Know Your Natives Archive

Know Your Natives – Rattan Vine

Rattan Vine or Supplejack (Berchemia scandens) of the Buckthorn (Rhamnaceae) family is a large-stemmed, high climbing, twining, woody vine with simple leaves that have parallel veins. Genus name recognizes Jacob Pierre Berthoud van Berchem, an 18th Century Dutch naturalist and mineralogist. Specific epithet is from a Latin word meaning “to climb” in reference to the…

Know Your Natives – Perfoliated Boneset

Perfoliated Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) of the Sunflower (Asteraceae) family can be distinguished from other members of the genus by its distinctive leaves. Genus name recognizes Mithridates Eupator (132-63 B.C.) King of Pontus, who invented a “universal antidote” against poisoning and is said to have used a member of the genus in medicine. Specific epithet derives…

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 Spanish province of East Florida from 1784-1790. Specific epithet is a Latin word denoting the…

Know Your Natives – Flowering Spurge

Flowering Spurge (Euphorbia corollata) of the Spurge family (Euphorbiaceae) is an herbaceous perennial with cyathia (false flowers) that have outward flared, white petaloid appendages growing from the rim of the involucre (modified receptacle). Genus name recognizes Euphorbus, a Greek physician. Specific epithet is Latin for “like a corolla” in reference to the appendages appearing to…

Know Your Natives – St. Andrew’s-Cross

Article and photographs by ANPS member Sid Vogelpohl St. Andrew’s-cross (Hypericum hypericoides subsp. hypericoides) of the St. John’s-wort (Hypericaceae) family is a small perennial shrub (subshrub) with fine leaves on straight twigs, 4-petal yellow flowers and 2 prominent sepals. Genus name is based on Greek words for “above” and “picture”, from the practice of placing…

Know Your Natives – Rough Coneflower

Rough Coneflower (Rudbeckia grandiflora var. grandiflora*) of the Aster (Asteraceae) family is an upright herbaceous perennial with multiple slender stems bearing yellow composite flowers. Genus name honors “Olof Rudbeck the Younger”, a Swedish botanist. Specific epithet is derived from Latin words for “big” and “flower”. Principal area of occurrence for the species is eastern Texas,…

Know Your Natives – Yellow Wild Indigo

Yellow Wild Indigo (Baptisia sphaerocarpa) of the Pea (Fabaceae) family is a shrub-like, herbaceous perennial with bright yellow pea-type flowers. Genus name is derived from Greek for “to dye” (bapto), based on another member of the genus (Indigofera tinctoria) used to produce a blue dye. Specific epithet is derived from Greek words to denote the…

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 naturalist Thomas Nuttall (1786–1859) with the Greek word for flower. Specific epithet notes that the…

Know Your Natives – Harvey’s Buttercup

Harvey’s Buttercup (Ranunculus harveyi var. harveyi*) of the Buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family has an open structure and a succulent appearance. The genus name, based on Latin words for “frog” (rana) and “little” (unculus) relates to the occurrence of many buttercups in moist habitats. The specific epithet honors Francis LeRoy Harvey, faculty member of the Arkansas Industrial…

Know Your Natives – Yellow Honeysuckle

Yellow Honeysuckle (Lonicera flava) of the Honeysuckle (Caprifoliaceae) family is a twining vine with terminal clusters of yellow tubular flowers favored by swallowtail butterflies. The genus name honors Adam Lonicer* a German physician, botanist, and herbalist of the 16th Century. The specific epithet is Latin for “yellow”. In the U.S., principal areas of occurrence are…

Know Your Natives – Hooked Buttercup

Hooked Buttercup (Ranunculus recurvatus var. recurvatus*) of the Buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family, one of 17 yellow-flowered (sometimes white) buttercups in Arkansas, has achenes (fruits) with prominently hooked beaks. The genus name is based on Latin words “rana” meaning frog and “unculus” meaning little and relates to the occurrence of many buttercups in moist habitats. The specific…

Know Your Natives – Blunt Lobed Woodsia

Blunt Lobed Woodsia (Woodsia obtusa subsp. obutsa*) of the Lady Fern (Woodsiaceae) family is a small to medium size, evergreen fern with thin leaves (fronds). The genus name recognizes Joseph Woods (1776-1864), an English Quaker architect who authored several books on plants of Europe and the British Isles. The specific epithet is Latin for “blunt”,…

Know Your Natives – Hop Hornbeam

Hop Hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) of the Birch (Betulaceae) family is a woodland to woodland-margin tree with staminate (male) and pistillate (female) catkins on the same tree (a monoecious species). The genus name is based on Latin and Greek words for “scale” in reference to prominent scale-like bracts on early catkins. The specific epithet is in…

Know Your Natives – Ozark Sunflower

Ozark Sunflower (Helianthus silphioides) is a tall herbaceous perennial with large simple leaves and composite flowers with a purplish brown central disk and bright yellow ligules. The genus name is based on Greek words for sun (helios) and flower (anthos). The specific epithet notes that appearance of flowers and involucre are similar to those of…

Know Your Natives – Sweet Coneflower

Sweet Coneflower (Rudbeckia subtomentosa) of the Aster family (Asteraceae) grows to 3-5 feet tall and has entire to lobed leaves. The genus name honors “Olof Rudbeck the Younger”, a Swedish botanist*. The specific epithet is Latin for “somewhat hairy” to denote its leaf pubescence. Sweet Coneflower occurs in a broad area extending from western Louisiana…

Know Your Natives – Common Evening Primrose

Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) of the Evening Primrose (Onagraceae) family is a large edible plant noted for its historic and current-day medicinal uses. The genus name is believed to be based on Greek words for “wine” (oinos) and “seeker” (thera). The specific epithet refers to the plant’s typical biennial life cycle, but plants may…

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 (anthos) in reference to its flower clusters. The specific epithet is from a Latin word…

Know Your Natives – White Wand Beardtongue

White Wand Beardtongue (Penstemon tubiflorus; also sometimes spelled P. tubaeflorus) of the Plantain (Plantaginaceae) family, formerly of the Figwort (Scrophulariaceae) family, has sparsely leafed, erect stems bearing an elongate inflorescence of white tubular flowers. There is some disagreement on the exact etymology of the genus name. It may be based on words meaning five (“penta”)…

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. The genus name, based on Greek words for “three” and “tooth”, refers the typical number…

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