Part 16

Large-Flowered Vervain (Verbena plicata) shows some variation in color from white to lavender, the flowers commonly being a bluish-lavender. The flowers are about half an inch broad and grow in long showy spikes. The plants are perennial, and numerous stems form erect clumps 1-2 ft. high. It is especially handsome southwest of San Antonio and ranges into Mexico. It blooms from February to May.

Wild or Plains Verbena (Verbena bipinnatifida) is sometimes called sweet William, a name which properly belongs to the blue woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) or to the clove pink. There is only a faint fragrance to the wild verbena.

Along highways and in the fields the wild verbena blooms in great profusion from spring until the plants are killed by a severe freeze. The flower stalks often grow quite long and are topped by a flat cluster of flowers around the new buds. The old calyx tubes surrounding the small nutlets remain on the stalk for many weeks. Children delight in pulling off the purple tubular corollas so that they can suck the abundant nectar from the tube and then string them together for a necklace, which they make by inserting the base of one tube into the throat of the adjoining corolla.

The wild verbena is a perennial plant with many prostrate branches. The leaves are thick, rough, and divided into narrow segments. It is one of the most familiar plants of the South Plains region, ranging from Missouri and Arizona to Northern Mexico. It is seldom used in gardens, but it is one of the plants used by the highway department for roadside planting. Where it has been used in gardens for low border mass effects, it has been a delight throughout the warm months with its showy, profuse blooms.

“Verbena” is the Latin name for a sacred plant. There are nearly one hundred species of verbenas, one of which is European and the others American. About twenty-five of these are found in Texas, part of them belonging to the vervain group. The plains verbena and the slender vervain are the ones most widely distributed. Among other very lovely verbenas found in the state are Wright’s verbena in West Texas and Lambert’s verbena in East Texas. A South American verbena (Verbena venosa), with brilliant purple flowers, has escaped cultivation in Southeast Texas.

Wright’s Verbena (Verbena wrightii) is quite similar to the plains verbena but has larger flowers of a reddish-purple color. The plants are larger, and the foliage is coarser.

Lambert’s Verbena (Verbena canadensis) has ovate leaves which are toothed or lobed but not divided. The flowers are a reddish-purple and have a white eye surrounded by a line of black. This is a handsome verbena which does well in cultivation but is little used. Garden hybrids have been reported from it. The origin of the common garden verbena is not definitely known.

French Mulberry (Callicarpa americana) is a low shrub 3-6 ft. high, also known as the Bermuda mulberry or sour-bush. It is easily recognized in the fall by the clusters of reddish-purple berries and large ovate leaves 3-6 in. long. The showy berries are responsible for the scientific name which means “beautiful fruit.” It grows in woods of sandy areas from Central Texas to Florida and Virginia, and also in the West Indies. The variety with white fruit is not so common as the purple-fruited variety. The flowers are inconspicuous, pale pink or white. The shrub is well-known in cultivation but is not so hardy as the Japanese callicarpa.

The verbena family includes many tropical and sub-tropical shrubs, some of which are widely cultivated in Texas. Lantana (Lantana camara) has orange and yellow flowers and is a profuse summer bloomer. The common lilac lantana in cultivation was introduced from Brazil, but there are two native lilac lantanas in Southern Texas. Lavender, or vitex, introduced from Europe, is an excellent shrub for summer bloom.

MINT FAMILY (Labiatae)

Stems usually 4-angled; leaves opposite; calyx 5-lobed, often 2-lipped; corolla 4-5-lobed, usually 2-lipped; stamens 4 or 2, on corolla-tube; fruit of 4 nutlets.

Prairie Skullcap (Scutellaria resinosa) turns its saucy flowers upward and covers the dense clumps with a purple glow. The tubular flowers are nearly an inch long and 2-lipped, with two short lobes forming the velvety, arched upper lip and with three broad lobes forming the spreading lower lip. The middle lobe is marked by a conspicuous white spot dotted with purple. Numerous stems grow from a woody, perennial root on rocky prairies and limestone slopes from Texas to Arizona and Nebraska.

The many skullcaps in the state are easily distinguished from other mints by the crest on the upper surface of the calyx. Most of them have small oval or rounded leaves, and all have purple flowers. They get their scientific name from the Latin word meaning “dish,” referring to the shape of the calyx.

The mint family is a large one, well represented in Texas. The European horehound (Marrubium vulgare) has become a pernicious weed in the pastures of Central Texas. Rosemary, sage, thyme, lavender, majoram, and the mints are familiar members of the mint family.

Slender Dragon-Head or Lion’s Heart (Physostegia intermedia) has spikes of delicate lavender flowers. The slender stems, 1-3 ft. high, grow from perennial roots in moist soil on prairies from Texas and Louisiana to Missouri and Kentucky from April to July. The physostegias are rapidly growing in favor as garden flowers, as different species will produce blooms throughout the season, if the flowering spikes are cut and not allowed to seed.

Brazos Mint (Brazoria scutellarioides) is a lovely little annual found on the plains of Central Texas. The plants are usually less than a foot high and seldom branched, but the dense spikes of lavender flowers make it quite conspicuous during favorable seasons. Although the name indicates a resemblance to the skullcap, it might be mistaken for a dwarf physostegia. The corollas have much the same delicate lavender coloring, but the flaring calyx more closely resembles that of the Texas salvia. It is also called twin-flower, wild lilac, and honey plant.

Brazoria truncata, with larger and paler flowers, is very abundant in sandy soil in Central Texas, being especially common in Gonzales County. This plant was first collected near the Brazos River, a fact commemorated in the scientific name of “Brazoria.”

Henbit. Dead Nettle (Lamium amplexicaule) is a troublesome weed on lawns everywhere in the state and in most of the United States. It is a winter annual introduced from Europe and Asia. The flowers often begin to bloom in December and continue until March or April. The stems branch from the base, and the flowers grow in stalkless clusters with the upper leaves.

Prairie Pennyroyal. Lemon Mint. Mexican Tea (Hedeoma drummondii) is a low perennial plant characterized by the lemon-like odor of the foliage, the narrow, tubular lavender corollas, and the bulging finely-ribbed tubular calyx. The flowers and leaves are about half an inch long. The low, bushy clumps grow on rocky plains and hillsides throughout Texas, the flowers blooming during the late spring and summer. A tea made from the foliage, either fresh or dried, is considered of value for its soothing effect. A few leaves in iced tea add a piquant flavor. The name is from the Greek and means “sweet smell.”

The American pennyroyal is Hedeoma pulegioides. The leaves and flowering tops are collected in July and August and dried. It yields an oil used in medicine.

Pale Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa mollis) is a very lovely member of the horsemint group. The slender stems are branched at the top, each branch having a terminal cluster of lavender flowers. The flowers are tubular and two-lipped, 1-1½ in. long, the upper lip narrow and the lower broad and three lobed. The upper lip is clothed with soft hairs.

The wild bergamot grows in the states east of the Rocky Mountains, and several varieties are known. In Texas it grows in moist woods in the eastern part and along streams in North Texas. It is a perennial which is sometimes cultivated. The stems are usually about two feet high. The leaves are short-stalked and lance-shaped, the margins having a few short teeth. The leaves have a pleasant aroma and are used in flavoring tea. Medicinally they are used as a stimulant and as a remedy for colic pains.

The brilliant, scarlet-flowered Oswego tea (Monarda didyma) of the Eastern States is not native to Texas. It is used as a substitute for tea.

Green or White Horsemint (Monarda punctata) differs from the wild bergamot in having numerous clusters of flowers at the top of the stem. These clusters are surrounded by many short, drooping floral leaves which are blotched with white or occasionally have a purplish tinge. The yellow corollas are dotted with purple and are about an inch long. The calyx tube is ribbed, and the lobes are short and triangular. In growth habit and shape of leaves it is very much like the purple horsemint, but in flower it is readily distinguished by the yellow flowers and green and white floral leaves. The plants are perennial, much-branched, and somewhat downy. They are found in the Eastern and Central States and bloom in Texas from late May to July.

Dwarf Horsemint (Monarda clinopodioides) is another horsemint of sandy plains in Texas and Oklahoma. The plants are usually less than a foot high. They have white corollas, and the short bracts are purplish-brown with hairy margins. This horsemint is not so widespread as the green and purple horsemint.

Purple Horsemint. Lemon Monarda (Monarda citriodora) is lovely not only because of its dainty flowers but especially because of the floral leaves or bracts surrounding the flowers. These bracts take on a reddish-purple color and may be marked with white and green. The purple varies from rosy tints to a royal hue.

The flowers grow in whorls or rosettes at the top of the stem, new ones appearing with continued growth until there may be ten or more clusters on a stem. The corollas are narrow, tubular, and two-lipped, varying in color from lavender to white and commonly marked with small purple dots. The tubular calyx has five very narrow lobes, which are hairy and as long as the tube; the throat of the calyx is closed by a dense ring of white hairs.

Growing in erect clumps one to two feet high, the plants form conspicuous patches along highways and cover many pastures. The leaves are short-stalked and narrowed at both ends, the margins being sharply toothed. The purple floral leaves are oblong, with the midrib prolonged into a slender bristle or awn. These numerous bracts curve downward and overlap, the lower ones being longer.