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!

Beguiling Bloomers

Pink Stonecrop

Springtime in Central Texas brings a host of familiar wildflowers blooming in meadows and woodlands, and along grassy roadsides. But each year the seasonal conditions may vary, based largely on the timing and amount of rainfall.  While many species are widespread from year to year, some appear infrequently, others only in certain habitats, and many go almost completely unnoticed.

Clasping Venus’ Looking-glass

Clasping Venus’ Looking-glass or Clasping Bellflower (Triodanis perfoliata) is a distinctive annual that can be found growing in open often disturbed areas, sometimes appearing even in cultivated flower gardens.  In April and May, violet-blue, 5 petaled, wheel- to bell-shaped flowers, 0.5 to 0.75 inches across, are set singly in the axils of rounded green leaves that clasp the erect, slender, unbranched stems.  Inconspicuous at 6 to 18 inches high, this species is differentiated from five other Triodanis species found in Texas by its almost circular, toothed, clasping leaves.

Pink Stonecrop, also called Widow's Cross

Pink Stonecrop or Limestone Stonecrop (Sedum pulchellum), is a low-growing, apparently rare annual found on rocky ground in full sun, often among cactus and other Sedum species. Smooth, stem-clasping, cylindrical pale to lime green leaves (often with a reddish tinge), to 1 inch long, are densely arranged along the ascending to spreading stems.  These stems are topped with horizontally branched inflorescences that bloom from March to May, with numerous 4-petaled, pale pink flowers, to 0.5 inches across.  The petals are arranged in a cross-like pattern, giving rise to its other common name of Widow’s Cross. The Travis County population of this species, most often found on hilltops in the Bull Creek watershed, is disjunct by over 150 miles from other more eastern and northern populations, and likely represents the southwestern limit of its native distribution.

Heller's Plantain

Highly overlooked but quite common is Heller’s Plantain or Cedar Plantain (Plantago helleri), an erect annual that grows only in Central to West Texas and in southern New Mexico, typically in shallow, stony soils and on limestone bedrock exposures. From March through May, this species displays unusual, slightly overlapping flowers clustered at the top part of each stalk.  The flowers are quite small at 0.25-inches wide, with 4 off-white, nearly translucent petals that have a dark red center.  The stalks, to 10-inches high, arise from narrow, linear, basal leaves, to 8-inches long, and both stalks and leaves are softly hairy.  This species is can be commonly found along gravelly roadsides, and it is one of the host plants for the beautiful Common Buckeye butterfly.

Common Buckeye

Each spring, remember to look beyond the bluebonnets, paintbrushes, firewheels, and Mexican hats and take a closer look, because you just might be rewarded with one of these beguiling little bloomers!

False Foxgloves

 

Plateau Agalinis, endemic to the Edward's Plateau.

Not much is known about the genus Agalinis, a group of about 70 plant species found in North, Central, and South America. They are partially parasitic or hemiparasitic plants that can make food through photosynthesis, but only after siphoning water and mineral nutrients from a host plant, in this case a variety of different hosts but most typically grasses. They do this by growing haustoria, or a root-like structure that connects their roots to the roots of their host.

Detailed studies of this perplexing genus are few and far between, and little else is known about each species, including who are their pollinators and what are their accurate historical and current geographic distributions.  In fact, many species are rare or endemic to a particular area or even federally protected.  Of the 34 species in the US, two are found in central Texas, and they are both some of our showiest fall bloomers.

Prairie Agalinis has a very short stalk attaching it to the stem.

Prairie Agalinis (Agalinis heterophylla), also called Prairie False-Foxglove, is an erect, airy herb, to 2.5 feet tall, with opposite, simple, narrowly linear leaves to 1.25 inches long. Its 5-lobed, bell-shaped flowers, pink to lavender-tinted white with purple-red spots in the throat, are 0.75 inches long and arise from the stem on 0.1-inch long stalks.  It is common in the eastern half of Texas, blooms from September to October, and is found in open floodplains, prairies, stream edges, and creekbanks.

Plateau Agalinis has a much longer stalk attaching it to the stem.

Easily confused with Prairie Agalinis is Plateau Agalinis (Agalinis edwardsiana), also called Plateau False-Foxglove and Plateau Gerardia, an uncommon and endemic species found in the grasslands and open woodlands on rocky limestone slopes in about 12 counties on the Edwards Plateau. It can grow to 3 feet tall, with very similar narrow leaves and pink to rose-colored flowers as A. heterophylla, but its flowers arise from the stem on much longer, 1.25-inch stalks. It blooms from September to November, and is a host plant and nectar plant for the Common Buckeye butterfly.

Common Buckeye

Left alone, both of these species will develop small, spherical capsules that burst open when dry, releasing several tiny seeds that will develop into next year’s plants. These native fall-bloomers are airy, delicate-looking plants that can easily survive dry soils, and bring much needed color to rocky, limestone areas or the edges of our ephemeral creeks and streams. In fact, their genus name comes from the Greek aga- an intensifying prefix meaning ‘large or great’ and New Latin   -linis meaning ‘flax’, referring to their superficial, flax-like resemblance. Look for them when the weather begins to cool, and enjoy their attractive, abundant blooms from late summer into fall!