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Did you know that the goldenrod, genus Solidago, is edible? This plant is not only edible but is also well known for its healing properties (Edible Wild Food).  All aerial parts of the plant can be eaten (Edible Wild Food). One website recommends using the flowers as a garnish on a salad and cooking the leaves like spinach (Edible Wild Food). Other uses include using the flowers and leaves to make a bitter tea (Edible Wild Food).

Goldenrod’s medicinal properties include chemicals that increase urine flow and have anti-inflammatory effects (WebMD). It is used to treat gout, joint pain, arthritis eczema and other skin conditions (WebMD). It is also sometimes used to treat tuberculosis, diabetes, enlargement of the liver, hay fever and asthma (WebMD).

iNaturalist observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4299614

References

http://www.ediblewildfood.com/goldenrod.aspx

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-84-goldenrod.aspx?activeingredientid=84&activeingredientname=goldenrod

Also known as Mexican Hat, Ratibida columnifera is a Texas-native wildflower. It’s natural range in the United States includes central-eastern states, and has become naturalized in 36 out of the 48 contiguous states of the United States due to its aggressive proliferation method and indifference to more taxing environmental parameters (i.e. drought, soil type, etc.). It is a drought tolerant plant that withstands competition and has been known to push weaker, less-competitive plants out of an area. Mexican Hat is a fast growing wildflower that is not fussy about soils and is easy to grow from seed. Bees and other pollinators like this wildflower and its foliage gives off an odor that repels deer.

This plant’s medicinal uses include: tea from leaves and stalks used for stomach aches, tea from flower used for headaches, and boiled leaves and stems used to soothe snakebites and poison ivy rashes. iNaturalist post here.

Source for Mexican hat info.

This pretty purple plant is called Purple Heart, Purple Queen, or Wandering Jew. There are several kinds of Wandering Jew plants, Tradescantia genus, and this plant is specifically called Purple Heart (or Purple Queen): Tradescantia pallida.

This plant is native to Eastern Mexico and do really well in frost-free climate. Those pretty flowers are actually invasive plants. To be put in garden, the plant requires lot of maintenance to control the plant without having it taking over entire garden. This is partially reason why this plant is better off as household plant, or planted in the pot instead in the garden.

But do be careful when having this plant in the house with pets. Purple Heart is toxic to dogs and cats and can cause allergic dermatitis (rash).

My iNaturalist observation can be found here.

While walking my dog this afternoon, I noticed some new neighbors had just planted juvenile Texas Palm trees also name as Mexican Palmetto or Sabal Mexicana. I’m not sure how old these are but considering palms can grow up to 60 feet in height shows the youth of the one pictured below. There are over 2,500 species of palm trees but this kind is only really found (natively) between South and Central Texas, Mexico, and the along the Gulf Coast. It is often a common choice for a landscape plant because it has a high tolerance for cold and salt spray.

 

iNaturalist Link: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4271463

This week I took greater notice of something I see nearly every day — the patch of bamboo at the dog park. I think it’s grown there simply to provide variety to the areas for the dogs to explore, but not until moving to the south had I ever seen it also grown in many people’s yards and gardens. According to Feng Shui principles, bamboo at the front of the house ensures long lives of those in the household. Bamboos (Bambusoideae) encompass 1,439 species, and it is the fastest growing plant on the planet. Everyone knows about bamboo’s importance to pandas, but bamboo has a lot of cultural significance as well: Hindu flags are flown on bamboo flagpoles; bamboo paper is used to make ‘spirit money’ (money burnt in offering to those in the afterlife) among some Chinese communities, and the first ever gunpowder-based weapons were crafted from bamboo. Bamboo is present in mythology and folklore across numerous cultures, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, and Hawaii.

A crimson patch butterfly (Chlosyne janais) was spotted at Krause Springs in the butterfly garden. These butterflies range from the tropics to Texas. They’re pretty but literally the most fascinating facts I can find about them are that their chrysalis can range in color from white to gray to clear and the populations in Texas get killed off when the weather is too cold, and when it warms up again, the Mexican population recolonizes the area. They lay their eggs on the flame acanthus plant. Although I am usually fascinated by insects, these butterflies are unfortunately not terribly interesting, which I did not know at the time of observation.

You can find my iNaturalist observation here.

Recently I moved into a new apartment complex off South Congress. The location is great as it’s super close to St. Edwards and just a few minutes from downtown. I’m generally selective about where I park. I like to park away from other cars and try to avoid parking under trees where birds like grackles roost and defecate.   Last week after a quick rain I come out to find my car covered in these small pink/purple flowers.  I had to determine who the culprit was as soon as possible.  I figured out it was the Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica).  The reason I had all these flowers on my car is because this species is a beautiful summer-flowering deciduous tree-shrub.  The Crape Myrtle has been called the lilac of the south.  It is native to China and Korea but has naturalized to the southern US.

As I came to know, the Crape Myrtle is valued for its long period of striking papery crepe-like
flowers. In the summer these flowers my be shades of white, pink, red, or lavender. Bloom times can vary, but large clusters appear on the tips of new branches beginning in summer and into the fall. Interestingly, if you cut the fruits from the tree, you can stimulate more bloom in 30-45 days.   The Cape Myrtle is generally a shrub, but some side shoots and trunks can be clipped to train it into small tree.

I pass by this large patch of Inland Sea Oat (Chasmanthium latifolium) everyday on my way to St. Edward’s. This is the same native grass that Eric, Abbie, and myself are using to oversow our experimental plots with in the hopes that their growth will suppress the Chinese and Japanese privet populations. This is a 2-4 ft., clump-forming, perennial grass bearing large, drooping, oat-like flower spikelets. Their leaves look very similar to bamboo leaves and will turn yellow during the fall. Inland Sea Oat is very popular as a low-maintenance shade grass.  This grass can grow to be 2 feet tall within a few months of sprouting its first leaves. As the seeds mature, they will turn from green to ivory to brown and eventually fall off, or are eaten. The seeds are eaten by small mammals and granivorous birds, the leaves provide graze for mammals, and the stems and leaves are used as nesting material by birds. Inland Sea Oat is also the larval host plant for a few butterfly species: pepper & salt skipper butterfly, bells road side skipper butterfly, and the bronzed roadside skipper butterfly.

In the riparian ecosystem at Wild Basin, Inland Sea Oat is a favorable species to use the oversowing method with because this species is shade-tolerant, re-seeds easily, and can expand aggressively within a couple of years. They also help to stabilize the sediment and prevent soil erosion. iNaturalist Observation. 

Source for Inland Sea Oat info.

Every time my research group goes out to Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, we run into many different species that we’re not used to seeing in the city. For example, this weekend I spotted this unfamiliar friend sitting on a Yaupon Holly branch near the trail.

This insect is about two inches long and after doing some googling, I identified it as a Leaf-footed bug, or Acanthocephala terminalis.  These Leaf-Footed Bugs are native to most of North America and they tend to feed on native vegetation. If you look closely at the top photo, you can see herbivory activity on the leaves of the Holly that this individual is sitting on; perhaps he was there for breakfast.

My iNaturalist observation can be found here.

A couple of weekends ago, I took a few friends out to help with volunteer work at Inks Lake State Park. While there, we observed various species, including this butterfly.

At first, I identified it as a Monarch, but upon further research and help from the iNaturalist community found that it is actually a Queen Butterfly (Danaus gilippus).

This species is found mostly in the tropics, as well as into temperate areas in the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Larvae feed primarily on milkweed and dogbane. When they mature, their feeding preferences broaden, while sometimes still occasionally found to feed on milkweed. This species also has chemical defenses that make it unpalatable to predators.

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

References: http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/51743-Danaus-gilippus