American Basket Flower
The American basket flower is a 1 1/2-5 ft. annual with a stout, leafy, much-branched stem and lavender-pink, filamentous flower heads with cream-colored centers.
The American basket flower is a 1 1/2-5 ft. annual with a stout, leafy, much-branched stem and lavender-pink, filamentous flower heads with cream-colored centers.
Apache Plume is one of our showiest native western shrubs. The plant blooms with single white flowers that set fluffy pink seed heads.
Autumn sage is a soft, mounding shrub normally 2-3 ft. tall, with small, mintily aromatic green leaves that are evergreen in warmer climates.
Baby Blue Eyes is a small, trailing annual, 6 in. tall and 1 ft. wide, Menzies baby-blue-eyes is well-known for its bright-blue, five-petaled, bowl-shaped flowers… Read More »Baby Blue Eyes
The Bicolor Fanmustard is a grayish, hairy plant with clumps of leafy branched stems and racemes of white or lavender flowers.
The Big Bend Bluebonnet grows taller than most bluebonnets. The flowers of this annual are very deep blue with a lemon blotch.
The Bigfruit Evening Primrose can be trailing or upright, usually growing 8-10 in. high. Its large, 3-4 in. wide, yellow flowers are showy.
Bitterweed or Four-nerve Daisy is a low, upright, silvery perennial to1 ft.. The solitary flower heads occur at the end of silky, leafless stalks.
Blackfoot Daisy is a low, bushy, mounded perennial, 6-12 in. tall and twice as wide. Its leaves are narrow and have 1 in. wide, white,… Read More »Blackfoot Daisy
The Brown-Eyed Susan is a cheerful, widespread wildflower. Its bright-yellow, 2-3 in. wide, daisy-like flowers with dark centers are its claim to fame.
This brown-spined prickly pear cactus forms dense thickets 8 ft. across and up to 8 ft. tall. Common to abundant in abandoned pastures and old… Read More »Brown-Spined Prickly Pear
The Brushland Shrubverbena is a member of the verbena family, which includes about 75 genera and 3,000 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees.
Butterweed s a somewhat weedy perennial which is valued for its ability to thrive in moist shady locations and produce a long and profuse spring… Read More »Butterweed
Buttonbush is a handsome ornamental suited to wet soils and is also a honey plant. Ducks and other water birds and shorebirds consume the seeds.
Cedar Sage is a red-flowered, hirsute, perennial salvia that grows from 1 to 2 feet tall, with rounded, scalloped leaves.
The sky-blue flowers open in the late morning and curl up before 3 in the afternoon, even on overcast days.
A slender, erect plant with yellow-orange, bowl-shaped flowers, each with a maroon center. This species is common in parts of the Chihuahuan Desert.
The Chisos pricklypoppy is a wonderful flower with paper-like white blooms and a very thorny demeanor. It blooms during the spring months.
The Chocolate Flower smells like chocolate! On warm days it will fill the air with the fragrance of chocolate.
One of the most attractive hedgehog cacti is the claret cup, which grows in clumps as much as 3–4 feet across but usually smaller.
Creosote-bush is a 3-5 ft., evergreen shrub which can reach 10 ft. and has numerous flexible stems usually arising from the base at an angle.
Desert marigold is a 12-18 in., mound-shaped biennial. Its daisy-like flowers form impressive mounds of nearly solid yellow.
Desert Rosemallow is a handsome ornamental, grown for its showy flowers. It’s large, yellow, cup-shaped flowers, sometimes tinged with red or purple at the base.
The Eastern Purple Coneflower is a perennial with smooth, 2-5 ft. stems and long-lasting, lavender flowers. The leaves become small at the top.
The Eastern Red Columbine has showy, drooping, bell-like flowers equipped with distinctly backward-pointing tubes, similar to the garden Columbines.
This is perhaps the most abundant prickly pear in West Texas, and one of the most attractive. It produces masses of yellow to orange flowers,
Leavenworth’s eryngo is a prickly, 20-40 in. annual with a leafy stem, broadly branched in the upper portion. Almost the entire plant has some shade… Read More »Eryngo
The False Dayflower is an erect annual native to central Texas with flowers made up of two large lavender-blue petals and one small white petal.
One of many shrubby species of Dalea, this Feather Dalea, with its dark bark, contorted branches, and small leaves–is an excellent candidate for bonsai.
The Fiveneedle Pricklyleaf is a low, tufted, dark green, prickly plant with 1 small, deep yellow flower head on each of several leafless stalks above… Read More »Fiveneedle Pricklyleaf
Named after John Tradescant (1608-1662) who served as gardener to Charles 1 of England. Tradescantia species will hybridize in just about any combination.
The Gray Golden Aster is a North American species of flowering plant. It has been found in Northern Mexico and in the Great Plains of… Read More »Gray Golden Aster
Gray’s Feverfew is an annual plant that grows in the desert southwest. It produces tiny flowers accentuated by five tiny petals which form a pentagon.
Greenthread is a winter annual, and is often found growing in colonies. Its slender, branched stems, 10-30 in. tall, bear leaves divided into thread-like segments.
Gregg’s Mistflower is a spectacular addition to the late summer/fall border. This butterfly magnet will attract large numbers of Queens and Monarchs.
The Havard’s Fiddleleaf is one of the less common members of this genus, found only in four counties of west Texas (Presidio, Brewster, Terrell, Val… Read More »Havard’s Fiddleleaf
The Heartleaf Hibiscus has spectacular flowers two and three inches across. It is a wonderful, small, drought-tolerant hibiscus from South Texas.
The Hill Country Penstemon is 1 1/2-2 ft. tall. Its brilliant red flowers, 2 in. long, are among the most showy of the genus.
Indian blanket is a popular annual growing 1-2 ft. tall and showy flower heads with rays red at the base, tipped with yellow, each with… Read More »Indian Blanket
Jimsonweed is a branching forb that blooms large, white, fragrant, trumpet-like flowers from evening through the morning.
The Longspur Columbine is native to moist canyons from southern Arizona, south into mountains of adjacent northern Mexico.
A native prairie perennial, the Maximilian Sunflower is a desirable range plant. A heavy crop of seeds is produced, thus it is a valuable plant… Read More »Maximilian Sunflower
Mealy Blue Sage is a 2-3 ft. upright or sprawling perennial, that usually forms a mound as wide as the plant is tall and is… Read More »Mealy Blue Sage
The Mexican Hat has long leafless stalks bearing flower heads of 3-7 yellow or yellow and red-brown, drooping rays surrounding a long, red-brown central disk.
The Mexican Primrose Willow is a rather weedy perennial or subshrub of sunny areas with wet soils. Plants in full flower are colorful and showy.
An inconspicuous ground-hugging plant, the New Mexico Bird’s-Foot Trefoil is about 1 foot across and has masses of 1/2-inch bright yellow flowers.
Ocotillo is a spiny shrub to 20 ft. with many long, whip-like, unbranched green stems growing from the base.
Old Plainsman is a biennial herb up to 150 cm (5 feet) tall. It produces 20-100 flower heads per stem, each head with 20-80 white… Read More »Old Plainsman
As the common name implies, most evening primrose species open their flowers in the evening, closing them again early each morning.
The Prairie False-Foxglove is an excellent plant for attracting butterflies found in prairies, plains, grasslands, open fields, rocky soils or in woodlands.
The Prairie Fleabane is a short-lived perennial with numerous white, aster-like flowers which nod under the weight of the unopened, pink flower buds.
Purple Horsemint is an aromatic winter annual with tuft-like, lavender to pink, whorled flower heads. Each whorl is subtended by whitish or lavender, leaf-like bracts.
in lilies pop up and bloom two or three days after good rains in the spring and early summer. They begin to open slowly about… Read More »Rain Lily
The Rainbow Cactus is a low, cylindrical cactus girdled by bands of colorful spines with pink, rose, lavender, or yellow flowers.
Rock Rose plants are found in shallow soil on limestone, in rocky places in woodlands, and at the edges of thickets. The flowers are showy,… Read More »Rock Rose
The Rusty Hedgehog Cactus is heavily covered with a mass of slender, interlocking, bristle-like spines radiating in all directions.
The Sand Palafox grows 16–40 inches tall, its leaves are 4 inches long and the flower heads have 8–12 rose-colored ray flowers,
Seashore Mallow is found in marshes along the eastern seashore of the US. It has pink flowers with 5 petals surrounding a tube of fused… Read More »Seashore Mallow
The Silver Puff, is a North American species of plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Mexico, Texas, and New Mexico.
The Soaptree Yucca is a 5-20 ft., tree-like yucca with fine, arching, gray-green to blue-green leaves with white margins.
The Spiny Hedgehog cactus is oval at first, soon becoming cylindrical, and grows to 15 inches or so, with a 4-inch diameter.
Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus has purple-red flowers are 4–5 inches tall and 3–4 inches across. They are dark red at the base, fading to rose at… Read More »Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus
The Sunflower Goldeneye grows in colonies to be 3-6 ft tall. Its numerous yellow, 1 1/2 in., daisy-like flowers appear at the tips of long,… Read More »Sunflower Goldeneye
The five pink petals of Swamp Rose-Mallow flowers each have a red to purple center, are 4-6 in. long, and surround many stamens.
Texas Bindweed is found in sandy, loamy or rocky soils in the South Texas Plains and the Edwards Plateau area.
These stems of the Texas Bluebonnet are topped by clusters of up to 50 fragrant, blue, pea-like flowers. The tip of the cluster is white.
The purple Texas Gafeather flowers are densely congested in a long spike on the upper part of the stem. The leaves are narrow and crowded.
One of the popular paintbrushes, this Texas Paintbrush grows 6-16 in. high. Its several unbranched stems form clumps topped by bright-red, paintbrush-like spikes.
Texas star plants have 1 to several flower heads in a cluster. Each flower head has 5 bright yellow ray flowers, each with 2 prominent… Read More »Texas Star
Texas storks-bill or fillaree is a low-growing plant. Its long-stalked, oval leaves, with three rounded lobes, form an initial rosette close to the ground.
The Texas thistle grows 2-5 feet tall, sparingly branched near the top. The leaves are 4-9 inches long and smaller on the upper third.
Thompson’s yucca grows 6–12 feet high, treelike, with a trunk 5–8 inches in diameter. The trunk is usually unbranched.
The orchid-colored trailing four-o’clock is a vine that grows along the ground; the plant can be 10 feet across.
The Trans-Pecos Senna grows only in Big Bend National Park. The plant thrives in a desert habitat, and prefers gravelly soil.
Tree cholla grows tall and upright, sometimes bushy but usually treelike, Large, showy flowers open out wide and are reddish-purple in color.
Turkey Peas is a species of milkvetch. It is native to the southwestern and south-central United States and northern Mexico, where it can be found… Read More »Turkey Peas
A somewhat upright and bushy plant with narrow leaves and soft yellow cup flowers that open in the evening and close the next afternoon shortly… Read More »Western Evening Primrose
The leaves, petioles and branched stems of western horse nettle have sharp spines. Its flowers are purple to violet (sometimes white) and grow at the… Read More »Western Horse-Nettle
The Western Wild Petunia’s claim to fame is its lovely violet flower trumpets, a hummingbird favorite! This rare plant is perfect for dry, hot locations.
An upright to widely spreading, soft-hairy, 2-5 ft. perennial with delicate white flowers in elongated terminal and axillary clusters.
The Whitethorn Acacia is a 9-15 ft., multi-trunked tree with small, yellow-orange balls of fragrant flowers and finely segmented, pinnate leaves which fall off during… Read More »Whitethorn Acacia
Wild carrot blooms in flat clusters; when flowers pass, pedicels turn upward into a bird’s nest; when seeds ripe, spreads open again facilitating adhesion to… Read More »Wild Carrot
Wild onion grows 8–24 inches tall. It has 2 leaves, sometimes more, that are shorter than the flower stem. The flowers are in a round,… Read More »Wild Onion
The dwarf poinsettia has green stems and alternate-lobed leaves, The terminal flowers are yellowish with 1-2 small glands or nectaries.
Wooly False Nightshade is a member of the nightshade family, known commonly as five eyes. They are native to the southwestern and western US and… Read More »Woolly false nightshade
The species name of this plant is for Charles Wright, 1811-1885, world-wide botanical collector but mainly in Texas (1837-1952), Cuba and his native Connecticut.
Esperanza or Yellow bells is an irregularly shaped, deciduous shrub, normally 3-6 ft. tall in the US but more southerly varieties can reach 9 ft.
Yellow rocknettle can be found in the rock ledges all along the Rio Grande, including those on the trail to the historical Hot Springs in… Read More »Yellow Rocknettle
The Yellow Waterlily is an aquatic plant with bright yellow flowers and floating leaves. The lovely flowers are open from midday to late afternoon.