Part 11

Wine Cup. Red Poppy-Mallow (Callirrhoë involucrata) is the common poppy-mallow throughout the state and ranges from Minnesota to Mexico, a solitary flower standing erect from a prostrate branch. The five-pointed leaves are more or less divided or lobed, sometimes with very linear divisions. Covering acres and acres of the southern coastal prairie in March and April, and more or less common on the drier prairies, this wine cup is a favorite flower. White and pink forms of it exist, but the wine-red color is predominant.

Rock Rose. Pavonia. Pink Mallow (Pavonia lasiopetala) has attractive, deep-pink flowers, which are broadly spreading, about 1½ in. wide. The plant is branching and shrubby, commonly growing about 2 ft. high, with ovate or rounded leaves 1-2½ in. long. It is not extremely showy but makes an excellent low shrub for the garden and will produce an abundance of blossoms from late spring until fall. It is found in dry, rocky woods from Central Texas to Mexico.

Pavonia gets its name from the botanist, J. Pavon, who worked particularly with South American plants. Several South American species are in cultivation. The Texas pavonia is being introduced in gardens and rivals the shrubby althea as a summer bloomer, but the plants and flowers are much smaller.

VIOLET FAMILY (Violaceae)

Small or leafy stipules on leaves; sepals 5; petals 5, the lower usually larger and spurred; flowers often cleistogamous; fruit usually a capsule.

Missouri Violet (Viola missouriensis) grows in low grounds and moist woods from Missouri to Louisiana and Texas, the flowers blooming in Texas in March and April. They are very much like the common cultivated violet (Viola odorata) introduced from Europe.

Water or Lance-Leaved Violet (Viola lanceolata) is a small violet found in swampy places in East Texas and north to Nova Scotia. It resembles the white violet, Viola vittata, so abundant on the Coastal Plain, which has narrower leaves and is taller.

About twenty different violets have been reported from the state, mostly from the eastern part. The bird’s-foot violet (Viola pedata) comes into East Texas. It has large flowers, 1-1¾ in. across, the 3 lower petals much lighter than the dark purple upper ones. It resembles the cultivated pansy, which, however, has been derived from Viola tricolor of Great Britain. The native violets bloom from February to May.

LOASA FAMILY (Loasaceae)

Usually herbs which are clothed with rough, bristly hairs; sepals usually 5, calyx tube joined to ovary; petals usually 5; stamens numerous, the outer petal-like; ovary inferior.

Prairie-Lily. Showy Mentzelia (Mentzelia decapetala) is a handsome-flowered plant which ranges from the Panhandle to Southern Canada. The large flowers, 3-5 inches across, greatly resemble those of the cactus group and have the same tendency to open in the afternoon. The stout, branching plant grows 2-2½ feet high. The stems are quite conspicuous, as they soon become white and shining; the leaves are noticeable because they cling very closely to the clothing by means of barbed hairs. This clinging characteristic is responsible for the Mexican name of “buena mujer” (good woman), applied to this and other similar species.

Stiff Nuttallia (Mentzelia stricta) has smaller, paler flowers, but otherwise it is very much like the showy mentzelia except for the small leaves on the seed capsule. It grows in sandy soil, blooming in the summer and fall. Other common names include stick-leaf, poor-man’s patches, star flower, and good woman. Bartonia aurea of garden culture is a member of the group which was introduced from California.

CACTUS FAMILY (Cactaceae)

Succulent herbs and shrubs; stems usually spiny and leafless; sepals and petals not differentiated, few or many; stamens many; ovary inferior; fruit pulpy, often edible.

Devil’s Tongue. Low Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa) grows in dry, rocky or sandy soil from Texas to Missouri, the flowers blooming in May and June and the fruits ripening to a rose-red in the late summer and fall. The flat-jointed stems are often oval but vary in shape and in the number of large spines growing from the spine cushions scattered over the stems. Sometimes no spines are present, but often 1-2 occur along the margins. Numerous short leaves, which are present only in the spring in this and other cacti, grow from the spine cushions. The spine cushions also bear dense clusters of slender, short brown spines. The flowers are yellow with red centers, 3-4 in. broad, widely spreading. Like many other cacti, they open in bright sunlight. The plant is low and has tuberous roots.

Texas Prickly Pear. Lindheimer’s Cactus (Opuntia lindheimeri) has flowers which are yellow upon opening but which take on a lovely saffron-red the next day. Flowers of both colors are often present on the same joint. The large purple pear-shaped fruits are edible and ripen in the summer and fall. The plants often grow in large clumps and attain a great height. The spine cushions of the oval joints bear 2-3 rather short, stout, stiff spines. It is the common prickly pear from Central Texas south into Mexico.

The pencil cactus or tasajillo (Opuntia leptocaulis), conspicuous for its small stems and bright red fruits, is abundant in the state and Mexico. “Cholla,” or walking-stick cactus (Opuntia imbricata), with long slender stems and purple flowers, is common on western plains.

The cactus family has numerous representatives in Texas, but drastic legislation is needed to save some of the natural beauty spots of the western part of the state. The showy “viznaga” or barrel-cactus, used in making cactus candy, is almost exterminated in the vicinity of El Paso; and cactus fanciers are making great ravages on many others. The fruits of many are edible; the young leaves of the prickly pears are cooked for greens; and the stems are used for cattle feed after the spines have been burned.

LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY (Lythraceae)

Leaves opposite or whorled; sepals 4-6, united into a tube; petals 4-6, or absent, attached on calyx tube; stamens few or many; ovary superior.

Lance-Leaved Loosestrife (Lythrum lanceolatum) grows in low grounds or swamps from Texas to Oklahoma and South Carolina. The loosestrife family is close kin to the evening-primrose family and has 4-6 petals borne above the seed capsule. “Lythrum” is from the Greek meaning “gore” and refers to the red-purple color of some of the flowers. The common name of loosestrife comes from an old legend that they free from strife. The plant has slender stems 2-4 ft. high and numerous flowers borne in loose spikes. The short, narrow leaves are seldom more than 1-2 in. long. The delicate petals are somewhat darker veined and do not last long. It blooms in the late spring and summer.

Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), native of China or India, is widely cultivated in the state and is being planted along highways. It has escaped cultivation in the woods in East Texas. It is a shrub or small tree which is covered during the summer months with a profusion of white, pink, lavender, or rose flowers.

EVENING-PRIMROSE FAMILY (Epilobiaceae)

Calyx joined to ovary and often produced beyond it; petals usually 4; stamens usually 4 or 8; ovary inferior; seeds numerous.

Erect Evening-Primrose (Œnothera heterophylla) grows in sandy soil in Florida and on the edge of post oak woods in South-central Texas. The plants bloom in April and May. It is very much like the rhombic evening-primrose (Œnothera rhombipetala) but has slenderer, shorter stems and is not often branched. The petals are similar, and their rhombic shape easily distinguishes both of these plants from other evening-primroses. The rhombic primrose grows 2-3 feet high and is very abundant throughout the sandy area of North-central Texas to Minnesota and Indiana.

There are many yellow evening-primroses very much alike in flower which are usually called buttercups, a name first applied to the crowfoots. The flowers usually have four showy petals which last only a day, opening in the late afternoons and closing in the heat of the following day. The seed capsules are usually long and narrow and are borne below the petals. The fireweed is a well-known member of this group. The water evening-primrose (Jussiæa diffusa) is abundant in ponds in Central and East Texas.

Pink Evening-Primrose. Pink Buttercup (Hartmannia tetraptera) blooms best in April, but a few scattered plants may continue to bloom through the summer months. It is a perennial plant which does well in cultivation. White, pink, blush, and other shades were introduced by Childs in 1892 from seeds collected in Texas and were known as the Mexican evening-primrose.

The earlier flowers are usually much larger than those which bloom late in the season. The flowers are cup-shaped, 2-4 inches broad, with 4 broad petals marked with deeper-colored veining and greenish-yellow at the base. The sepals are united into a narrow tube above the seed capsule and below the petals. This tube is about as long as the capsule, sometimes a little shorter. The sepals do not overlap, are slow about splitting, and are pushed to one side of the flower by the opening petals. The seeds are borne in a club-shaped capsule which is prominently ridged, the slender base being as long as the enlarged seed-bearing portion.