The Blush of Fall

Plateau Agalinis, an Edwards Plateau endemic

Certain seasons bring to mind certain color palettes, such as the pastel-colored wildflowers of spring, or the deep orange and red leaves of fall.  But did you know that there are some native plants that bloom pink well into the months of autumn?  They include both Plateau and Prairie Agalinis (Agalinis edwardsiana and Agalinis heterophylla), Small Palafoxia (Palafoxia callosa), and Marsh Fleabane (Pluchea odorata).

Plateau Agalinis, also called Plateau False Foxglove and Plateau Gerardia, is a 1- to 3-foot tall erect, bushy plant with an airy texture that is endemic to limestone hills with thin soils on the Edwards Plateau region of Texas.  It has light green stems, narrowly linear leaves to 1.25 inches long, and pink funnel-shaped blooms from August to October, on stalks as much as 1.25 inches long.  

Plateau Agalinis, showing the long stalk

Also called Prairie False Foxglove, Prairie Agalinis looks very similar to Plateau Agalinis except that its pink funnel-shaped blooms are on short stalks up to 0.2 inches long and its leaves are slightly larger.  It blooms from June into October in grasslands and fields or in open woodlands near streams, often on more moist soils.  Both of these Agalinis species are in the Figwort Family, and are host plants for the Common Buckeye butterfly.

Prairie Agalinis, showing the short stalk

Common Buckeye adult

Common Buckeye caterpillar

Small Palafoxia or Small Palafox is a 2- to 3-foot tall upright, airy plant in the Aster Family, with sticky-hairy stems and solitary flowers on slender stalks that grows best in full sun on dry, gravelly soils.  Occurring from August to November, its half-inch wide pink blooms consist only of disk (not ray) flowers, and the narrow, linear leaves are covered in fine hairs giving it a gray-green appearance.

Small Palafoxia

Also called Sweetscent, Saltmarsh Fleabane, and Shrubby Camphorweed, Marsh Fleabane is an erect, branching plant to 3 feet tall, with simple toothed leaves, and dense, flat-topped clusters of pink flower heads from July to October.  It is in the Aster Family, and it prefers to grow at the water’s edge or in low drainage areas in moist soil.  It gets several of its common names from the sweet smell of the blooms and leaves, attracting many species of butterflies and bees.  It is also a host plant for several small moths, including the Southern Emerald.

Marsh Fleabane

Southern Emerald

As you walk the local trails, wander through the meadows, and explore the water’s edge during these weeks of cooler weather before the first frost, you just might come across the somewhat surprising pink blush of fall!

Glorious Goldeneye

 

Plateau Goldeneye

From late September to November our roadsides, woodland edges, and meadows are brimming with the profuse yellow blooms of Plateau Goldeneye (Viguiera dentata).  Also called Toothleaf Goldeneye and Sunflower Goldeneye, this native plant is extremely drought tolerant, prefers well drained soils, and grows up to 3 feet in full sun and to 6 feet in partial shade.  It can be found throughout central and west Texas, and into New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico.

Blooms appear at the tips of long, branched stalks

Plateau Goldeneye is a bushy, much-branched plant that tends to grow in colonies.  The yellow daisy-like flowers are numerous, 1.5 inches wide, and appear at the tips of long, slender, leafless stalks.  These composite flowers have a button-like central cluster of fifty or more tiny yellow disk flowers surrounded by 10 to 14 golden yellow ray flowers with notched tips and nearly parallel veins. 

Each ray flower (petal) has a notched tip and somewhat parallel veins

The green leaves of Plateau Goldeneye are triangular with a broad base, tapering to a point, and toothed or serrated along the edges.  They can vary from 1 to 6 inches in length, and can be attached to the stem in either alternately (near the base) or oppositely (toward the tip). As fall approaches, their typical rich green color turns more of a gray-green, and the plant starts to develop flower buds around September.   

Leaves have roughly serrated or toothed edges

Throughout its growing season, Plateau Goldeneye attracts many types of pollinators, especially bees, and is one of the preferred host plants for the Bordered Patch butterfly. In fall and winter, spent flower heads provide good forage for Lesser Goldfinches and other seed-eating birds, as each flower produces numerous achenes, or small, dry single-seeded fruits that do not open to release the seed.  If left to its own devices, Plateau Goldeneye reseeds readily under favorable conditions, but it is easy to manage.

Bordered Patch

Lesser Goldfinch

The Aztec/Nahuatl people called this plant Chimalacate, and in several Mexican states infusions of Plateau Goldeneye are used as an antibacterial treatment for baby rash.  A pharmaceutical study in 2008 confirmed that a compound extracted from this plant does indeed show antifungal properties. Plateau Goldeneye is in the genus Viguiera in the Aster family, and is named in honor of the 19th century French botanist and physician Louis Guillaume Alexandre Viguier.  Regardless of this plant’s history, enjoy the glorious blooms it provides us in the fall, along the roads and trails of central Texas!