Masterful Mallow

 

Turk's Cap is a wonderful native plant for a summer garden.

In the heat of a central Texas summer, few plants are as versatile as Drummond’s Turk’s Cap (Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii).  Also known simply as Turk’s Cap, Texas Mallow, Sleeping Hibiscus, or Manzanilla, this hardy native plant provides color, shade, and food for a variety of species.

For humans, Turk’s Cap is a gardener’s delight.  It thrives in woodland edges and limestone slopes in partially shaded sites, and does especially well under oaks or junipers.  It is drought-hardy, requiring little water once established, and blooms profusely from May to November.  It is a deciduous shrub, to 4 feet, spreading via roots but easily controlled.  Its leaves are alternate, simple, and roughly heart-shaped, with 3 to 5 shallow lobes.

A top down view of the five whorled petals of a Turk's Cap flower.

Turk's Cap produces small, edible, apple-like fruits.

The most common name of Turk’s Cap comes from its bright red flowers, comprised of 5 overlapping whorled petals, up to 2 inches long including the protruding stamen, and resembling a Turkish turban. They also look like small, closed versions of a hibiscus flower, hence the name Sleeping Hibiscus. These flowers develop into red, 1 inch wide, 5-lobed, apple-like fruits, giving the plant yet another common name of Manzanilla, meaning “little apple.” These fruits are edible for humans and wildlife and taste like watermelon.

An adult Turk's-cap White-Skipper butterfly.

Turk’s Cap is a host plant for several butterflies and moths, meaning the females lay their eggs on this species so their caterpillars can feed on it. Turk’s-cap White-Skipper (more common in south Texas), Io Moth, Yellow Scallop Moth, Straight-lined Mallow Moth, Cotton Tipworm Moth, and Window-winged Moth. Caterpillars eat different parts of the plant, from the tender young leaves to the flowers and fruits.  Young caterpillars hide in crevices on the host plant, while older ones live in shelters made of leaves. 

An Orange-barred Sulphur inserts its long proboscis into the flower.

Hummingbird beaks are the perfect shape to reach the
flower's nectar.

Turk’s Cap also does double duty as a nectar plant, for those animals that can find a way to access its sweet nectar.  Larger butterflies such as the Orange-barred Sulphur can reach into the flower with a long tongue or proboscis, hummingbirds such as the Black-chinned Hummingbird can uses its long and slender, straw-like beak, and some bumblebees and carpenter bees have strong mouthparts that can chew a hole or slit at the base of the flower where the nectar resides.

Bumblebees can access the nectar by cutting through the flower's base.

And some bumblebees just dive in head first!

The leaves of Turk’s Cap have been used in the past as an emollient to treat inflammation, aid digestion, soften skin, and soothe itching. The flowers can be used to make a hibiscus tea, and the fruits can be made into a delightful syrup or jelly. Now that you know all about the wonderful aspects of this masterful mallow, consider planting it in your garden this coming fall!

Whorled Wonders

Great Plains Ladies Tresses

The spiral, which is a fundamental form in nature, is most splendidly illustrated in a genus of wild, native orchids called Spiranthes.  Commonly known as ladies tresses, the genus name comes from the Greek speira meaning ‘coil’ and anthos meaning ‘flower’, and refers to each species spirally arranged inflorescence.  The most predominant species of orchid found in Texas prairies, several members of this genus are colonizers of sparsely vegetated areas, appearing on newly disturbed sites such as roadsides and cleared fields, increasing in number until outcompeted by other vegetation.

Of the 15 native Spiranthes species in Texas, several are so similar in appearance that either a hand lens or microscope is often needed to distinguish one from another. To add to the confusion, many closely related species are also known to hybridize. However, Central Texas, the most common include the Great Plains Ladies Tresses (S. magnicamporum) and the Nodding Ladies Tresses (S. cernua).  

Great Plains Ladies Tresses has 2 to 4 narrow, grass-like basal leaves, up to 6 inches long, that are usually absent or withering during the flowering period.  The flower spike can range from 4 to 24 inches tall, and is made up of 12 to 54 small white tubular fragrant flowers, tightly or loosely spiraled, that nod abruptly from the base.  Blooming from September to November, it prefers calcareous grassland habitat, often growing in association with our native Seep Muhly.  In wet years, this orchid may appear in robust spikes numbering in the hundreds, and in dry years it may not flower at all.

Nodding Ladies Tresses has 3 to 5 narrow, grass-like, basal leaves, 8 to 10 inches long, and are typically present at flowering.  It has a flower spike that can grow from 4 to 19 inches tall, and consists of 10 to 50 small white tubular flowers, tightly or loosely whorled in 2 to 4 rows along the upper portion of the stem.  Blooming from late September through November (and sometimes even into December), it can grow on wet or dry sites, but prefers more acidic, sandy soils.

Flowers of Spiranthes orchids begin opening at the bottom of the inflorescence.

Like most orchids, the flowers of these Spiranthes species are resupinate, or twisting during development into an upside-down position.  In fact, the tendency of the flowers to droop slightly gives the Nodding Ladies Tresses both its common and species name, for cernua comes from the Latin and means ‘drooping.’  Unlike other closely related species, the flowers of the Nodding Ladies Tresses have little or no fragrance, but like other closely related species, the flowers are pollinated by bumblebees.  As with most Spiranthes, bumblebees start at the bottom and move upward on the inflorescence in search of nectar. Older flowers at the base of the flower stalk have more nectar, which makes them an efficient first stop for the foraging bumblebees.

As mentioned above, many Spiranthes are difficult to identify to species, and both the Great Plains Ladies Tresses and the Nodding Ladies Tresses are no exceptions.  In fact, Nodding Ladies Tresses is known as a compilospecies, which is defined as a genetically aggressive species that incorporates the heredities of a closely related species by hybridization through unidirectional gene flow, and may even completely subsume that species over time.  Now that’s a whorled wonder!

Distinctly Different Milkweeds

Pearl Milkvine

Much ado has been made of the more common and widespread milkweed species, but there are a handful of milkweed vines that are less common but more distinct, and just as useful as native host plants for Monarchs and related butterflies.

A fairly robust, twining vine 6 to 12 feet long growing in dry, light shade in thickets on rocky hillsides and woodland edges, Pearl Milkvine (Matelea reticulata) is best known for its heart-shaped leaves and flat, greenish-white flowers ½ to ¾ of an inch across with pearly, iridescent centers.   Also called Green Milkweed Vine, Net Vine Milkvine, and Netted Milkvine, its curious flowers have tiny white veins forming an intricate pattern on the surface of the petals, adding to their unusual look. In fact, ‘reticulata’ refers to this pattern, which mans ‘resembling a net or network’.  It blooms from April to July, especially in full sun, giving way to fairly large, interesting prickly follicles filled with seeds attached to silky threads.  This native species is a host plant to Monarch butterflies.

Plateau Milkvine

Both the Pearl Milkvine and Plateau Milkvine have prickly seed follicles

Often mistaken for Pearl Milkvine is Plateau Milkvine (Matelea edwardensis), endemic only to the Edwards Plateau of Central Texas.  This uncommon vine shares the same twining habit of Pearl Milkvine, but its leaves, while similar, generally have a somewhat wavy edge, and its flowers are bell-shaped instead of flat.  Additionally, its greenish-white flowers do not have a pearl center, and its petals are not solely reticulate-patterned, having parallel veins in their lower halves and centers, and reticulate or networked veins only on the edges or margins.  Blooming in April and May, this species can be found on gravelly soils in open woodlands, often climbing on other plants, and it is a native host plant for Queen butterflies.

Pearl Milkvine Flowers

Plateau Milkvine Flowers

Purple Milkvine

Usually found in the chalky soils of pastures and open ground, Purple Milkvine (Matelea biflora) has low-growing stems that radiate along the ground from a woody rootstock, and along with its opposite, triangular leaves, are covered with long, spreading hairs.  From March to June, pairs of star-shaped, five-petaled, dark purple-brown flowers rise from the base of the leaves, which gives this plant its other common name of Star Milkvine.  While its trailing stems can grow up to 2 feet long, it inhabits grassy areas and as such is often hidden and overlooked, except by Queen and Soldier butterflies who use it as their native host plant.

Talayote

Named for a small town in Chihuahua, Mexico, Talayote (Cynanchum racemosum) or Milkweed Vine is a climber that grows to 15 to 20 feet in full sun to part shade, and is a native host plant for both Queen and Soldier butterflies.  Talayote produces clusters of small cream and green flowers that are held above and among the heart-shaped leaves, blooming in the hotter months from summer into fall, and attracting a host of other small but beneficial pollinators.  Growing only in Central, South, and West Texas in the United States, this vine produces plump, smooth follicles 3 inches long, filled with silk-topped seeds, often remaining on the vine well into winter. 

Take the time to seek out and appreciate these lesser known members of the Milkweed family, as they are beautifully and distinctly different!

A Thistle Epistle

Mexican Yellow nectaring on Texas Thistle

As one of the most wrongly maligned and misunderstood group of wildflowers, native thistles have never been truly embraced, not even by wildscape gardeners or habitat restoration practitioners. While these plants play a significant role in our ecosystems, they have been a direct casualty of habitat loss, first by plow-based agriculture and followed by the continual development of roads and cities.  Further, recent invasions of non-native, exotic thistle species and the inability to discern them from the superficially similar native species, have contributed to their unjustified reputation and ongoing demise.

Texas Thistle, Cirsium texanum

Native thistles are a beautiful and important group of plants, with subtle blue-green foliage, fascinating stem and leaf architecture, and long-lasting pastel blooms that nourish many species of insects and birds.  The nectar they produce is utilized by many species of bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, spiders, katydids, and hummingbirds, which demonstrates the wide diversity of animals supported by native thistle flowers.  In late summer and early fall, they are an essential nectar source for migrating Monarch butterflies. Their persistent seed heads provide the favorite food of goldfinches (both Lesser and American) and other songbirds such as the Carolina Chickadee, and the silky fluff attached to mature seeds is used to line their nests in the spring. 

Silvery bracts of the Texas Thistle

While there are many plants with spines that are erroneously called ‘thistles’, true thistles belong to the genus Cirsium. Of the 62 native species in North America, the most important species in our area are the Texas Thistle (Cirsium texanum) and the Yellow Thistle (Cirsium horridulum).  The Texas Thistle, also called Southern Thistle or Gray Woolly Twintip, is an upright, unbranched or sparingly branched plant, 2 to 6.5 feet tall, with grayish-green foliage that is spiny and woolly-white below.  Violet-pink to deep lavender-rose composite flower heads top the stems from April to August, and are surrounded by bracts that bear a silvery strip down the middle.  Texas Thistle is also the larval host plant for the Painted Lady and Mylitta Crescent butterflies.  

Yellow Thistle, Cirsium horridulum

Yellow Thistle, as perhaps foreshadowed by its scientific name, has a host of other, undeserved common names such as Horrid Thistle and Terrible Thistle.  It has a branching, densely hairy stem rising from a 2 foot wide basal rosette, 1 to 5.5 feet tall, with long grayish-green spiny leaves and several large flower heads.  Blooming May to August, these composite flower heads are up to 3 inches wide, surrounded by a whorl of spiny, hairy, leaf like bracts, and are frequently red-purple, pink, or white instead of the namesake yellow.  In the first year of growth this plant remains a low-lying rosette, and ‘bolts’ in the spring of the following year to reach its full height.  Yellow Thistle is an excellent attractant for Sphinx moths and is the larval host plant for the Little Metalmark and Painted Lady butterflies.  

Texas Thistle seed head

It’s time to bring back our native thistles, so this fall consider planting them in your wildscape. These species have evolved with our native pollinators in our natural habitats over thousands of years.  As a result, they benefit us by helping to sustain a healthy ecoweb, protecting our water quality, sequestering carbon in our soils, and adding a sublime beauty and structure to our landscapes.  And that’s our epistle to the thistle! 

Sun Trackers

This time of year, the most notable family of plants are the Heilianthus, or sunflowers.  From the Greek ‘helios’ or sun and ‘anthos’ or flower, these plants are usually tall annuals or perennials that during their growth phase exhibit a subtle behavior in the daylight hours.  This behavior, called heliotropism, is the ability for the young flower buds and leaves to gently tilt toward the sun, tracking it as it moves across the sky. By the time the flower heads mature, they are stationary but generally facing east to greet the rising sun.

Sunflowers are typically tall plants with one to multiple flower heads, consisting of bright yellow ray florets or flowers, surrounding yellow or maroon disc florets.  In wild or native species, the rough and hairy stems are normally branched, and the leaves are often sticky and lance or heart-shaped. Sunflowers also exhibit phyllotaxis, or the arrangement of leaves on a stem that forms a distinct pattern, in this case a repeating spiral.  Additionally, the disc florets also display a phyllotactic pattern, one that creates the optical effect of criss-crossing spirals in the flower’s center.

Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

In our area, the two most abundant sunflowers are the Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and the Maximilian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani).  Blooming from May to October, the Common Sunflower grows on dry soils, especially in disturbed areas.  It can reach 1.5 to 8 feet tall, and various parts of the branched stems can be either green or dark purple.  The heart-shaped leaves are coarse and covered in rough hairs, and grow from 2.5 to 10 inches long.  Up to 4 inches across, the flower heads have yellow ray flowers and reddish brown disc flowers.  As their scientific name suggests, these plants are annuals.

Maximilian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani)

Maximilian Sunflowers, on the other hand, are perennials that bloom in September and October. They grow 1 to 6 feet tall in colonies on both the dry ground of prairies and the moist ground of roadside ditches and other low places.  Shorter, rough hairs cover the narrow lance-shaped leaves, which average 2 to 4 inches long.  The 1.5 to 3 inch wide flower heads have yellow ray flowers surrounding yellow disc flowers, with numerous flower heads growing along the unbranched stems.

Aside from their aesthetic value to humans, sunflowers are generally palatable to deer and numerous species of birds eat their seeds.  Their flower heads support nectaring bees, and they are the food plants for several butterfly species such as the Bordered Patch and Silvery Checkerspot.  When mixed with other native annuals, these sun trackers provide good cover for many species of wildlife, and would be a great addition to your native wildscape.