Texas Flowers in Natural Colors

by Eula Whitehouse

PEA FAMILY (Fabaceae)

TEXAS MOUNTAIN LAUREL

Leaves simple or compound; flowers pea-shaped; sepals 5, united in a tube; petals 5; stamens often 10 and united in 1 or 2 groups; fruit a 1-celled pod.

Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) is an evergreen shrub or small tree growing on limestone hillsides from Texas to New Mexico and Mexico; it is particularly abundant in Southwest-Central Texas. The dense clusters of violet-blue flowers, at their best in the latter part of March but blooming earlier or later in different sections, are very showy against the glossy dark-green, leathery leaves. Many variations in color exist in nature from dark violet-blue to violet-tinged and white. The flowers have a strong, heavy scent which is disagreeable to most people. The brilliant scarlet beans, which mature in a few weeks, contain a poisonous alkaloid.

The Texas mountain laurel is not at all related to the southern mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), a rose-flowered shrub of the heath family. The sophoras have retained the Arabian name and include in their group many handsome ornamental shrubs, among which is the Japan pagoda tree. The Texas sophora can be readily grown from seed but is seldom successfully transplanted.

BUSH PEA

Bush Pea. Large-Bracted False Indigo (Baptisia bracteata) is sometimes called hen-and-chickens pea from the growth habit of the plant. The clusters of cream-colored flowers grow downward and peep out from the bushy leaf-growth. The flowers are about 1 in. long, and the 3 gray-green leaflets are 1-3 in. long. It grows on sandy slopes or moist prairies from the eastern part of Texas to Minnesota and South Carolina, blooming in Texas in April.

Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) (see [frontispiece]) was widely known in pioneer days as buffalo clover. It grows in great abundance on limestone hillsides between the Brazos and Pecos Rivers from Dallas southward into Mexico. Seed-houses sell the Texas bluebonnet under the name of Lupinus subcarnosus, the bluebonnet of sandy areas. It has narrower flower spikes and rounded leaf-tips. Several other lupines are found in Texas but are not very common. The name is from the Latin meaning “wolf,” because it was thought the plants ruined the fertility of the soil. On the contrary, the lupines are excellent fertilizers, as the small nodules on the roots contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria which add to the soil nitrates. It blooms from March to early May. The bluebonnet was adopted as the state flower in 1901.

INDIGO-PLANT

Indigo-Plant. Scarlet Pea (Indigofera leptosepala) has prostrate branches growing from a woody root. The short, erect spikes of scarlet, pea-shaped flowers are borne near the ends of the branches, blooming from early spring until late summer, their blossoms forming an ever-increasing scarlet circle after each rain. The leaves are divided into 5-9 leaflets, narrowed at the base and about half an inch long. A small amount of indigo may be extracted from the foliage. While this is not a very conspicuous plant, it is one of the most widely distributed in the state and ranges to Mexico, Kansas, and Florida.

The indigo-plant belongs to a large group, mostly tropical, and many species, as the name indicates, are indigo-bearing. Commercial indigo, now a coal-tar product, was formerly obtained from a shrub (Indigofera tinctoria) introduced for cultivation into South Carolina in 1742. Several shrubby species of indigo-plants are found in the state, but none of them are very abundant.

GOLDEN DALEA PURPLE PRAIRIE CLOVER

Golden Parosela or Dalea (Parosela aurea) may not be recognized at first glance as a member of the pea family, since the flowers grow in dense clusters at the top of erect branches, 1-1½ ft. high, which grow from a thick, woody root. The yellow flowers are small and pea-shaped, with a calyx which has slender, silky-plumose lobes. It may be found on chalky slopes of prairies from Texas to Missouri and South Dakota in June and July.

Several shrubby paroselas, very handsome when in full bloom, are found in the southwestern part of the state. Purple parosela (Parosela pogonathera) is a vivid, reddish-purple flowered species of the southwestern part.

Purple Prairie Clover (Petalostemon purpurea) is quite similar to the golden parosela in its growth habit, narrow glandular leaflets, and head-like flower clusters. It grows on prairies from Minnesota to Texas. The white prairie clover (Petalostemon multiflorum), with ball-shaped clusters of white flowers, is common on prairies from Kansas to Texas. Both prairie clovers bloom in June and July.

LARGER GROUND PLUM

Larger Ground Plum (Geoprumnon mexicanum) blooms with the first flowers of spring, forming conspicuous clumps on prairies from Illinois to Nebraska and Texas. The spreading prostrate branches grow 6-12 in. long and are covered with spike-like clusters of pale-purple flowers. The fleshy pods soon turn red and plum-like, maturing several weeks after flowering. The pods are edible and may be found in prairie-dog holes among the foods these animals have stored for the winter.

Loco Weeds are closely related to the ground plum, two of them being found in Texas and causing much loss to stockmen. They cause a slow poisoning of horses, sheep, and cattle but are particularly injurious to horses. The poisoning is chiefly due to the barium salts in the plant and is characterized by symptoms of staggering, some paralysis, and emaciation. The woolly loco weed (Astragalus mollissimus) has woolly leaves with 19-27 oval leaflets about half an inch long and spikes of violet-purple flowers. The stemless loco weed (Oxytropis lamberti) has basal leaves with 9-19 nearly linear leaflets about an inch long. Both are common on the plains, but the latter ranges into Southern Canada.

TEXAS CLIMBING VETCH NUTTALL’S MILK VETCH

Nuttall’s Milk Vetch. Turkey Pea (Hamosa nuttalliana) is a low plant with few-flowered clusters of small flowers. Although it is inconspicuous, it is so common in yards and fields from Arkansas to Arizona that many people are familiar with it. It blooms in March in the southern part and May and June in the northern part of its range. The narrow pods are slightly curved and nearly an inch long. There are several hamosas with similar pods which are common in the state.

Texas Climbing Vetch (Vicia texana) has prostrate branches, 1-2 ft. long, and divided leaves terminating in branched tendrils by which the branches climb over the low plants with which they come in contact. Clusters of the dainty, pale bluish-purple flowers appear in late March and April, the plants forming masses of bloom along roadsides in the sandy regions of the state from Central Texas to Arkansas and Mississippi.

Many of the climbing vetches are planted for cover crops, and one is a garden bean. Many of the garden beans belong to the Phaseolus group, among these being the tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius latifolius), a native bean from West Texas to Arizona.

CORAL-BEAN

Coral-Bean (Erythrina herbacea) grows in woods along the coast from Texas to North Carolina. It has erect, herbaceous stems growing from a woody root. The flowers appear before the leaves in spike-like clusters at the ends of the branches. “Erythrina” is from the Greek, meaning “red” and refers to the color of the flowers, which are over an inch long and have the upper petal wrapped around the other petals. The leaves are 6-8 in. long and slender-stalked; they are divided into 3 broad leaflets.

The coral-bean belongs to a group of highly ornamental tropical plants. It does well in cultivation in Southern and Central Texas but is not suitable for a cut-flower, as the flowers soon drop off. The red beans are often used for necklaces. When the pods begin to open, the clusters may be gathered for winter decorations. The coral-tree (Erythrina cristagalli) from Brazil is common in cultivation and has broader and showier flowers than the coral-bean.