Broadleaf Plantain Plantago major. The broad, (2”) cross-hatched 7 veined leaves are up to 10” long, bearing large bare flower spike (396) The flower spike is short (3-4”), the flower head cylindrical (not cone shaped) and the white anthers barely project beyond the profuse bracts that hide the miniscule, green flowers, giving the bloom head a scaly look. Most common along paths, PDU, PL, roadsides (396) no pix 4/10/15-5/20/15; 4/17/16- ; 17 no obs; 4/?/18; 19 no obs; 20 no obs;
Branching Broomrape Orobanche ramosa. A leafless, parasitic plant whose stems tap into the roots of other plants, like Tobacco, Potatoes, or Mint, which sends up branching clumps of dark colored stems which bear light lavender tube flowers with a white mark on the lip. Under the ground the plant forms a bulb like nodule around the roots of some plant, then sends up a short, stout stalk that branches at the surface. Not able to produce chlorophyll, Broomrape has no leaves, parasitizing other plants. Locally uncommon, this pest can form colonies which are not noticed, since they are very short, and get quickly overgrown after they bloom. In Europe this species is harvested and prepared like asparagus. SWk, Not in Book, 3/25/19 – 5/4/19; 3/28/20 – 5/?/20;
Branching Broomrape habit; a leafless parasitic plant producing clumps of light blue tube flowers.
Note; Broomrape does not produce any leaves, tapping into the roots of other plants
Note; branching clumps of leafless stalks, each bearing slightly arched, blue flowers with a white spot on the lip and into the throat.
Johnny-Jump-Up Violet (Wild Pansy) Viola tricolor. This soft stemmed plant is occasionally perennial, but in most zones is a self-seeding annual. An immigrant from the Mediterranean, this violet ranges in color from solid yellow to dark purple, the most common pattern being painted, purple lip with yellow stripes, the petals split between yellow and lavender. The elongated leaves, which have coarsely toothed margins, alternate along a squared, somewhat trailing stem. The parent stock of commercial pansies, V tricolor produces viable seeds. This wild stock bears 3/8” flowers on long stems, one at a time. An uncommon visitor, this wild pansy escaped cultivation, and no occasionally blooms along forest margins, like Sunset Walk. Not in books. 3/15/19-3/29/19; 20 no obs;
Note; Johnny Jump Up, or Wild Pansy, single 3/8″ blue flowers with white stripes radiating from a yellow center, born in slow succession on long stems
Note; elongated, coarsely toothed leaves alternating along squared, slightly trailing stems
Note; blue, 5 petal flowers born singly in slow succession.
note; buds forming within deep bracts at leaf nodes
Bluet; Rose Bluet Hustonia rosea (Hedyotis rosea). A tiny, early blooming plant common in lawns, or spaces where vegetation suffers winter die back. The entire plant grows no more than 2” high, each stalk bearing a single, upright, cup-shaped flower with four petals ranging from bright blue to pale lavender to white. Each flower appears to have a yellow cross in the middle, where the stamen form. The tiny, rounded leaves, born in opposite pairs along thin stems, are slightly succulent, and lacking petioles, clasp the soft stems. the weakly upright, weakly branching stems loosely grow between stems of dormant grass. New buds emerge from the crown of the plant as it grows. Lawns (Not in Book) 2/12/19 – ; 2/18/20 – 3/22/20;
Note; light blue, four petal flowers born singly on very short stems
Greenbriar; Saw Greenbriar/Cat-Claw Briar Smilax bona-nox L.;. This brittle, stout, green, spiny, climbing vine sprouts from thick, knobby tubers barely under the ground, which are joined by thick rhizomes. Lower parts of the vine are ¼” thick, and tough, but snap easily. The green thorns are not recurved, but are flattened (like rose thorns) and stout, up to ¼” long, often with a black tip. Vines easily grow 30′ to 50′ long, the upper ends branching easily, forming tangles in trees. New leaves may be lobed, and are often mottled with purple, and have thorn like teeth along their margins, but older leaves are green, tend to be heart-shaped and crisp, alternating around the stem. New shoots are tender and can be eaten raw or grilled, like asparagus. Abundant in thin soils over chalky limestone, in forests they climb into surrounding trees with climbing tendrils, but in the open they may form a bramble. Umbels of small white flowers bud from the axils of new leaves on a long peduncle, each bunch of 5 petal flowers transforming into a cluster of black berries. Spanish speakers grilled the new shoots, calling them zarza parilla, “grilled bramble”, and ground the tubers, soaking the mash to produce a spicy concoction. English speakers transphonologized the Spanish as “sarsaparilla” [sasparila]. (72-73) 4/11/15 – 5/4/15; 4/1/16; 4/15/17; 4/6/18; 19 no obs; (new shoots 3/15/20) 4/10/20;
Saw Greenbriar habit; a stout, woody vine growing from knobby tubers, with sharp flattened thorns, often tipped in black, climbing by means of tendrils.
Note; Catclaw, or Saw Greenbriar grows from a hard, fibrous, knobby tuber
Note; young leaves may be heart shaped, or lobed, alternating in a spiral, often with a saw tooth margin
Note; some new leaves are maroon, mottled with green
Note; umbels of tiny, white, 5 petal flowers bud from leaf axils, converting to black berries
Note; umbels of small, green flowers convert to clusters of juicy, black, fall berries
Greenbriar; Bristly Greenbriar Smilax hispida Muhl;. This stout, woody, light green to black, spiny, climbing vine sprouts from a thick rhizome barely under the ground, growing rapidly into the branches of surrounding bushes and trees. The woody stems do not divide until they reach up into the canopies of trees, where they branch readily. The small stems of branches are brittle, breaking easily. The main stems, up to ½” thick, are densely covered in long, thin, black spines up to ½” long. Large, light green bright leaves are striped with 5 longitudinal ribs, alternating around the stem, while curly tendrils growing opposite each leaf fasten the vine to branches. New shoots are tender and can be eaten raw or grilled, like asparagus but are slimier than S bona. This Greenbriar is abundant in thin soils over chalky limestone, but prefers deeper soils in ravines and near water drainages. Umbels of small white flowers bud from new leaf nodes on a long peduncle, each head of small 5 petal flowers transforming into clusters of black berries. Spanish speakers grilled the new shoots, calling them zarza parilla, “grilled bramble”, which English speakers transphonologized as “sarsaparilla”. (73-74) 4/13/15-4/20/15; 4/1/16; 4/15/17; 4/15/18; 19 no obs; 3/28/20;
Bristly Greenbiar habit, a stout, woody vine with long, straight black thorns and large oval leaves with 5 parallel veins alternating along stems, which bears umbels of small, white flowers, converting to black berries in late summer.
Note; dense coating of long, straight black thorns along thick stems
Note; large glossy green leaves with 5 parallel veins, which form an alternating spiral around the stems
Note; tendrils budding opposite each leaf secure the vine to surrounding stems
Note; umbels of small green flowers, each with 5 petals, bud from the axils of new leaves
Note; umbels of green flowers convert to clusters of black, juicy, fall berries
Currant; Snowberry/Indian-Currant/Coralberry Symphoricarpus orbiculatus Moench. A low-growing, evergreen ground-cover with smooth, oval leaves arranged in opposite pairs along reddish stems wrapped with loose, fibrous bark. The plant spreads primarily by stolons, root-like growths that hug the ground, then take root at rough nodules in the leaf litter of forested areas. Small (3/16”) greenish, bell-like flowers with pinkish blush, appear only on years marked by ideal moisture and temperature, hanging in short racimes from the underside of this year’s stems. Though called ‘snowberry’, they do not tolerate frost once new growth begins. Flowers give rise to crowded, irregular clumps of soft, hollow, coral red fruit that lasts through winter, providing food for many birds, including turkeys, giving the plant its moniker; turkey-bush. (947-948) 6/20/15-; 6/10/17- ; 18 no obs; 19 no obs; 20 no obs;
Snowberry (Currant) habit; a low growing, evergreen ground cover in forested areas, spreading by runners which take root at nodule like growths along stolons, and bearing tiny bell like flowers that convert to coral red berries
Note; opposite pairs of oval leaves with smooth margins, which usually last through the winter
Note; pendulant racimes of tiny, bell like, green flowers with a pink blush hanging from new growths
Note; clumps of hollow, coral red fruit that hang on plants through the winter
Buckeye; Mexican Buckeye Ungnadia speciosa Endl;. A deciduous bush with many leggy, smooth barked trunks, which forms dense clumps of small arching, boughs nver more than 3″ in diameter, growing from a central woody knot just under ground level. Common on chalky limestone, it reaches tree proportions in some areas with deeper soil. Clusters of attractive, pale pink, fragrant, peach-like flowers about ½” across bud directly from nodes on trunks and old stems, new growth coming in after the flowers have bloomed. Each flower has 5 petals, the curved anthers and pistol protruding beyond them. A deciduous plant, the flowers emerge shortly before the compound leaves bud out, each with 5-7 leaflets, on new, fast growing stems. Blooming in mid-March, U speciosa overlaps somewhat with Redbud. The fruit is a three lobed, pear-shaped, internally divided capsule, each of which has a single, shiny, black, slightly toxic seed about ½ across and ¾” long, with a pronounced white spot on one end. Archaeological evidence of stashes of seeds mixed with Mountain Laurel (Mescal) seeds in remote caves suggests that Amerinds did not devise a method to detoxify the seeds for food, but used them in conjunction with Mountain Laurel as a ritual stimulant (686) 3/28-4/17/15; 3/23/16-4/20/16; 3/11/17-3/30/17; 3/22/18-4/15/18; 3/20/19-4/14/19; 3/17/20 – 3/27/20;
Mexican Buckeye habit; multiple, leggy, arching, small, smooth trunks growing from a common base bear clumps of pink flowers directly off of old stems before foliage emerges
Note; clumps of flowers bud directly from old leaf nodes on trunks and older stems.
Note; showy, pink, fragrant flowers with curved pistol and stamen that protrude out beyond the 5 petals
Note; three lobed seed capsules, each with three large, lustrous, black, oval seeds that rattle when the boughs are shaken.
Note; compound leaves do not emerge until flowers have bloomed
Bamboo; Japanese Sacred Bamboo/Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina) Nandina domestica. This is not a bamboo at all, but the attractive, frond-like, compound pinnate leaves (up to 18” long), could remotely resemble bamboo. Like bamboo, Nandina stems do not branch, the leaf stems leaving sheath like debris behind, which eventually sloughs off, leaving a corrugated, but smooth stem. This invasive, shade loving, ornamental, Japanese evergreen shrub is now native to the DFW area as an understory plant in forests. New plants grow readily from soft, bright red berries, plants transplant readily, and new side stalks grow from a woody base. The flowers have no fragrance, and the leaves have a foul odor when cut or bruised, so the appeal is only visual. Dense terminal panicles bear showy, stiff, waxy, white flowers, each up to ¾” wide, with 6 white petals arranged around a white pistol ringed by 6 yellow-tan stamen. Closer examination reveals that the stamen look like a rosette of petals. Green berries turn bright red in the winter, lasting till spring. All parts of the plant are considered toxic. (not in book) 5/10/15; 4/26/16; 4/25/17; 5/14/18; 5/28/19; 5/10/20 – 5/30/20;
Japanese Sacred Bamboo habit; a woody undergrowth plant with cane like stems, and frond like compound pinnate leaves, growing in thick clumps, which bears panicles of white flowers converting to red berries
Note; the stiff, cane like stems retain sheaths of old leaves
Note; doubly compound pinnate leaves composed of sets of three smooth, lanceolate leaflets arranged in opposite pairs along stiff stems, which are also born in opposite pairs from a central leaf rib
Note; terminal panicles of waxy, white, stiff flowers with petal like yellow stamen; blooms in April-May
Note; pure white outer petals and a rosette of yellow-tan petal shaped stamen surrounding a central, fleshy white pistol
Note; panicles of green berries turn red in the Fall and Winter, lasting till Spring.
Note; all parts of the plant are considered toxic. Do not eat the berries
Bush Pepper; Capsicum frutescens. The genus Capsicum has been divided into four species, each with multiple varieties. The best known species is C annum, which includes Bell Peppers and Jalapenio, is the most mild, ranging from 0-10,000 in terms of hotness. Capsicum frutescens is a small, hot pepper hardy to North Texas, and one of the few pepper plants which is indigenous to the southern USA. A medium height (less than 2’), pithy stemmed member of the tomato family that branches regularly in a rigid angular pattern from each node, with lance shaped leaves, somewhat clammy to the touch, so broad they are almost heart shaped. Tiny white, forward pointing flowers, blooming in late summer, are born singly on stems that point upward, looking somewhat like White Nightshade flowers, except that they do not nod, and lack the prominent, yellow, fused anthers. The fruit are tiny (3/8”) peppers which turn yellow, then red-orange when ripe. It has been rated at 30,000-70,000 in terms of Scoville hotness, (2,500,000 is the max). Forested areas, or forest margins on SWk. (907-908 Vines) 8/28/18; 19 not recrd;
Bush Pepper habit; a medium height, regionally perennial pepper with broadly lanceolate leaves on long, alternating stems, bearing solitary, white flowers that convert to small, oval peppers that are mildly hot
Note; leaves are mildly clammy, the smooth stems zig-zag, and the leaves are held in an alternating pattern within a single plain
Note; the small, white flowers are born singly from leaf axils, the peduncles pointing up, the five petals only slightly nodding.
Note; the 5 stamen are fused to the pistol, not held on free stamen
Note; oval, cherry like peppers are held aloft on short, upright stems
Trail Trotter's Flower Guide 