Bull Nettle (Cnidoscolus texanus), also called tread-softly, spurge-nettle, and “mala mujer” (bad woman), is a vicious plant thickly clothed with stinging hairs and bearing clusters of tubular white flowers quite similar to the tuberose in appearance and fragrance. The plants grow 2-3 ft. high. The upper flowers bear stamens, and the flowers in the lower forks of the cluster produce seeds. The seed-capsules resemble those of other members of the spurge family in being nearly ball-shaped and deeply three-lobed. The seeds are large, edible, and very palatable. The plants are very abundant in waste places and sandy soil from Texas to Arkansas and Oklahoma, blooming from late spring until fall.
Some familiar commercial products are obtained from members of the spurge family; e.g., rubber, tapioca, and castor oil. In horticulture, the cactus-like spurges and the Christmas poinsettia are well-known favorites. The Chinese tallow-tree (Sapium sebiferum) is used as an ornamental tree, its leaves being very decorative in the fall.
SNOW-ON-THE-MOUNTAIN
Snow-on-the-Mountain. Ghost-Weed (Euphorbia bicolor) grows in great abundance on the plains of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas, being especially thick along dry creek margins. The plants are lovely in late August and September, their showy appearance being due to the green and white leaves surrounding the flower clusters. It bears rather unusual flowers which yield a poisonous honey. The green calyx-like structure is an involucre bearing numerous flowers, each consisting of a single stamen or pistil. Around the top of the involucre are 4-5 small glands each bearing a white appendage which is mistaken for the petals. The cultivated snow-on-the-mountain (Euphorbia marginata) has broader and shorter leaves. It is native on hillsides of Central Texas north to Minnesota.
Texas Croton (Croton texensis) is a weed, 2-3 ft. high, growing in conspicuous masses, particularly in the western part of the state. The flowers are inconspicuous among the gray-green foliage, the widely branched stems bearing numerous linear leaves. The fragrant leaves and stems from some of the crotons are gathered and dried by the Mexicans to use for tea or meat seasoning.
HOLLY FAMILY (Aquifoliaceae)
YAUPON
Trees or shrubs, mostly evergreen; sepals 3-6; petals 4-5; stamens 4-5, opposite petals; carpels 3 or more; fruit a drupe.