Remarkable Plants of Texas Uncommon Accounts of Our Common Natives

About this book

With some 6000 species of plants, Texas has extraordinary botanical wealth and diversity. Learning to identify plants is the first step in understanding their vital role in nature, and many field guides have been published for that purpose. But to fully appreciate how Texas's native plants have sustained people and animals from prehistoric times to the present, you need Remarkable Plants of Texas.

In this intriguing book, Matt Warnock Turner explores the little-known facts – be they archaeological, historical, material, medicinal, culinary, or cultural – behind our familiar botanical landscape. In sixty-five entries that cover over eighty of our most common native plants from trees, shrubs, and wildflowers to grasses, cacti, vines, and aquatics, he traces our vast array of connections with plants. Turner looks at: how people have used plants for food, shelter, medicine, and economic subsistence; how plants have figured in the historical record and in Texas folklore; how plants nourish wildlife; and, how some plants have unusual ecological or biological characteristics.

Illustrated with over one hundred colour photos and organized for easy reference, Remarkable Plants of Texas can function as a guide to individual species as well as an enjoyable natural history of our most fascinating native plants.

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Map: Native American Tribes in Texas, ca. 1700 to present

Trees
Acacia farnesiana (Huisache)
Arbutus xalapensis (Texas Madrone)
Carya illinoinensis (Pecan)
Celtis spp. (Hackberry)
Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)
Diospyros texana (Texas Persimmon)
Diospyros virginiana (Common Persimmon)
Juglans spp. (Black Walnut and Texas Black Walnut)
Juniperus spp. (Eastern Red-Cedar and Ashe Juniper)
Maclura pomifera (Osage Orange)
Morus spp. (Red Mulberry and Little-leaf Mulberry)
Pinus spp. (Loblolly Pine and Longleaf Pine)
Populus deltoides (Cottonwood)
Prosopis glandulosa (Mesquite)
Prunus spp. (Wild Plum and Black Cherry)
Quercus stellata (Post Oak)
Quercus virginiana (Live Oak)
Sabal mexicana (Sabal Palm)
Salix nigra (Black Willow)
Sapindus saponaria (Soapberry)
Sassafras albidum (Sassafras)
Taxodium distichum (Bald Cypress)

Shrubs
Agave lechuguilla (Lechuguilla)
Berberis trifoliolata (Agarita)
Dasylirion spp. (Sotol)
Ephedra antisyphilitica (Mormon Tea)
Euphorbia antisyphilitica (Candelilla)
Fouquieria splendens (Ocotillo)
Ilex vomitoria (Yaupon)
Larrea tridentata (Creosote Bush)
Rhus aromatica (Fragrant Sumac)
Rhus spp. (Sumac)
Sophora secundiflora (Texas Mountain Laurel)
Ungnadia speciosa (Mexican Buckeye)
Yucca spp. (Yucca)

Herbaceous Plants, Cacti, Grasses, Vines, and Aquatics
Allium spp. (Wild Onion)
Amaranthus spp. (Amaranth)
Argemone spp. (White Prickly Poppy)
Artemisia ludoviciana (White Sagebrush)
Bouteloua spp. (Blue Grama and Sideoats Grama)
Capsicum annuum (Chiltepín)
Chenopodium spp. (Goosefoot)
Coreopsis tinctoria (Plains Coreopsis)
Cucurbita foetidissima (Buffalo Gourd)
Datura spp. (Jimsonweed)
Echinacea angustifolia (Purple Coneflower)
Equisetum spp. (Horsetail)
Eryngium yuccifolium (Rattlesnake Master)
Gaillardia pulchella (Indian Blanket)
Helianthus annuus (Sunflower)
Hoffmannseggia glauca (Indian Rush-Pea)
Lophophora williamsii (Peyote)
Lupinus texensis (Texas Bluebonnet)
Monarda spp. (Horsemint)
Nelumbo lutea (Yellow Lotus)
Opuntia spp. (Prickly Pear)
Opuntia leptocaulis (Tasajillo)
Phoradendron tomentosum (Mistletoe)
Phytolacca americana (Pokeberry)
Smilax spp. (Greenbrier)
Solanum elaeagnifolium (Silverleaf Nightshade)
Tillandsia spp. (Spanish Moss and Ball Moss)
Typha spp. (Cattail)
Verbesina virginica (Frostweed)
Vitis spp. (Wild Grape)

Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Customer Reviews