prairie plants - Sarah Jay

In this ‘Weekly Native’ series, I’ll showcase a species of plant that is seasonally active in North Texas. This week’s native is Turk’s Cap, also known taxonomically as Malvaviscus arboreus.

This Texas annual hails from Central and South America and has made its way into Texas. Generally a resident of the Gulf Coast, somehow it managed to find purchase in one county in North Texas. Most likely because someone who loved it down south decided to include it in their garden here or gifted a cutting to their northern friend.

It’s a very happy plant, no matter where it ends up in it’s growing regions. It enjoys full sunlight to partial shade and subsists in silty prairie soils to rich, loamy forest floors. Host to several species of butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds, it’s a great addition to vegetable gardens and orchards that require pollination to fruit. It’s pest resistant as well, able to propagate beyond the damage done by white flies which don’t usually make their way to the plant unless it’s domesticated.

*This is the hybridized version of Turk’s Cap, denoted Pam Puryear.*

It’s very showy and in landscaping projects. The flower color ranges from red to white, with newer hybrid species showing off light pink flashes. Flowers present mostly closed with a stamen rising through and above the small blooms – about one inch in size. Turk’s cap is drought-resistant, but not cold tolerant. That’s not a problem in the zones you’ll find it living. Freezes aren’t persistent in many of them. However, it is an annual, so longer-term cool temperatures will cause its leaves to yellow and for it to die back. Wait for it to grow back in spring, though.

It’s a Texas Superstar according to Texas A&M Agrilife. The criteria for a Texas Superstar are as follows:

must be attractive and useful to the gardening public
must be unique and offer desirable and ornamental characteristics (i.e., the ability to perform in the heat of Texas summers or pest resistance) not usually available in commonly sold plants
must consistently perform well for most Texas consumers regardless of their gardening expertise and growing locations
must be as pest resistant as possible (deer proof is an added bonus)
must be able to be propagate and mass-produce in sufficient numbers to meet consumer demand; and
preferably is so attractive in the sales container that it “sells itself” to consumers – who have never heard of the attributes of the plant

Based on these, it’s easy to see how Turk’s Cap is a great plant to begin a gardening journey. Maybe one of your friends is growing it? To propagate the plant, root clippings in water with rooting powder. Then plant in soil.

Most of the plant – save the roots – can be eaten. Small fruit grow after the plant flowers, and studies have shown the fruit can reverse liver damage in lab rats. Foragers purport the plant is a great source of antioxidants, protein, starch, and vitamin C. So, if you find yourself starving in a field of Turk’s Cap, take a few! But use proper preparation methods to break down hard-to-digest enzymes first and ensure the plant has not been treated with toxic pesticides which can poison anything over time. The leaves, for instance are less difficult to digest if they’ve been wilted a bit. The flowers can be eaten raw and taste like honey suckle. Mineral and nutrient concentrations have powerful medicinal benefits as well, making Turk’s cap a wonderful treatment for colds, fever, wounds, and hypertension. That’s just a few of the medicinal uses for this plant. In fact, the medicinal use of Turk’s Cap has been employed to this day in Mayan culture. Current studies show it could be very promising if used in the pharmaceutical industry.

So, if you’re new to gardening, or you just want to grow something that doesn’t require much effort on your part, Turk’s Cap is your plant. Wait until Spring, and try it out, why don’t you?

*Here it is, doing great and persistent among other lovely plants despite our recent cold snaps. Grow on, friend!*

References:

https://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/08/turks-cap.html

http://admin.ipps.org/uploads/16B-Grant-Greg-Texas-Superstar.pdf

Patrock, Rich, Shelley Maher, and John Reilley. “A comparison of flower visitors to Texas native and exotic ornamentals.”

Abdelhafez, Omnia Hesham, et al. “Hepatoprotective potential of Malvaviscus arboreus against carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury in rats.” Plos one 13.8 (2018): e0202362.

Rodríguez-García, Cecilia Mónica, et al. “Antioxidant, antihypertensive, anti-hyperglycemic, and antimicrobial activity of aqueous extracts from twelve native plants of the Yucatan coast.” PloS one 14.3 (2019): e0213493.

In this ‘Weekly Native’ series, I’ll showcase a species of plant that is seasonally active in North Texas. This week’s native is Aromatic Aster, also known taxonomically as Symphyotrichum oblongifolium.

Walking through the rocky side of my yard last week, I found this!

*Well, hello there, tiny flowered friend.*

I knew it was in the aster family due to its characteristic flowers. They look a bit like a daisy, but the petals are thinner. They vary in color from white to lavender, and are so small – only a few centimeters wide. The leaves are variable from base to tip. It’s this that made it difficult for me to confirm identification. However, I found there is only one aster that grows here in North Texas. Commonly known as Aromatic Aster, Fall Aster, or by its Latin name, Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, and it is covering the Blackland Prairie right now.

After this sighting at my house, I noticed more of these Asters around on walks in my neighborhood. What struck me most is how many different forms the plant can take. Note the clustered nature of this patch I found in a nearby yard:

*See how the flowers close up a bit when they’re in close quarters?*

The leaves are barely visible among crowded blades of St Augustine grass. What is always striking is the flowers. I wasn’t the only one who noticed them, either. Social media posts in various gardening pages were full of questions about what to do with this perennial that emerged in a yard. Is it a weed? Is it invasive? How can I get rid of it?

That last question was my least favorite, of course, knowing what I know now about this native. From basic observation (see the photos in this post), it’s obvious the plant thrives in many different environments: rocky, disturbed areas; lush and regularly watered yards full of non-native grasses; and of course, my favorite find – on the nearby prairie.

So, what’s so great about Aromatic Aster? Well, a lot, actually. Not only do pollinators love it, but it is drought resistant. So, when social media threads have bits of advice that include pulling up the plant by its root, I have to jump in and say, wait! Think of the bees and butterflies that depend on nearby stops to survive. Know that if you decide to reduce the amount of water you apply to your non-native grass-filled yard it will carry out its growing season regardless. As will many others. But that’s a topic for another post.

In my research, I learned that not only does this plant survive drought, but it works to restore disturbed prairie land. Even though it has a relatively short growing season (from September to early November), it stores its energy in bud banks that exist below the prairie surface. So, pulling it up by the root will do little to prevent it from coming back next year. Furthermore, the more the soil it lives in is disturbed, the more likely it will step in to do some cleanup. Pulling it up by the root will actually promote growth rather than reduce it. The Aromatic Aster is a stabilizer for the prairie, and an essential for maintaining a thriving and healthy ecosystem. Due to many factors, the prairie is at risk, and allowing it to do what it would do without human intervention only bolsters its ability to self-regulate.

That feedback loop is so exciting to me: the prairie gets burned by wildfire, cut down by lawn mowers and heavy foot-traffic, and the easy-going, adaptable, drought-loving Aster steps in to restore and re balance what is off-kilter. What’s even more interesting is that this particular species of Aster has been used medicinally to treat fever. A fever is a kind of imbalance in the body, eh?

This great balancing ability has more mileage when we look at what effect the Asteraceae genus has had on the plant taxonomy community. In the past few decades there has been a lot of debate on whether or not certain plants that were scientifically categorized in the genus actually belonged there. This caused a schism from one genus (Asteraceae) into eight different genera. Even further divisions are currently in discussion. In a way this plant has convinced those of us who notice it to refocus, reclassify, and restore literally and figuratively. So if you notice these growing in your yard, please don’t remove them. They’re there to get in, do some dirty work, and retreat back into the dark below the prairie surface to rise again next fall.

If you’d like to grow Aromatic Aster in your garden, you can divide the plant easily now as it’s growing and bring it in for winter. Or you can purchase it from a local nursery that sells Texas perennials next fall. Whatever the case, do not disturb lest ye be overrun with Aster next year!

References:

Cobb, Forrest, and Roel Lopez. “Facing urban water challenges with integrative irrigation techniques in drought-prone areas.”

Gök, Rengin, et al. “Shear wave splitting and mantle flow beneath LA RISTRA.” Geophysical Research Letters 30.12 (2003).

VanderWeide, Benjamin L., David C. Hartnett, and Daniel L. Carter. “Belowground bud banks of tallgrass prairie are insensitive to multi‐year, growing‐season drought.” Ecosphere 5.8 (2014): 1-17.

Yatskievych, George. “How faster to master the Aster disaster: a primer on the changing nomenclature of Missouri Asters.” (2004): 26-32.

Tag: prairie plants

North Texas Native: Turk’s Cap

North Texas Native: Aromatic Aster