Part 10

Flowers pea-shaped; sepals 5, the 2 inner larger and often petal-like; petals 3 or 5, the lower concave, often fringed; stamens 8, united, opening by apical pores; fruit a 2-celled capsule.

Pink or Bitter Milkwort (Polygala polygama) is a showy-flowered milkwort growing in sandy woods in East Texas. It has erect branches with slender clusters of pink flowers about ¼ in. long and horizontal branches under the soil bearing closed flowers which are self-fertilized. It blooms in Texas in April.

White Milkwort (Polygala alba) has densely-flowered spikes of greenish-white flowers, the buds often tinged with purple. A drug obtained from the dried root is used as an irritant. Like the closely related Seneca snake-root (Polygala senega), it probably contains saponin, which will dissolve the red blood-corpuscles. The roots of the latter are used in medicine to produce vomiting and as an antidote for snake-bite. The white milkwort is common on prairies and chalky slopes from Montana to Mexico from April to July.

Purple Milkwort (Polygala puberula) grows in the mountains of West Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. It has much larger seed capsules than the two preceding. The capsule is one of the chief features for identifying the milkworts, being 2-celled and flattened.

SPURGE FAMILY (Euphorbiaceae)

Flowers staminate and pistillate, often borne in an involucre; sepals sometimes reduced or absent; petals usually absent; stamens 1 to 1,000; styles free or united at base; fruit usually a 3-lobed capsule.

Bull Nettle (Cnidoscolus texanus), also called tread-softly, spurge-nettle, and “mala mujer” (bad woman), is a vicious plant thickly clothed with stinging hairs and bearing clusters of tubular white flowers quite similar to the tuberose in appearance and fragrance. The plants grow 2-3 ft. high. The upper flowers bear stamens, and the flowers in the lower forks of the cluster produce seeds. The seed-capsules resemble those of other members of the spurge family in being nearly ball-shaped and deeply three-lobed. The seeds are large, edible, and very palatable. The plants are very abundant in waste places and sandy soil from Texas to Arkansas and Oklahoma, blooming from late spring until fall.

Some familiar commercial products are obtained from members of the spurge family; e.g., rubber, tapioca, and castor oil. In horticulture, the cactus-like spurges and the Christmas poinsettia are well-known favorites. The Chinese tallow-tree (Sapium sebiferum) is used as an ornamental tree, its leaves being very decorative in the fall.

Snow-on-the-Mountain. Ghost-Weed (Euphorbia bicolor) grows in great abundance on the plains of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas, being especially thick along dry creek margins. The plants are lovely in late August and September, their showy appearance being due to the green and white leaves surrounding the flower clusters. It bears rather unusual flowers which yield a poisonous honey. The green calyx-like structure is an involucre bearing numerous flowers, each consisting of a single stamen or pistil. Around the top of the involucre are 4-5 small glands each bearing a white appendage which is mistaken for the petals. The cultivated snow-on-the-mountain (Euphorbia marginata) has broader and shorter leaves. It is native on hillsides of Central Texas north to Minnesota.

Texas Croton (Croton texensis) is a weed, 2-3 ft. high, growing in conspicuous masses, particularly in the western part of the state. The flowers are inconspicuous among the gray-green foliage, the widely branched stems bearing numerous linear leaves. The fragrant leaves and stems from some of the crotons are gathered and dried by the Mexicans to use for tea or meat seasoning.

HOLLY FAMILY (Aquifoliaceae)

Trees or shrubs, mostly evergreen; sepals 3-6; petals 4-5; stamens 4-5, opposite petals; carpels 3 or more; fruit a drupe.

Yaupon. Cassine (Ilex vomitoria) with dark glossy evergreen leaves and red berries forms lovely hedges along the highways and fields and is scattered through woods in Central and East Texas, ranging to Virginia. The berries, an excellent bird food, usually remain on the shrubs until the small white flowers appear in late March or April. The plant forms a dense widely-branched shrub, which is of slow growth and very desirable for hedges. As the berries are produced on separate bushes from the pollen-bearing flowers, care should be taken to plant those producing berries if ornamental shrubs are desired. Cassine tea is made from the leaves, but it is bitter and contains much caffein and tannin. Like the American holly, which grows in East Texas, the yaupon is being exterminated for Christmas decorations. The deciduous holly (Ilex decidua) has larger leaves, which are shed in the early fall, and larger orange-red berries, which remain on the shrub or tree until late winter.

BUCKEYE FAMILY (Aesculaceae)

Leaves digitate; calyx tubular, 5-lobed; petals 4-5, unequal; stamens 5-8, inserted on disk; capsules leathery, usually 3-celled; seeds large, shining.

Southern Buckeye (Aesculus discolor) is a handsome shrub or small tree with showy spike-like clusters of deep red or yellow flowers. The yellow-flowered shrub formerly known as Aesculus octandra is now called variety flavescens. The finely-toothed leaves are a glossy dark green above and whitish beneath. The red flowers have a red tubular calyx and 4 red petals, and the yellow variety has all-yellow flowers. Seldom more than 2 large brown seed develop in the 3-lobed leathery capsule.

The seeds and young shoots of buckeyes are usually considered poisonous, those of the horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) being especially so. Soap may be obtained from the roots and a black dye from the wood.

Western Buckeye (Aesculus arguta) is a yellow-flowered buckeye with leaves divided into 7-9 leaflets. It is found along streams in the western part of the state north to Iowa and Missouri. The buckeyes bloom in March or April. They shed their leaves quite early in the fall and are conspicuous in the winter because of their large buds.

MALLOW FAMILY (Malvaceae)

Leaves mostly palmately nerved; sepals 3-5, more or less united; petals 5; stamens numerous, united into a column; style branched above.

Indian Mallow (Abutilon incanum) is a much branched plant, commonly 2-4 ft. tall, with rather small ovate leaves, and yellow flowers nearly an inch across. It is a profuse bloomer in the summer and fall. Like other abutilons, it is sometimes called flowering maple because of the maple-like leaves, and may be easily recognized by the seed-capsules, which are about ½ inch high and divided into 7-9 cells. The flowers are typical of the mallow group, having 5 separate petals and numerous stamens united in a tube around the styles. The plants grow in dry soil from Arkansas to Mexico and Arizona.

Large-Flowered Sida (Sida texana) is a common perennial plant in the sandy regions of South Texas. The slender, erect stems bear a few linear-oblong leaves, paler below, and long slender-stalked flowers. The flowers are pale orange-yellow and have the irregularly-lobed petals characteristic of the sidas.

The mallow family includes the commercial plants cotton and okra, and numerous ornamentals, such as hibiscus, hollyhock, and althea.

Copper Mallow (Sphæralcea pedatifida) is often confused with the following mallow, but may be distinguished by its thin leaves clothed with a few star-shaped hairs, the 3 linear leaves (bractlets) under the calyx, and the seed capsules, which have one seed in each division completely filling the cell. Both have upper leaves divided into 5 parts and lower leaves into 3 parts. This plant is a low, spreading perennial which forms clumps about 1½ ft. broad. It grows in sandy or gravelly soil, Southwestern Texas, in April and May. Several copper mallows are very abundant in the Southwest.

Red Star-Mallow (Malvastrum coccineum) also has star-shaped hairs on the leaves, but they are very dense and give the leaves a gray, scurfy appearance. The cells are usually 1-seeded with an empty terminal portion above. The plant is also called prairie mallow, red false mallow, and rose moss. It grows in low clumps, spreading or erect, on prairies from Texas to Southern Canada and blooms from May to August.

Mexican Apple. Turk’s Cap (Malvaviscus drummondii) is also called red mallow. The showy red flowers somewhat resemble a Turkish fez. The broad petals remain closely wrapped around one another at the base but spreading above; the stamen column is conspicuously prolonged beyond the petals. The red apple-like fruits are nearly an inch broad and half as high. They have a delicious flavor and may be eaten raw or cooked. The fruits ripen in the late summer and fall, a few weeks after the blooms appear. They begin to dry soon after ripening and split into sections, scattering the seeds which are borne in the center.

The plants are perennial, the leafy stems branching and spreading, forming a clump which is commonly 2-3 feet high. Growing abundantly in shade along streams in the central and southern parts of the state and in moist woods in East Texas, it ranges from Florida to Mexico. It is a desirable plant for cultivation and is hardier but not as showy, as the large-flowered Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus grandiflora), a Mexican plant now widely cultivated for ornamental purposes in South Texas.

Wild Hollyhock. Wine Cup. Fringed Poppy-Mallow (Callirrhoë digitata) grows in dry soil from Illinois and Kansas to Texas, blooming in Texas in April and May. It is a perennial, 1-1½ ft. high, with smooth, erect, gray-green stems topped by the flower cluster. The cup-shaped flowers are on slender stalks, the lower longer than the upper. The upper leaves are divided into 1-3 linear divisions and the lower into 5-7 divisions. The petals vary in color from cherry-red to pink and white, often being quite fringed across the top. The slightly yellow stamens are borne in a dense oblong column from which the 10 red styles appear after the flower has been opened several days.