Rose of Sharon Hibiscus

Rose of Sharon Hibiscus; Habiscus syriacus.  Several hibiscus are cold hardy enough to tolerate Dallas’ weather.  H syriacus is originally from southern China, but was collected from Syrian gardens, hence the species name.  Although it will not propagate locally, this medium sized, pink to lavender hibiscus is locally perennial, adding a dash of color during summer months.  The tough, slightly rough, narrow, but miltilobed leaves alternate along woody stems, sprouting again from leaf nodes in late spring.  The five lavender to soft pink, or even blue petals have a darker basal spot where they connect to the long pistol, which like other hibiscus, sprouts short stamen tipped with white anthers toward the tip.  The ovaries ripen into dry capsules that crack into 5 sections, allowing the seeds to disperse.  Although it can tolerate full sun, this hibiscus does best where the afternoon sun is dappled by shade trees, but it will not do well in dense shade.  Mature “trees” have several erect, somewhat leggy, weakly branching ‘trunks’.

Note; a weakly branching, erect, woody tree like bush with narrow, deeply lobed, rough, alternating leaves, producing pink to lavender flowers with a darker basal spot.

Note; alternating leaves with somewhat narrow, deeply cut leaves.

Spiny Sow Thistle

Spiny Sow Thistle Sonchus asper. An early (April) blooming annual, Sow Thistles begin as rosettes of deeply cut, thistle like leaves which look spiny, but are soft and harmless.  Leaves bleed a slightly bitter, but harmless milky sap when cut. The pinnate, clasping leaves, which have deep, rounded sinuses, are arranged in an alternating spiral around smooth, hollow stems.  The rosette of leaves stays low as long as the weather is cold, but quickly grows up when it warms, culminating in a compact clump of small, short lived, green buds, invariably coated with a white powder.  Stems can be trampled down, but continue to grow, arching back up and producing flowers.  Yellow ray flowers emerge from the tapering buds.  If cut back, the hollow stem quickly sends out new stalks.  The ray petals are squared at the ends, surrounding a yellow disk flower fuzzy with yellow anthers.  Flowers transform into coarse blow-balls of wind- blown achenes, and the plants wither soon after the plant goes to seed.  Common along partially shaded paths.  (222) 3/25/15-5/20/15; 3/10/16; 2/25/17- ; 2/8/19 – ; 20 not recrd;

Spiny Sow Thistle; A soft plant with hollow stems and leaves which look spiny but are soft and harmless, bearing compact bunches of tapering buds that open to yellow ray flowers.

Note; pinnate, thistle like leaves with deep, rounded sinuses, look spiny but are soft and harmless

Note; leaves clasp the otherwise smooth, hollow stems

Note; plants end in a tight bunch of tapering buds, invariably coated with a grey powder

Note; flowers convert to blowball achenes

Note; tapering buds

 

Thistle, Bull Thistle

Bull Thistle Cirsium vulgare. An invasive pest, this thick stemmed weed has sharp, stiff spines on every part of the plant; stalks, leaf margins, buds and stems included.  The plant begins as a rosette of deeply pinnate, dark green, wavy leaves with sharp, stiff spines on every lobe, which rises from an underground, corm like root.  As the flower stem grows, the thick, pithy stalk is sheathed in ridges that have spines, with leaves arranged in an alternating spiral. “Bull” comments on the stout, thick-stemmed growth habit, vulgare comments on its ubiquity, the “common thistle”.  Each undivided stalk produces a dense cluster of squat, tapering flower-heads that take on a bowl shape as they open, a dense tuft of short, dark red-purple, hair like petals pushing its way out of the bud.  Bull Thistle does not branch, unlike Nodding and Texas Thistles, unless the main stem is cut, in which case the plant will bud several side stalks.  Black honey bees and small black and grey beetles, which can often be found wallowing in the flower heads, pollinate the flowers, which convert to heads of achenes.  Finches each the seeds, tearing the seed apart in the process.  Otherwise, achenes are carried off by the wind.  (332) 4/20/15; 5/10/16; 4/17/17- ; 5/4/18; 19 no obs; 20 no obs

Bull Thistle habit; a squat, thick stemmed plant with grey-green, undulating, thorny leaves, bearing a dense terminal cluster of rose-red, hair like flower heads

Note; dark green, clasping, pinnate leaves, with a sharp thorn on the tip of every projection, arranged in an alternating spiral

Note, every surface of the plant has sharp spines, flower stems included

 

Texas Yellow Star

Texas Yellow Star Lindheimera texana. A soft stemmed, fuzzy, if not bristly annual of medium height, the Yellow Star has opposite pairs of soft, clasping, fuzzy, light grey-green lanceolate leaves with smooth margins.  The single stems do not clump, and only weakly branch, going dormant by the time summer turns hot.  The 1” to 1.5” yellow-orange flowers are born in a loose, branching spray, opening one at a time, as a slightly bell-shaped 5 pointed, yellow “star” framed by 5 thick sepals.  Each petal is veined linearly, with a noticeable notch in the end.  Soft seed capsules split, spilling tiny brown-black seeds.  Preferring partial shade, it is found along forest margins of CC, PDU. (202) 4/2/15 – ; 3/15/16; 3/22/17- ; 4/22/18; 3/20/19; 3/25/20

Texas Yellow Star habit; a medium height, fuzzy, weakly branching plant with opposite, clasping leaves and terminal clusters of yellow, 5 petal flowers

Note; clasping, fuzzy, lanceolate leaves with smooth margins arranged in opposite pairs

Note; seed capsules full of tiny black seeds.

Pea, Trailing Wild Bean

Trailing Wild Bean Straphostyles helvola.  A wild bean with trifoliate leaves arranged in an alternating pattern around long, fibrous stems common in well watered areas, like stream banks, marshes or lake shores.  Each of the three leaflets of the dark, glossy green leaves are broadly egg shaped.  Showy pink flowers, ¾” across, are born on long pedicles from leaf axils, 3-5 buds opening in slow succession so that buds, one open pink flower and pendulant been pods might be present at the same time.  The banner petal is pink, and slightly folded, forming a peaked hood over the wing petals and ovaries.  A conspicuous, dark purple keel petal is coiled in the hood, and a bright yellow dot is clearly visible at the base of the ovary.  Green bean pods hang straight down from the vines.  Flowers lack fragrance, but are most notable for their curled keel petal, unique among legumes.  Several Amerind tribes used parts of the plant medicinally, or ate the bean, both in green form and dried seed.  The seeds float, helping spread the plant along water sheds.  (Not in Book, 326 similar sp.) Stream beds along DORBA and Big Tree Circuit. 9/10/18; 19 not recrd;

Trailing Wild Bean habit; a long vine with glossy trifoliate leaves alternating along fibrous stems, and bearing single, showy, pink flowers which transform to long, round bean pods

Note; each of the three glossy, smooth leaflets is a broadly ovate (egg shape), the middle one born on a longer petiole

Note; round bean pods hang straight down from pedicles

Note; pink flowers open in slow succession so that buds, beans and flowers can be seen on the same pedicle at the same time.

Note; showy pink pea flowers are composed of a folded banner petal that forms a hood over the coiled, purple keel petal

Note; the visible yellow dot at the back of the hooded banner petal

 

Sundrop, Narrow-leaf Sundrop

Narrow-leaf Sundrop Oenothera fruticose.  A pithy, erect, if straggling plant with very narrow, toothed, strap-like leaves arranged around the tough, reddish stems in a spiral.  The leaves lack petioles but do not clasp the stems.  Leaves of the similar Drummond’s Sundrop, Calyophus drummondianus, are nearly twice as wide. The elongated buds unfurl as they open into a showy flower with four somewhat narrow, crape like petals surrounding a prominent nectar tube that leads to the ovary.  The 1” bright yellow flowers have a prominent three lobed stigma on an elongated pistol, and 8 shorter, light yellow anthers.  The 3/4 ” seed capsules are dowel-like. Chalk flats along roads (158) 5/8/15-6/1/15; 5/10/16; 4/14/17- ; 4/25/18; 19 no obs; 5/5/20

Narrowleaf Sundrop habit; clumps of pithy, reddish stems with very narrow, sharply toothed, strap-like leaves, bearing bright yellow flowers

Note; bright yellow flowers with four, narrow petals arranged around a nectar tube.

Note; elongated pistols and stamen from the rim of the nectar tube

Note; clumps of pithy, reddish stems lined with very narrow, toothed, strap like leaves

Note; reddish, dowel like seed capsules

 

Storksbill, Redstem Storksbill

Redstem Storksbill (Filaree) Erodium cicutarium. 3-11 14. This low growing ground cover with hairy, compound, finely pinnate leaves that branch alternately off of red, hairy stems, begins as rosette of leaves.  One of the first plants to bloom, the furry coating helps protect leaves from frost.  Small, loose sprays of hairy buds open in rapid succession to reveal tiny (1/4”) lavender-pink flowers, each with 5 linear, elliptical petals.  The central pistol is surrounded by 5 stamen with purple anthers, the pistol dividing into a five pointed star.  Flowers produce a linear cluster of straight, needle shaped seed capsules that imaginatively resemble a stork’s bill, giving the plant its moniker. Blooming continues until hot weather, then may pick up again in the fall.  Road-sides, lawns, disturbed soil. (292) 2/8/16-; 2/8/17- ; 2/10/18; 2/8/19 – ; 1/16/20

Redstem Storksbill habit; a rosette of fine, compound pinnate, hairy leaves arranged alternately along red stems, which produce umbels of tiny pink flowers, which convert into needle like seed capsules.

Note; loose spray of small lavender 5 petal flowers with purple stamen.

Note; flowers convert to long, straight, needle shaped seed capsules said to resemble storks’ bills.

Storksbill, Texas Storksbill

Texas Storksbill (Desert Storksbill) Erodium texanum.  A low growing ground cover with three lobed, slightly hairy, dark green leaves, the side lobes each with two smaller lobes, and the much bigger middle lobe with three lobes.  Beginning as a rosette of branching, green stems, the plant radiates out from a central tap root to soon become a mat of overlapping, fleshy leaves.  Small clusters (3-5) of elongated buds form on short spikes at leaf nodes, from which small flowers up to ½” across, solid pink to lavender, each with 5 petals, emerge.  The central pistol is divided into 5 lobes, the 5 stamen branching off the base of the pistol.  Each flower cluster produces one or two needle shaped seed pods slightly longer than E cicutarium, the more common Storksbill.  The plant gets its name from the pods, which imaginatively resemble a stork’s bill.  Common on bare ground, like road sides, E texanum tolerates drier conditions.  No pictures of flowers (292) 5/5/15; 16 17 no observation; 18 no obs

Texas Storksbill habit; note the sprawling habit of green stems, roughly triangular, 5 lobed leaves

Note; small clusters of pink to lavender, 5 petal flowers

Note; very long, needle shaped seed capsules

Rosinweed, Roughstem Rosinweed

Roughstem (Starry) Rosinweed Silphium radula. A lanky, unbranching, pithy plant with clasping, lance-shaped leaves up to 2” long by ¾” wide which grow all the way up the stem.  Like the Compass Plant S albiflorum (another Rosinweed) Amerind kids used to chew the stems for their pithy texture and sweet taste. The leaves and stem are rough to the touch, giving the plant its descriptive name. The 3” bright yellow flower, which looks remotely like a sunflower, is born singly, cradled in a bed of rough, heart-shaped bracts.  An Aster, the flowers are composed of as many as 25 smooth ray florets, each with two linear veins, surrounding a flat disk of over 100 yellow disk florets.  Prominent stamen have a black speck on the tip, and a filamentous yellow anther.  Only observed along shaded roadsides on forest margins. (not in book) 6/8/17- ; 18 no obs; 19 no obs

Roughstem Rosinweed habit; tall, unbranched, pithy stems with rough, alternating leaves, bearing a loose spray of large, bright yellow ray flowers.

Note; flowers couched in layers of stiff, pointed bracts

Note; the  stems and leave have a rough surface of bumps and bristles

Note; thick, lance shaped, clasping, leaves alternating along the pithy stem

Note; 25 bright yellow, smooth ray flowers, each with two linear veins which end in sharp points

Note; central disk of green pistols surrounded by filamentous stamen, each with a black dot, and tipped with yellow anthers.

Parsley, Knotted Hedge Parsley

Knotted Hedge Parsley Torilis nodosa. A week, trailing plant which zigg-zaggs between prominent knot like nodes, coarsely toothed, palmate leaves, each with three elongated lobes, growing from each node.  The fibrous stems are ribbed, and not pithy, but supple and flexible.  Inconspicuous, greenish flowers are born in miniscule clusters opposite leaves at the nodes, converting to small, green burrs, in sets of 3.  The plant spreads when its seeds cling to fur or clothing, but are much easier to remove than T arvensis.  Common along lawn margins and growing within hedges. (60) 4/20/16; 4/15/17- 5/5/17; no obs 18; 19 not recrd; 20 not recrd