The diagram on the opposite page carries illustrations of most of the
terms used in the following descriptions of plants. As it was intended
that this manual should serve as a means of plant identification from
illustrations, the descriptions have been made very brief. If the reader
is interested in a more detailed description, technical books should be
consulted. Some botanical terms are rather loosely used in the effort to
avoid technical expressions; for example, the fruit of a daisy flower is
known popularly as a seed but is an achene, a seed closely covered by
the wall of the ovary.
The conspicuous parts of the flower commonly make up the corolla, each
part being known as a petal; however, in some flowers the showy part is
actually the calyx, as the outer whorl of parts around the stamens and
pistil is always called. The divisions of the calyx are known as sepals.
The stamens are made up of two parts—the anthers or small sacs which
bear the pollen grains, a necessary part to fertilization, and the
filaments or stalks which elevate the anthers so that the pollen grains
can be scattered. The ovules which develop into seeds after
fertilization are borne in the ovary, a part of the pistil. The pollen
is deposited on the stigma and carried down the style to the ovule.
Showy flower parts, nectar, and other devices attract insect visitors
which aid in the transfer of pollen from one flower to another.
In order that botanists everywhere may make use of plant names and
descriptions, these are written in Latin. The Latin name of the
bluebonnet is _Lupinus texensis_, in which _texensis_ represents the
name of a species and _Lupinus_ is the name of a genus, which is a group
of closely related species. The plants making up the different species
in a genus are usually so much alike in flower, fruit, and leaf
characters that they can be recognized as belonging to the same group.
Similar genera (plural of genus) are grouped together in families; the
family name in Latin takes the ending -_aceae_. Thus while this book
illustrates only 257 Texas plants, it is hoped that the reader will
become familiar with many others which bear a close relationship.
Much effort has been expended to use scientific terminology in
accordance with that preferred by experts on various plant groups, but
continuing research changes many well known names. In this list the name
used in the text is followed by the name now in good usage; the terms
are not always synonymous. The authorities for the names are not given
but can be checked in technical publications.
Aesculaceae
Hippocastanaceae
Allionia grayana
Mirabilis grayana
Amphiachyris dracunculoides
Gutierrezia dracunculoides
Argemone rosea
Argemone sanguinea
Argemone delicatula
Argemone pinnatifida
Asclepiodora decumbens
Asclepias capricornu
Baptisia bracteata
Baptisia leucophaea
Batodendron arboreum
Vaccinium arboreum
Capnoides montanum
Corydalis aurea
Capnoides curvisiliquum
Corydalis curvisiliqua
Carduus austrinus
Cirsium sp.
Carduus undulatus
Cirsium undulatum megacephalum
Cassiaceae
Leguninosae
Cebatha carolina
Cocculus carolinus
Cercis reniormis
Cercis canadensis texensis
Cochranea anchusaefolia
Heliotropium amplexicaule
Conoclinium coelestinum
Eupatorium coelestinum
Delphinium albescens
Delphinium virescens
Dendropogon usneoides
Tillandsia usneoides
Dichondraceae
Convolvulaceae
Dracopis amplexicaulis
Rudbeckia amplexicaulis
Epilobiaceae
Onagraceae
Erythraea
Centaurium
Fabaceae
Leguminosae
Filago prolifera
Evax prolifera
Filago nivea
Evax multicaulis
Geoprumnon mexicanum
Astragalus caryocarpus pachycarpus
Greggia camporum
Nerisyrenia camporum
Hamosa nuttalliana
Astragalus Nuttallianus
Hartmannia tetraptera
Oenothera speciosa
Hypoxis erecta
Hypoxis hirsuta
Ibidium gracile
Spiranthes gracilis
Jussiaea diffusa
Jussiaea repens
Keerlia bellidiflora
Chaetopappa bellidifolia
Krameriaceae
Leguminosae
Laciniaria punctata
Liatris punctata
Lepidium alyssoides
Lepidium montanum alyssoides
Leptoglottis uncinata
Schrankia Nuttallii
Leucophyllum texanum
Leucophyllum frutescens
Limodorum tuberosum
Calopogon pulchellus
Lithospermum linearifolium
Lithospermum incisum
Lithospermum gmelinii
Lithospermum carolinense
Megapterium missouriense
Oenothera missouriensis
Meriolix spinulosa
Oenothera serrulata Drummondii
Mimosaceae
Leguminosae
Nemastylis acuta
Nemastylis geminiflora
Nama ovatum
Hydrolea ovata
Nemastylis texana
Nemastylis sp.
Neopieris mariana
Lyonia mariana
Nuphar advena
Nuphar advenum
Oxytropis lamberti
Astragalus Lambertii
Parosela aurea
Dalea aurea
Parosela pogonathera
Dalea pogonathera
Pentstemon
Penstemon
Persicaria longistyla
Polygonum longistylum
Persicaria punctata
Polygonum punctatum
Phlox drummondii (purple variety)
Phlox Goldsmithii (left, p. 107)
Phlox drummondii (purple variety)
Phlox McAllisteri (right, p. 107)
Phlox helleri
Phlox littoralis
Phytolacca decandra
Phytolacca americana
Pleiotaenia nuttallii
Polytaenia Nuttallii
Ptiloria pauciflora
Stephanomeria pauciflora
Quamasia hyacinthina
Camassia scilloides
Rosa woodsii
Rosa foliolosa
Sabbatia
Sabatia
Senecio filifolius
Senecio longilobus
Sisyrinchium thurowi
Sisyrinchium exile
Sitilias multicaulis
Pyrrhopappus sp.
Sophia pinnata
Descurainea pinnata
Stenorrhyncus cinnabarinus
Spiranthes cinnabarina
Thrysanthema nutans
Chaptalia nutans
Thymophylla polychaeta
Dyssodia polychaeta
Thymophylla pentachaeta
Dyssodia pentachaeta
Toxicoscordion nuttallii
Zygadenus Nuttallii
Tradescantia bracteata
Tradescantia ohiensis
Verbena plicata
Verbena Cloveri
Vicia texana
Vicia ludoviciana
Yucca radiosa
Yucca elata
Yucca glauca
Yucca campestris