Mostly annual and perennial herbs; calyx 5-lobed; corolla tubular,
5-lobed; ovary usually 3-celled; style often 3-parted; stamens 5,
inserted on corolla-tube; capsules small.
Standing Cypress. Red Gilia (_Gilia rubra_) might also be called torch
flowers, for the tall spikes with their masses of red tubular flowers
make flaming spots of color on the edges of the post oak woods in May
and June. It is sometimes known as Indian plume, Texas plume, or red
Texas star.
The plants are usually unbranched and grow two to three feet high;
however, if the top of the stem is removed or injured near the time of
flowering, it will branch into several flowering spikes. The stems are
pale green and quite leafy with the finely dissected leaves. The narrow
tubular flowers are over an inch long and have broad spreading lobes
which, on their inner surface, are a pale orange-red dotted with a
darker red. The flowers, which resemble those of the cypress vine, are
closely clustered on the stem, those at the top opening first. The
capsules are nearly an inch long and contain numerous papery seeds.
Blue Gilia. Golden Eye (_Gilia rigidula_), differing markedly from the
red gilia in the shape of the flowers, has a short, broadly flaring
corolla with a conspicuous yellow center. The flowers are nearly an inch
broad. The plants are perennial and are often widely branched at the
base, forming clumps nearly a foot broad. The blue gilia is found on
hills and stony plains from Central Texas to Mexico and New Mexico and
blooms from March to October.
White Gilia. Long-Flowered Gilia (_Gilia longiflora_) has slender, erect
stems, 1-2 feet high, terminated by a flat-topped cluster of tubular
white flowers. The flowers have a narrow tube, about 1½ inches long, and
5 broad, spreading lobes. The leaves have threadlike divisions. The
plants are very showy when they are in bloom and are especially abundant
in sandy regions of Northwest Texas in the late summer and fall.
Few flower groups show such a decided red, white, and blue as the
gilias. The group is a large one, mostly of Western North America, and
is named in honor of the Spanish botanist, Philipp Salvador Gil. Some of
the gilias are known in cultivation and are considered hardy plants of
easy culture. The standing cypress may be grown from seeds planted in
August or September, or plants may be transplanted in the spring.
[Illustration: DRUMMOND’S PHLOX]
Drummond’s Phlox (_Phlox drummondii_) has rightly been called “Texan
pride.” A drive late in April through the post oak sandy region east of
Austin to the Brazos River and southeast to Victoria will disclose it in
all its glory. The seeds were collected by Thomas Drummond in 1834 and
sent to W. J. Hooker in the spring of 1835. Hooker, an eminent botanist,
described it from the plants grown from those seeds in the Kew Gardens
in London. According to his description, the plants were mostly of a
brilliant rose-red with more or less purple in the flowers of some
plants and darker red eyes in nearly all. It is quite probable that
Drummond collected his seeds in the vicinity of Gonzales, the western
limit of his Texas trip, where today wild phloxes which match his
description occur in great profusion. The seeds collected may have
included some from hybrid plants, as red phloxes with a white eye are
found on the eastern edge of the red-phlox area, and the dark-eyed
purple and red are found on its western limits in close proximity to the
“phlox purple” variety.
The plant has long been a horticultural favorite, and more than 200
varieties have been described, few of which excel the native varieties
in size or coloring.
[Illustration: PURPLE PHLOX]
Purple Phlox (_Phlox drummondii_-purple varieties) grows in sandy soil
in Central Texas. The variety with the white throat and red-star eye is
common in the southeastern part of the state. It is especially abundant
in Wilson and Karnes Counties, where extensive masses of purple may be
noted in open sandy places among mesquite and post oak trees. This is a
very vigorous phlox and produces large stems and flowers. Studies are
being made to determine whether these purple phloxes are varieties of
Drummond’s phlox or should be called by other names.
The variety with the purple throat and the two white marks at the base
of each corolla lobe grows northwest of the range of the red-flowered
Drummond’s phlox. It blooms from April to June and seems to withstand
cold better than any of the annual phloxes except the dwarf phlox.
[Illustration: HELLER’S PHLOX BERLANDIER’S PHLOX THARP’S PHLOX]
Berlandier’s Phlox (_Phlox glabriflora_) differs from Drummond’s phlox
in many particulars. The flowers are usually a bluish-lavender which at
a distance suggests the wild verbena. Like the other phloxes on this
page, it has both stem and leaves clothed with scattered, long, soft
hairs. The large corolla is marked with white at the base of the lobes
and has a short, smooth tube. The vigorous plants branch profusely and
often form masses two and three feet broad. This phlox may be found on
sandy prairies south of Kingsville and west of Hebbronville in the
winter and spring months but is at its best in February and March. It
was first collected by Louis Berlandier at several places along the
southern coast in 1828 and 1829.
Heller’s Phlox (_Phlox helleri_) is a close relative of Berlandier’s
phlox but has a hairy corolla-tube, smaller flowers, and shorter leaves.
It is found from March to May in sand near the coast around Copano,
Aransas, and Nueces bays.
Slender Phlox (_Phlox tharpii_) has a long, hairy corolla-tube, and the
slender stems are usually unbranched. Only four flowers are borne in a
cluster. It is very abundant in Frio and Dimmit Counties in April.
Theodore Roosevelt, in describing a peccary hunt south of Uvalde in
April, 1904, mentions these fields of purple.
[Illustration: ROEMER’S PHLOX DWARF PHLOX]
Roemer’s Phlox (_Phlox roemeriana_) has lovely flowers which vary in
color from deep rose to phlox purple or pink. It is the only annual
phlox marked with yellow around the eye or throat. Its large capsule,
containing 12 or 15 seeds, is another conspicuous feature and shows its
relationship with the perennial phloxes of West Texas. It forms a lovely
display with bluebonnets and low prairie spider-worts in the limestone
hill region in April and early May.
Dwarf Phlox (_Phlox tenuis_) is the smallest and most widely distributed
of the annual phloxes, ranging from the south-central coast to Louisiana
and into Southern Oklahoma. It is found on the coastal prairie and in
sandy soil along the edges of post oak woods from March to May. The
plants are usually six to eight inches high and unbranched, but branched
varieties are known. The flowers are about half an inch broad, with
narrow lobes which are marked with two reddish-purple lines at their
base.
[Illustration: LARGE-FLOWERED PRAIRIE PHLOX PRAIRIE PHLOX]
Prairie Phlox. Prairie Sweet William (_Phlox pilosa_) has a delightful
fragrance common in lesser degrees to many of the phloxes. The
widespread prairie phlox was named in 1753 from plants taken to France
from Virginia. The stems are low and have a few opposite leaves which
are pointed and widely spreading. The flat-topped clusters of pale pink,
blue, white, or purple flowers bloom in March and April in Texas. The
stems and flower clusters are clothed with soft hairs.
Large-Flowered Prairie Phlox (_Phlox villosissima_) grows in a strange
environment for a phlox. Charles Wright found it in 1849 on the gravelly
bars of the Nueces River, where it still grows. It is also found on
other rivers in Southwest Texas. It has long, woody roots reaching
toward the necessary moisture. The flowers are very large, and only a
few are open at a time. It differs from the prairie phlox in its shorter
and more numerous leaves, its larger flowers with their broader lobes,
and alternate branches in the flower cluster. The prairie phloxes are
perennial and are easily grown in Southwest gardens.