Category Archives: Purple
Know Your Natives – Trailing Bush Clover
Trailing Bush Clover (Lespedeza procumbens) of the Bean (Fabaceae) family is an herbaceous, prostrate perennial that has racemes of pea-type flowers. Genus name recognizes Vicente Manuel de Cespedes (an early text misspelled his name as “de Lespedez”), governor of the … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Texas Toadflax
Texas Toadflax or Blue Toadflax (Nuttallanthus texanus*) of the Plantain family (Plantaginaceae) is an annual forb with vegetative basal stems and floral stems terminating with a raceme of light blue to lavender flowers. The genus combines the name of British … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – White-Leaf Mountain Mint
White-Leaf Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum albescens) of the Mint (Lamiaceae) family is a tall, upright perennial forb with a strong minty scent and has an open, gangly structure. The genus name is based on Greek words for dense (pyknos) and flower … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Clasping Venus’ Looking Glass
Clasping Venus’ Looking Glass (Triodanis perfoliata; formerly, Specularia perfoliata) of the Bellflower (Campanulaceae) family is an erect to reclined annual forb with clasping, ovate to orbicular leaves and both non-opening (cleistogamous – CL) flowers and opening (chasmogamous – CH) flowers. … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Downy Phlox
Downy Phlox (Phlox pilosa*) of the Phlox (Polemoniaceae) family is a semi-evergreen perennial forb with showy flowers of variable color and shape. The genus, Phlox, is derived from the Greek word meaning flame – a reference to flower color of … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Downy Lobelia
Downy Lobelia (Lobelia puberula) of the Bellflower (Campanulaceae) family is a pubescent, herbaceous perennial bearing showy racemes of blue to lavender flowers. The genus name recognizes Matthias de l’Obel, a Flemish 16th-century physician and botanist who is credited with being the first … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Stalked Wild Petunia
Stalked Wild Petunia (Ruellia pedunculata ssp. pedunculata*) of the Acanthus (Acanthaceae) family has flowers with large, showy, trumpet-shaped, purplish corollas, similar to those of the unrelated Garden Petunia**. The genus name honors Jean de la Ruelle (1474-1537), a French herbalist. … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Purple Coneflower
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) of the Sunflower or Composite (Asteraceae) family is an erect herbaceous perennial with large, showy, terminal flowerheads. The genus name is derived from a Greek word for “hedgehog” in reference to the spiny bracts that share … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Pale Purple Coneflower
Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida) of the Aster or Composite (Asteraceae) family is a heavily pubescent herbaceous perennial with long lanceolate leaves and large, spectacular flowerheads. The genus name is derived from a Greek word for “hedgehog” in reference to … Continue reading
Know Your Natives – Showy Evening Primrose
Showy Evening Primrose (Oenothera speciosa) of the Evening-Primrose family (Onagraceae) is a colonial perennial with large pink to white flowers. The etymology of the genus name, used by Linnaeus, is ambiguous: It is apparently from a Greek word for wine … Continue reading
