...

Desert Petunia, Florida Bluebells, Mexican Petunia, Mexican Blue Bells, Blue Shade (Ruellia brittoniana)

A view of the bloom from a different angle; note the fine hairs on the leaves ...

Globe Amaranth, Gomphrena (Gomphrena globosa), Amaranthaceae Family, naturalized, annual, blooms late summer through fall

Globe amaranth, native to Panama and Guatemala, has attained naturalized status in Texas. Bloom colors may be white, pink, red, lavender or purple. They are composed of stiff, colorful and papery bracts which are very flashy. The inconspicuous individual flowers within the flowerheads are extremely small, but there are many of them.I found that these perform better in poor soil, no fertilizer and regular supplemental water in hot weather. Mulching in hot climates helps also. Until I discovered this, the plants just withered, turned white and died.

For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/222/index.html

A view of globe amaranth and a butterfly with sunlight providing backlighting taken with my old camera. The plants have reached their peak and are starting to decline when I took the photo 2 years ago. The colored part of the heads are bracts. The blooms are tiny and white. I saw 8 different kinds of butterflies having a block party here. The color of the blooms was impossible for me to capture accurately with my digital camera and they seem to be one of the most difficult blooms for me to capture accurately.

Sharp Pod Morning Glories. Another that I have trouble deciding the color. Very early morning they are basically pink, an hour after sunup, decidedly purple. This picture was taken about a half hour after sunup.

Dwarf Cleome, Clammy Weed, Clammyweed, Redwhisker Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra), Capparaceae Family, Texas native, annual, blooms in April or May and continues to bloom through October, self-seeds freely

Dwarf Cleome, Clammy Weed, Clammyweed, Redwhisker Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra) is a wide spread annual native of Texas as well as most other states. It is commonly found in various soils of the Edwards Plateau and South Texas Plains. It may be found in deserts, on plains, in open areas, as well as along sandy stream banks, roadsides and disturbed areas. Clammy weed enjoys dry feet and prefers gravely, sandy soil which of course is well drained. If it hasn't received rain in a long period of time, give it a good soaking. The petals may be white or in a color range from pinkish to rose to purple. These plants make great cultivated plants in dry areas.

For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/785/index.html

One plant all by itself blooming in a field in northwest Bexar County ...

Dwarf Cleome, Clammy Weed, Clammyweed, Redwhisker Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra)

A closer view of the fruit (photo not well focused due to camera having to be set to telephoto) ...

Henbit, Deadnettle (Lamium amplexicaule), Lamiaceae Family, naturalized, winter/cool season annual, invasive

Henbit usually emerges in January or so and provides pink or lavender flowers when very few plants are blooming. It reseeds prolifically and is very invasive. I find the small blooms very pretty, but pull most of the plants from my flowerbeds. I leave a few because I like the blooms and the foliage as well. This ensures that I will havw a lot to pullup the following year, however.

For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53157/index.html

Flower buds and foliage ,,,

Henbit, Deadnettle (Lamium amplexicaule)

Pinkish bloom ...

Henbit, Deadnettle (Lamium amplexicaule)

Lavender bloom with upper petals folded ..

Kinda like this this "weed." ;-)

I do too!

But a little goes a long way!

Woolly Stemodia, Wooly Stemodia, Gray Woolly Twintip, Silverleaf Stemodia, Creeping Silver Cenizo (Stemodia tomentosa), Scrophulariaceae Family, endemic Texas native, perennial, blooms March through October or so.

Woolly stemoda is a low spreading evergreen groundcover that grows to be about 4 - 6”inches in height high and spreads to 2 feet - 4’ feet wide. The up to 3/4 of an inch by 1/2 of an inch wide leaves are covered in small fine white hairs which give them a pale gray or silver appearance. The tiny 1/2 inch wide and 3/8 inch long tubular blooms are violet to bluish purple. It tolerates heat, drought and salt and is deer resistant. It prefers full sun and does well in poor soils. It is a great groundcover, border, rock garden, xeriscape or container plant. It may be used for erosion control. It serves as catepillar plant food for the mangrove buckeye butterfly.

Map of Nntive range:
http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/cgi/vpt_map_name?reg=2,6,10&name=Stemodia%20tomentosa%20(Mill.

For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/128614/index.html

The bloom ...

Woolly Stemodia, Wooly Stemodia, Gray Woolly Twintip, Silverleaf Stemodia, Creeping Silver Cenizo (Stemodia tomentosa)

A view of it in March with no blooms yet and the new growth appearing ... the stems root at the nodes.

This message was edited Mar 19, 2006 1:50 PM

Woolly Stemodia, Wooly Stemodia, Gray Woolly Twintip, Silverleaf Stemodia, Creeping Silver Cenizo (Stemodia tomentosa)

A view of its dense mat ....

Woolly Stemodia, Wooly Stemodia, Gray Woolly Twintip, Silverleaf Stemodia, Creeping Silver Cenizo (Stemodia tomentosa)

New growth in March ...

Lindheimer's Morning Glory, Ipomoea lindheimeri
Endemic to Edwards Plateau to West Texas, it is a perennial hardy vine blooming spring to fall. Flowers are usually pale lavender, occasionally blue. Leaves are lobed, In this photo, the vine is growing up through some Cedar Sage.

Linda, thank you for posting this picture, I can't wait to see mine bloom.
Josephine.

Lemon Mint, Lemon Balm, Purple Horsemint, Lemon Bee Balm, Beebalm
Monarda citriodora

I see H posted one of these already, and mentioned the focus. Well, I happened to have a fairly good pic here. The original of this is 2048x1536

Would it be purple, red, or white group? Or all 3?
NE way, in this close-up I took at Dallas Discovery Garden last June, you can really see the little clams and the little whiskers....I liked the beanie (legumous) pods too.

Dwarf Cleome, Clammy Weed, Clammyweed, Redwhisker Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra)

This message was edited Sep 18, 2006 7:46 PM

Oxalis drummondii
Wood Sorrel
First identified by A. Gray and Native to Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. A fall flowering, winter-growing stoloniferous bulb with three leaflets and and violet flowers in four to eight flowering umbels. Makes a great potted specimen with it's delicate flowers. Shade or part sun, likes a little more moisture than a lot of the native bulbs. Recommended for growing in zones 8-9.

Skeleton Plant, Lygodesmia texana. This Texas plant can look like it has no leaves, and often it doesn't. So when they bloom, it's almost like they're appearing out of nowhere. They are perennial, drought-tolerant and tolerates poor soil. It blooms in the summer and occasionally during the summer. Sometimes even in early fall. The plant is 10 to 24 inches tall. A patch of blooming Skeleton Plant is a beautiful sight to behold!

A photo of Skeleton Plant:

Wild Four O'Clock, Heartleaf Four O'Clock, Nightblooming Four O'Clock (Mirabilis nyctaginea), Nyctaginaceae Family, native, perennial. blooms April through November


Wild Four O'Clock stems are smooth and can be distinguished by their swollen joints and forked branches. The opposite salked leaves are between 2 and 4.75 inches long with the upper leaves being stalkless. It has clusters of between 3-5 flowers that are 1/2 - 5/8 across which are surrounded by green bracts which become papery, enlarged and colored as its fruit matures.

Texas native distribution:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Texas&statefips=48&symbol=MINY

For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/31793/index.html

Flower which is actually more pinkish than the photo shows. The flower is trumpet-shaped and is about ½" across or slightly less ...

Wild Four O'Clock, Heartleaf Four O'Clock, Nightblooming Four O'Clock (Mirabilis nyctaginea)

Flowers closing in late morning. Note the pollen faling from the flowers ...

Wild Four O'Clock, Heartleaf Four O'Clock, Nightblooming Four O'Clock (Mirabilis nyctaginea)

Flower which is not fully open which shows the green bract that has 5 lobes ..