Part 19

Least Bluet (Houstonia minima) is a smaller plant than the small bluet, but the flowers are a little larger and are pale pink. They bloom at the same time of year and may often be found together. The least bluet ranges from Texas to Illinois and Kansas.

The madder-family is mainly tropical but is represented in Texas by nearly forty species. Nearly all of these have inconspicuous, 4-lobed white flowers and include many bedstraws and bluets, the button-weed, and button-bush. From some members of the family valuable commercial products—coffee, quinine, and a red dye—are obtained; the cape-jasmine or gardenia is a well-known ornamental plant.

Baby’s Breath. Narrow-Leaved Houstonia (Houstonia angustifolia) is not the garden plant (Gypsophila paniculata) which is known as baby’s breath, but it is equally dainty. The stems grow from woody perennial roots and form erect clumps about a foot high. The small flowers are borne in flat-topped clusters and vary in color from white to pale pink or lavender. This plant is widely distributed on prairies from Illinois to Texas and Florida.

Bouvardia (Bouvardia ternifolia) is a low shrub, 2-6 ft. high, which grows in the mountains west of the Pecos River to Arizona and Mexico. The leaves are short and grow in whorls of 3’s or 4’s. The narrow, red tubular flowers are about one inch long. The Bouvardias were once popular as greenhouse plants but are little used now. This one was introduced into England more than one hundred years ago.

HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY (Caprifoliaceae)

Usually shrubs; leaves opposite; calyx joining ovary wall, 5-lobed; corolla 5-lobed, tubular and often 2-lipped; stamens 4-5, on corolla-tube; ovary inferior; fruit a fleshy berry.

Southern Woodbine. Coral or Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is quite common in the woods of East Texas and other Southern States, blooming in Texas in late March and continuing until fall. It is an evergreen vine that has been widely introduced into cultivation. The flowers are not so conspicuously two-lipped as in the white honeysuckle, the corolla-lobes being nearly equal. The scarlet berries are ¼ inch long, ripening in the summer. This is one of a number of plants which are commonly called woodbine. The group was named in honor of Adam Lonitzer, an early German botanist.

The black haw (Viburnum prunifolium) is very abundant in Texas woods. The showy ball-like clusters of white flowers appear with the leaves in April and May, following the dogwood and red haws. The American elder (Sambucus canadensis) is found along streams in Central and East Texas.

White Honeysuckle (Lonicera albiflora) is a straggling bush which usually grows in the shelter of a tree. The pale broad, oval leaves are opposite and united at their bases, the uppermost pair being cup-shaped and surrounding the cluster of flowers borne at the tip of the stem. The fragrant flowers are less than an inch long with a narrow tube and 5 lobes, the lower lobe long and narrow and the 4 upper shorter, very much like those of the common cultivated Japanese honeysuckle. The five spreading stamens extend conspicuously beyond the corolla.

This plant blooms in April and May. It is scattered throughout the central and western parts of the state, being especially abundant in the western mountains, and ranges to Arkansas and Arizona. The Japanese honeysuckle has escaped cultivation in places along the bayous of East Texas.

VALERIAN FAMILY (Valerianaceae)

Leaves opposite; calyx of several bristles or absent; petals 2-5, partly united; stamens usually 4, on corolla-tube; ovary inferior, 3-celled but only 1 cell fertile.

Lamb’s Lettuce. Texas or Dwarf Corn Salad (Valerianella amarella) is one of the first white-flowered spring plants, growing in such abundance that the prairies are white with the blooms. It is a much smaller plant than the dwarf Queen Anne’s lace which is so lovely late in April and May. In the field it is usually about 6 in. high but grows a little higher in cultivation when used as a border plant. It is easily identified by its flat-topped clusters of flowers grouped in squares at the end of the widely forking branches. The smooth foliage is yellow-green in color.

There are several corn salads which grow in moist places in the state. The dwarf corn salad may readily be distinguished from these, as its minute seed-pod is covered with woolly hairs. The European corn salad is cultivated, and the leaves are used for salad.

GOURD FAMILY (Cucurbitaceae)

Tendrils mostly present, stems often prostrate; flowers usually unisexual; calyx tubular, 5-lobed; petals united or separate; stamens usually 3, one anther always 1-celled, the other two 2-celled; ovary inferior.

Wild Balsam Gourd (Ibervillea lindheimeri) has bright scarlet balls about an inch in diameter and makes conspicuous spots of color on fences in the fall. The vine is slender, bearing small yellow flowers in the spring. The fruits are green at first, turning orange and then a scarlet red. Sometimes they are a little longer than broad and pointed at the end. The few leaves are thick and deeply 3-5-lobed. It ranges from Texas to California.

The garden balsam (Impatiens balsamina) bears no relation to this plant. The vines in cultivation known as balsam apple and balsam pear are, however, members of the gourd family and were introduced from the Old World tropics. Watermelons, cantaloupes, cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, and gourds are well-known members of the gourd family.

Wild Gourd. Mock Orange (Cucurbita foetidissima) has long trailing stems which are often 15 feet long and may be 25 feet long. It is readily distinguished by its large gray-green triangular leaves which are somewhat 3-5-lobed. The leaf-blades are 4-12 inches long, and the leaf-stalk is about half the length of the blade. The star-shaped yellow flowers, about three inches broad, are almost hidden by the leaves, the staminate and pistillate flowers being borne on different plants.

The ovoid gourds, which at first are green variegated with a lighter green, turn quite yellow at maturity. The resemblance of the yellow fruit to oranges has given rise to the common name, mock orange. The gourds are about three inches long. They are not edible, as the pulp is fibrous and bitter. Mexicans use the plant as a soap substitute by mashing the gourds or the roots in water. They call it “chilicoyote” or “calabacilla.” The pumpkins and squashes, whose origin is somewhat obscure, are close relatives of the gourd.

BELL-FLOWER FAMILY (Campanulaceae)

Juice usually milky; leaves alternate; calyx tube joined to ovary, 3-10-lobed; corolla tubular or bell-shaped, sepals and petals usually 5; stamens 5; ovary inferior, 2-10-celled.

Venus’ Looking-Glass (Specularia perfoliata) is a very common American plant blooming in Texas in the early spring. Like the later flowers of many violets, the first flowers never open and are self-fertilized. The later flowers have a showy 5-lobed purple corolla about an inch long. The seeds are dispersed from a small opening in the lower part of the capsule. The leaves are small and clasping, usually broader than long.

Western Venus’ Looking-Glass (Specularia leptocarpa) has flowers very much like the preceding, but the stamens and calyx lobes are longer. The long, slender capsules have the opening pore near the top. The showy flowers appear in late April and May. This plant is abundant on the northern prairies of Texas and ranges to Missouri and Montana.

Texas Harebell. Bluebell (Campanula reverchonii) is one of the rarer plants in the state, and care should be taken to preserve it. It is lovely against the granite rocks and boulders of Central Texas. The dainty, slender plants are often much branched and have blue flowers about half an inch long. The bluebell of Scotland is a renowned member of the group; Canterbury bells and the balloon-flower are well-known in gardens.

LOBELIA FAMILY (Lobeliaceae)

Juice often milky; sepals 5; corolla 1-2-lipped, united; stamens 5, anthers joined into a tube.

Prairie Lobelia (Lobelia brachypoda) grows on sandy prairies in Southern Texas and the adjacent part of Mexico. It is very abundant west of Falfurrias in March. The Texas lobelias may usually be recognized by the five united stamens which have gray anthers bearded at the top. The plants often have a milky sap containing a poisonous alkaloid which is used in medicine. The red cardinal flower (Lobelia splendens) is rather widely scattered in moist places throughout the state but is rare enough to need protection.