Part 15

Purple Phlox (Phlox drummondii-purple varieties) grows in sandy soil in Central Texas. The variety with the white throat and red-star eye is common in the southeastern part of the state. It is especially abundant in Wilson and Karnes Counties, where extensive masses of purple may be noted in open sandy places among mesquite and post oak trees. This is a very vigorous phlox and produces large stems and flowers. Studies are being made to determine whether these purple phloxes are varieties of Drummond’s phlox or should be called by other names.

The variety with the purple throat and the two white marks at the base of each corolla lobe grows northwest of the range of the red-flowered Drummond’s phlox. It blooms from April to June and seems to withstand cold better than any of the annual phloxes except the dwarf phlox.

Berlandier’s Phlox (Phlox glabriflora) differs from Drummond’s phlox in many particulars. The flowers are usually a bluish-lavender which at a distance suggests the wild verbena. Like the other phloxes on this page, it has both stem and leaves clothed with scattered, long, soft hairs. The large corolla is marked with white at the base of the lobes and has a short, smooth tube. The vigorous plants branch profusely and often form masses two and three feet broad. This phlox may be found on sandy prairies south of Kingsville and west of Hebbronville in the winter and spring months but is at its best in February and March. It was first collected by Louis Berlandier at several places along the southern coast in 1828 and 1829.

Heller’s Phlox (Phlox helleri) is a close relative of Berlandier’s phlox but has a hairy corolla-tube, smaller flowers, and shorter leaves. It is found from March to May in sand near the coast around Copano, Aransas, and Nueces bays.

Slender Phlox (Phlox tharpii) has a long, hairy corolla-tube, and the slender stems are usually unbranched. Only four flowers are borne in a cluster. It is very abundant in Frio and Dimmit Counties in April. Theodore Roosevelt, in describing a peccary hunt south of Uvalde in April, 1904, mentions these fields of purple.

Roemer’s Phlox (Phlox roemeriana) has lovely flowers which vary in color from deep rose to phlox purple or pink. It is the only annual phlox marked with yellow around the eye or throat. Its large capsule, containing 12 or 15 seeds, is another conspicuous feature and shows its relationship with the perennial phloxes of West Texas. It forms a lovely display with bluebonnets and low prairie spider-worts in the limestone hill region in April and early May.

Dwarf Phlox (Phlox tenuis) is the smallest and most widely distributed of the annual phloxes, ranging from the south-central coast to Louisiana and into Southern Oklahoma. It is found on the coastal prairie and in sandy soil along the edges of post oak woods from March to May. The plants are usually six to eight inches high and unbranched, but branched varieties are known. The flowers are about half an inch broad, with narrow lobes which are marked with two reddish-purple lines at their base.

Prairie Phlox. Prairie Sweet William (Phlox pilosa) has a delightful fragrance common in lesser degrees to many of the phloxes. The widespread prairie phlox was named in 1753 from plants taken to France from Virginia. The stems are low and have a few opposite leaves which are pointed and widely spreading. The flat-topped clusters of pale pink, blue, white, or purple flowers bloom in March and April in Texas. The stems and flower clusters are clothed with soft hairs.

Large-Flowered Prairie Phlox (Phlox villosissima) grows in a strange environment for a phlox. Charles Wright found it in 1849 on the gravelly bars of the Nueces River, where it still grows. It is also found on other rivers in Southwest Texas. It has long, woody roots reaching toward the necessary moisture. The flowers are very large, and only a few are open at a time. It differs from the prairie phlox in its shorter and more numerous leaves, its larger flowers with their broader lobes, and alternate branches in the flower cluster. The prairie phloxes are perennial and are easily grown in Southwest gardens.

WATER-LEAF FAMILY (Hydrophyllaceae)

Flowers usually in curled clusters; calyx deeply 5-lobed; petals united, usually 5; stamens 5, on corolla-tube; ovary superior; styles 2.

Baby Blue-Eyes. Flannel Breeches (Nemophila phacelioides) forms a lovely carpet on banks and in moist woods near the prairie regions of Texas and Arkansas. The dainty flowers are about one inch broad, with 5 broadly-spreading lobes of lavender, paler at the base. The leaves are divided into 5-9 broad segments which are irregularly toothed. It is not known in cultivation, but a similar plant from California is used to cover beds in which bulbs are planted.

Purple Phacelia (Phacelia patuliflora) is a low, spreading annual growing on sandy prairies in the southern part of the state. “Patuliflora” means “spreading flower” and refers to the royal purple corollas which are widely spreading and nearly an inch broad. It is the handsomest phacelia among the fifteen or more species found in the state. It blooms from February to May.

Blue nama (Nama ovatum) is a water-leaf growing in ponds and streams of East Texas and blooming in the summer. It has lovely sky-blue flowers nearly an inch broad and spiny stems. Sand bells (Nama hispidum) has small, reddish-purple, bell-shaped corollas.

Blue Curls. Fiddle-Neck (Phacelia congesta) is also known as spider-flower, caterpillars, snail-flower, and wild heliotrope. It has curled flower clusters and lavender-blue flowers very much like those of some of the heliotropes and borages. A California borage is also called fiddle-neck. The flowers are tubular at the base with 5 broadly spreading lobes. The 5 spreading stamens extending from the flowers are responsible for the name of “spider-flower.”

The erect, unbranched stems may be seen on gravelly limestone slopes or in open woods from Central to Southwestern Texas. The large, thin leaves are finely divided and clothed with soft hairs. In woods the plants may grow 1½-2 ft. high, but on rocky slopes they are seldom more than a foot high. The flowers bloom in April and May, a long blooming season resulting from the numerous flowers which open as the curling stems unfold. It is an annual plant which does well in cultivation and makes a lovely addition to the flower garden.

Nearly a hundred phacelias are found in Western North America. The name is from the Greek meaning “cluster.” Most of them are showy plants, but few are known in cultivation.

BORAGE FAMILY (Borraginaceae)

Leaves usually alternate; flowers often in curled clusters; sepals 5; petals 5, united; stamens 5, on corolla-tube; ovary often deeply 4-lobed; fruit a drupe or of 4 nutlets.

Southern Heliotrope (Cochranea anchusaefolia) grows in limestone soil from Central Texas to Florida and tropical America. It may often be found from spring to fall in the shelter of mesquite or prickly pear. The white-flowered sea-heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum) is very abundant in saline soil in South and West Texas. Plains heliotrope (Heliotropium tenellum) does not have curled clusters of flowers but has a few small white ones borne on short branches. It is widespread in the South-central United States.

Bindweed Heliotrope (Heliotropium convolvulaceum) has white flowers quite similar to those of the bindweed, about one inch broad. It is found in sandy soil in South and West Texas to California and Nebraska from spring to fall. The plant has widely branching stems, about a foot long, and the foliage is somewhat rough-hairy. The heliotropes get their name from Greek words which mean “sunturning.”

Golden Puccoon. Narrow-Leaved Puccoon (Lithospermum linearifolium) is another harbinger of spring on the prairies. The scattered plants may be found throughout Texas to British Columbia and Indiana. Several slender stems grow from a long, thick black root. The plant gets its name from the Greek word meaning “stone-seed” and refers to the hard nutlets of the fruit. In the narrow-leaved puccoon, the nutlets are ovoid, white, shining, and more or less pitted. The flowers have a narrow tube with 5 spreading lobes which have crinkled margins.

Orange Puccoon (Lithospermum gmelinii) is a striking woodland plant of the Eastern States which is widespread in East Texas. It can be easily identified by its showy yellow-orange flowers. The clustered stems, 1-1½ feet high, grow from a deep root. It blooms in April and May.

Most of the puccoons have a red root from which a dye is obtained. Some of the European forms have blue flowers and are known in cultivation.

VERBENA FAMILY (Verbenaceae)

Branches often 4-angled; leaves opposite; flowers often whorled; calyx 5-lobed; petals 4-5, united; calyx and corolla often 2-lipped; stamens 4, on corolla-tube; ovary often 4-celled.

Slender Vervain (Verbena halei) was, until a few years ago, considered the same as the European vervain (Verbena officinalis), but it is now recognized as a different plant. Misty-looking purple patches on the roadside ahead usually turn out to be masses of the slender vervain. It is a perennial which takes on renewed blooming activity from early spring until fall, but usually only scattered plants bloom after June. It is very abundant in this state and other Southern States.

The flowers are small and scattered along the slender branches at the top of the stem. The upper leaves are narrow, those of the mid-stem divided; and the lower are broad and irregularly toothed.