Smallish annual or perennial herbs of damp or wet places. Stems creeping to ascending, sometimes rooting at the nodes, sometimes herbage resinous or glandular pubescent. Leaves opposite (whorled), simple, entire to toothed. Stipules small, membranous, paired. Flowers small, axillary, solitary or in cymes, perfect, regular, hypogynous. Calyx and corolla each 2 to 5(6), free (sometimes connate), imbricate, persistent or macrescent. Stamens as many as or twice as many as the petals. Gynoecium of 2 to 5 fused carpels, styles distinct, placentae axile, but in some species of Bergia the partitions not reaching the apex of the ovary. Fruit a 2- to 5-valved capsule, the partitions usually breaking away from the axis at maturity. Seeds few to many, commonly reticulate or pitted.

Two genera and ca. 35 species of temperate to tropical regions; 2 genera and 3 species in TX; 2 genera and 2 species here.

1. Plants less than 10 cm long or tall, prostrate, glabrous; flowers sessile, 3-merous. ...............

Small annuals of wet areas. Stems erect to prostrate, commonly rooting at the nodes. Leaves simple, sessile or petiolate, glabrous. Flowers sessile (as ours) or pedicellate, 1 or 2 per node, 2-,3-, or 4-merous. Sepals equal or unequal, sometimes macrescent. Petals imbricate in bud, membranous, closely appressed to the ovary in aquatic plants and spreading in terrestrial plants, sometimes absent. Stamens as many as or twice as many as the petals. Ovary 2- to 5- celled, with as many styles or stigmas, placentation axile. Capsule thin-walled, with 2 to 4 locules and valves, the septa remaining attached to the axis or disintegrating. Seeds several to many, usually with a diagnostic patterning of the surface.

About 20 species of temperate and sub-tropical regions; 2 in TX; 1 here.

A few species are grown as aquarium plants (Mabberley 1978).

1. E. brachysperma Gray Shortseed Waterwort. Small plant, forming mats to ca. 5 cm in diameter, individual branches prostrate to ascending. Leaves obovate to slenderly oblong-obovate or sometimes linear-spatulate, to 6 mm long and 2 mm broad. Flowers usually solitary in the axils, sessile. Sepals 2 or sometimes a reduced third present; petals 3, pinkish or greenish; stamens 3; stigmas 3. Capsule depressed-globose, 3-celled. Seeds oblong-ellipsoid, with pits in rows of 9 to 15, separated by acute cross-ribs. Rare on mud around seasonal pools, ponds, ditches, etc. Cen. TX; known from Madison Co.; OH and IL, W. to OR, S. to TX, AZ, and CA. Mar.-Oct. [E. triandra Schkuhr. var. brachysperma (Gray) Fassett.].

About 20 species of tropical and subtropical regions. We have the one species found in Texas.

1. Bergia texana (Hook.) Walp. Texas Bergia. Taprooted annual herb, diffusely branched from the base; stems ascending, 1 to 2.5(4) dm tall, often reddish, herbage more or less glandular puberulent. Leaves elliptic-oblong or oblong-oblanceolate, tapered to the base, apex acute, margin serrulate, to 3 cm long and 1.5 cm broad but often smaller, the uppermost pairs sometimes crowded and thus appearing whorled; stipules scarious, lanceolate, serrate, to ca. 1 mm long. Flowers short-pedicellate, 1 to 3 in the axils. Sepals 5, acuminate, to 3 to 4 mm long, the midrib greenish, thickened, and roughened, margins scarious; petals 5, white, oblong, shorter than the sepals; stamens 5 or 10. Capsule subglobose, 2 to 3 mm in diam., firm, 5-carpellate; seeds elliptic-oblong, curved, glossy light brown, only obscurely reticulate. Swamps, marshes, ditches, and on mud of ponds and banks. S. TX; IL to ND, W. to WA, S. to S. CA, TX, and AR. June-Oct., fruiting specimens collected into Nov. [Elatine texana Hook.

Ours annual or perennial herbs, subshrubs, or shrubs. Stems simple to branched, bark sometimes exfoliating; herbage generally glabrous; sap, in ours, often clear and resinous (in trees of other regions, resin white, yellow, or green). Leaves in ours opposite, sessile to petiolate, simple, entire, exstipulate, generally with translucent or black secretory cavities and/or canals evident as punctations or lines. Flowers in ours perfect (unisexual in Clusia), regular, hypogynous, in simple or compound cymose inflorescences or sometimes solitary. Sepals in ours 2, 4, or 5, imbricate in bud, equal or unequal, free, persistent. Petals 4 or 5, free, yellow or pinkish-flesh color (sometimes greenish), usually asymmetrical, convolute or imbricate in bud. Stamens many to few, sometimes grouped in fascicles, staminodes sometimes present. Gynoecium of (1)2 to 5(20+) united carpels with as many styles as carpels, styles free or basally united or sometimes only intertwined, usually persistent; placentation axile or parietal. Our fruits capsular, septicidally dehiscent, with few to many seeds.

About 50 genera and 1,350 species of the tropics and north temperate region; 2 genera and 25 species in TX; 2 genera and 9 species here.

The Clusiaceae as treated here includes plants treated by Correll and Johnston (1970) in the Hypericaceae. These plants (which form the whole of our species) can be considered to form the subfamily Hypericoideae. There is no argument about which plants belong in this group, only opinions about what rank it should receive (Cronquist 1981; Wood and Adams 1976).

There have also been some realignments at genus level. In Texas, there is an obvious and useful distinction between plants with 4-petaled flowers and plants with 5-petaled flowers, traditionally treated as Ascyrum and Hypericum, respectively. However, as pointed out by Adams and Robson (1961) and Robson (1980), when the group as a whole is considered throughout its range the distinction cannot be maintained. For example, 4-petaled flowers are found not to be exclusive to species assigned to Ascyrum; the unequal sepals traditionally associated with Ascyrum are likewise to be found in species of Hypericum. I have been persuaded by the literature that, while perhaps less convenient, combining the two genera seems logical. Some manuals continue to maintain Ascyrum. Hatch, et al. (1990) retained one Texas species in Ascyrum and listed the other as Hypericum.

In addition, the removal from Hypericum to Triadenum of species with flesh-colored flowers and an androecium consisting of 3 staminodia alternating with 3 fascicles of 3 stamens each is in keeping with recent treatments and checklists (Hatch, et al. 1990; GPlFA 1986; Wood and Adams 1976; Adams 1956).

The family is not of great economic importance. Several Hypericum species and some hybrids are cultivated for ornament. H. perforatum, Klamath weed, is native to Europe and has become a pest in western N. America and Australia. It is toxic to livestock. Mangosteen, Garcinia mangostana and Mamee Apple, Mammea americana, are tropical species with edible fruits (Wood and Adams 1976). Some of the tree genera provide timber (Mabberley 1987).

Shrubs, subshrubs, or annual or perennial herbs, stems simple or branched, usually erect, herbage generally glabrous, bark of woody species often exfoliating. Leaves opposite (in ours), sessile or clasping, with or without an articulation at the base, elliptic, cordate, or oblanceolate to linear or needle-like, often with translucent or black punctations or lines. Flowers perfect, solitary or in simple or compound cymes, pedicellate, in some species subtended by two bractlets. Sepals (3)4 or 5(6), unequal or subequal, persistent or falling when the capsule dehisces. Petals (3)4 or 5(6), yellow, convolute in bud, either falling soon after anthesis or withering and persisting. Stamens 5 to 10 or many, either free, in 3 or 5 fascicles with unequal numbers of stamens, or all filaments united basally into a short, shallow ring or band, persistent or deciduous, staminodia present or absent. Gynoecium of 2 or 5 (3 or 4) united carpels, ovary ovoid, styles 3 to 5(6), free or basally connate, usually persistent or at least the base persistent as a beak. Fruit a globose, ovoid, or conical capsule, unilocular or partially divided by 3 to 5 protruding parietal placentae or else completely 3- to 5-celled and the placentation axile. Seeds numerous, short-cylindrical, often reticulate.

About 300 species of the highland tropics, subtropics, and warmer parts of the temperate zone; 21 in TX; 7 here.

H. calycinum, H. androsaemum, and several Hypericum cultivars are grown as shrubs or ground covers for their showy flowers. The European Klamath Weed, H. perforatum, is a noxious weed of western North America and Australia (Mabberley 1987). It is harmful to livestock if eaten, producing photosensitization in white parts of the body. This plant can be biologically controlled by introducing European species of Chrysolina beetles which feed on the foliage (Wood and Adams 1976).

1. Sepals 4, the outer 2 much larger than the inner; petals 4; stamens many, free ................2

1. Sepals 5, subequal; petals 5; stamens many to few, often in 3 to 5 fascicles ......................3

2(1) Leaves oblong-elliptic, basally subcordate-clasping; outer sepals ovate to suborbicular, to 1.5(2) cm long, inner sepals lanceolate and nearly as long; styles 3 or 4 ...............................

Two subspecies, both present in our area. This species has been treated in TX keys and checklists as having 3 varieties (Correl & Johnston 1970; Hatch, et al. 1990) but work by specialists in the genus (Adams & Robson 1961; Adams 1962, 1973; Robson 1977, 1980) seems to indicate that there is reason to treat H. hypericoides as one highly variable species, separating only decumbent plants to subsp. stragalum.

subsp. hypericoides Small, more or less evergreen shrub (3)5 to 7(12) dm tall; stems erect, freely branched above, bark reddish brown, exfoliating in thin shreds or strips, young stems often 2-angled or -winged. Leaves opposite or sometimes appearing whorled where short axillary branches arise, variable in shape, linear to linear-oblong or oblanceolate, to ca. 3 cm long and 8 mm broad, generally widest near the middle, tapered to a sessile base, apex obtuse or rounded, both surfaces punctate, somewhat glaucescent beneath, margins revolute. Flowers solitary above the terminal pair of leaves on a branchlet, branchlets often in cyme-like arrangements; pedicels erect, 2 to 6 mm long, with 2 very small subulate bractlets borne at or near the apex. Sepals usually 4, outer pair ovate to broadly elliptic or subcordate, 5 to 12 mm long, 4 to 10 mm broad, apically obtuse to acute, punctate on both surfaces, inner sepals much smaller than the outer, minute or even obsolete and apparently wanting; petals 4, usually forming a cross with 2 acute and 2 obtuse angles, pale yellow, narrowly oblong-elliptic, generally 8 to 10 mm long and 4 mm broad, equalling or only slightly longer than the outer sepals; stamens many, free; styles 2. Capsule included or exserted from the calyx, ovoid to ellipsoid, 4 to 9 mm long; seeds oblong, ca. 1 mm long, reticulate, black. Usually in light, acid, sandy soil in open pine or hardwood forests, bogs, thickets, grasslands, etc.; in our area often in Post Oak woodlands on basic soils. E. 1/3 of TX; FL W. to TX and E. Mex.; N. to OK, KS, GA, VA, KY, MO, and into N.Eng.; also W.I. and S. to Hond. May-Nov. [Ascyrum hypericoides L., incl. var. hypericoides and var. oblongifolium (Spach) Fern.; A. oblongifolium Spach; A. linifolium Spach, etc.].

subsp. multicaule (Michx. ex Willd.) Robson Very similar to subsp. hypericoides, above except the plants decumbent, having several prostrate stems arising from the rootstock at ground level, each of these stems with many erect branchlets 1 to 2(3) dm tall, the plant as a whole forming a mat 3 to 4 dm in diameter. Leaves generally uniform, usually oblanceolate, broadest above the middle. Other characters as described above. Dry rocky slopes, embankments, and moist, rich woods. MA S. to NC, SC, and GA, W. to AR, TX, OK, MS, IL, IN, and OH. Apparently rare in our area, but we are at the SW edge of its range (Adams 1957). July-Aug.? [A. stragalum Adams & Robson; A. multicaule Michx. (non H. multicaule Lam.); A. spathulatum Spach; A. helianthemifolium Spach].

The only real difference between this plant and subsp. hypericoides is habit. The two have been observed to grow side by side without intergradation. The decumbent habit appears in subsp. stragalum in the seedling stage (Adams 1962).

Very closely resembles H. pseudomaculatum Bush. Some sources include H. pseudomaculatum within H. punctatum or reduce it to a variety thereof.

Very similar to H. galioides.

Very similar to the following species and difficult to differentiate using most keys. The presence of well-developed leaves subtending the lower inflorescence branches, the linear-oblong sepals, and the bluntish capsules are better identifying characters than the leaf shape and branched stem usually cited.

grounds, barrens, sometimes also in savannahs and wet areas such as bogs, depressions, swales, etc. S. Cen. and SE. TX; FL to TX, N. to NY, NJ, PA, WV, TN OH, IL, MO, and E. KS. June-July (later?).

Very similar to the preceding species--see the note at H. mutilum above--but apparently much less common locally.

Perennial, rhizomatous herbs. Stems erect, herbage glabrous. Leaves opposite, petiolate or sessile, without an articulation at the base, lower surface dotted with clear glands which may darken on drying (glands absent in T. tubulosum). Flowers in terminal and/or axillary cymes, perfect, floral bracts minute. Sepals 5, often unequal in size. Petals 5, imbricate in bud, flesh-color to mauve-purple or greenish, soon deciduous. Stamens in 3 fascicles of 3 each, the fascicles alternating with 3 orange staminodial glands. Ovary 3-locular, placentation axile; styles 3, free, spreading, stigmas capitate. Seeds reticulate-pitted.

Three species of the SE. U.S., all of which are present in TX; 2 here. Formerly included in Hypericum.

Trees or shrubs (some, but not ours, herbs), herbage commonly stellate- or branched-pubescent or with peltate scales. Leaves stipulate, alternate (rarely opposite), simple, sometimes lobed, often serrate, usually palmately veined. Flowers usually perfect, regular, solitary or in panicles or cymes. Epicalyx sometimes present. Sepals (3-)5, free or sometimes united at the base, valvate. Petals as many as the sepals, valvate (imbricate or convolute); nectaries sometimes represented by tufts of glandular hairs. Stamens (10-)many, free or basally united in 5 or 10 groups, sometimes 5 or more staminodia present. Ovary usually superior, (10-)many-celled or occasionally 1-celled by abortion and with incomplete partitions; style 1; ovules (1)2 to several per cell. Fruit drupe-like or dry, dehiscent or indehiscent.

About 50 genera and 450 to 725 species, depending upon interpretation, nearly worldwide. There are 2 genera and 3 species in Texas; 1 genus and 2 species here.

Several genera, including Tilia (Lime, Linden, Basswood), provide cultivated ornamental trees and soft, pale woods used for cabinetry, modeling, papermaking, excelsior, etc. (Elias 1980; Mabberly 1987). Many species have tough phloem fibers. Corchorus, an herbaceous species, is the source of jute fiber (Mabberley 1987).

Trees with soft, pale wood and tough phloem fibers in the inner bark. Herbage hairs simple to stellate. Leaves alternate, petiolate, generally cordate and serrate, basally often oblique, more or less palmately veined, stipules deciduous. Flowers white to yellow, fragrant, in axillary cymes, the peduncle adnate about half its length to a subtending bract, this membranous, strap-shaped, petiolate to subsessile. Sepals and petals each 5, petals oblong-spatulate. Stamens many, free or united in 5 bunches opposite the petals. Fruit with 1 or 2 seeds, indehiscent, nutlike, often grayish and tomentose.

Roughly 25 to 45 species of N. Temperate regions; 2 in TX, both of which we have.

T. americana and T. heterophylla are important timber trees in the U.S. The flowers of some species are a source of fragrant oils used in perfumery. Basswood flower honey is considered to be some of the finest (Elias 1980). Linden-flower tea has been used as a mouthwash and is reported to have some medicinal properties (Mabberly 1987). The seeds, buds, and twigs are a minor source of food for wildlife (Elias 1980).

NOTE: The Tilia species of the SE. U.S. are separable only by such variable characteristics as degree of pubescence. There is some logic in treating them all as one highly variable species, T. americana L. Some sources already do so, e.g. GPFA (1986) and Kartesz (1998).

The species as treated here includes Florida Basswood, T. floridana Small, considered a heterotypic synonym by Kartesz (1998). [T. nuda Sarg.; T. leucocarpa Ashe]. Both T. caroliniana and T. floridana were reported from our area and were nearly impossible to distinguish. Combining the two has made dealing with the local Tilia much less difficult.

If this species is placed under T. americana L., it becomes var. caroliniana (P. Mill.) Castigl.

Herbs, shrubs, or some (but not ours) small trees, often with mucilaginous sap; herbage usually with stellate hairs, sometimes with other types of hairs. Leaves alternate, petiolate, simple, entire to deeply lobed, usually palmately veined, stipulate. Flowers perfect (in ours; some others rarely dioecious or polygamous), regular, solitary and axillary or in cymose inflorescences resembling racemes, spikes, panicles, etc. Calyx often subtended by an epicalyx, an involucre of free or united bracts. Sepals 5, free or fused, tufts of glandular, nectariferous hairs often present at the inner base. Petals 5, free but often adnate to the base of the filament tube. Stamens (5-)numerous, monadelphous, united for most of the filaments' length, outer stamens sometimes staminodial; anthers 1-celled, longitudinally dehiscent. Gynoecium of (1)2 to many carpels, usually 3 or more in ours, with as many locules and styles (in ours); styles distinct or typically connate at least below; placentation axile, ovules 1 to many per locule. Fruit a loculicidal capsule, schizocarp, or rarely berry-like (in some, but not ours, a samara.) Seeds often pubescent; embryo straight or curved, endosperm usually present.

About 116 genera and 1550 species (Mabberly 1987), cosmopolitan but more abundant in the tropics and scarce in very cold regions; 28 genera and 88 species listed for TX (Hatch, et al. 1990); 11 genera and 22 species here.

The family is quite important. Cotton fibers and many useful byproducts are obtained from species of Gossypium. The family includes many ornamentals, including Hibiscus, Alcea (Hollyhock), Abutilon (Indian Mallow), Malva (Mallow), etc. Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus, is cultivated primarily in the southern U.S. for its edible immature fruit. Some tropical woody genera are used for timber Mabberley 1987).

1. Epicalyx present beneath each flower .....................................................................................5

2(1) Flowers in clusters, clusters subtended by ovate bracts which are whitish with green vein

About 6 to 9 species of tropical and subtropical America; we have the 1 species found in TX.

1. M. capitata (L.) L. Malva de Caballo. Perennial herb; stems to 1.5 m tall, usually branched; herbage loosely to velvety stellate pubescent and often with scattered whitish hairs to 2 mm long. Leaves, at least the larger ones, long-petiolate; blades orbicular to suborbicular in overall outline, commonly with 3 to 5 shallow to deep lobes, dentate, lower leaves to 12 cm long and 9.5 cm broad, upper leaves smaller; stipules to 1.5 cm long, subulate. Flowers in clusters or heads of few to several, mostly on axillary peduncles, clusters subtended by bracts; outer bracts (1.5)2 to 2.5 cm long, ovate, conduplicate or pleated, apically rounded to acute, serrate-dentate, green-margined and with a conspicuous network of green veins on a whitish body, velvety, inner bracts smaller, ovate. Epicalyx absent; flowers subtended by narrow, stipule-like bracts and often attached to them, perfect, regular. Calyx 6 to 8 mm long, with 5 ovate-lanceolate lobes; petals 5, ca. 1 cm long, asymmetrical, yellow or orange; staminal column shorter than petals, 5-toothed at apex, bearing 15 to 30 filaments near the middle; styles 10, stigmas capitate or discoid. Fruit a schizocarp, carpels 5, obtuse, convex, reticulate, almost glabrous, 2.5 to 3 mm long, 1-seeded, more or less indehiscent. Fields, palm groves, thickets, roadsides, cultivated ground, resaca banks, waste areas, etc. S. TX to Cen. Amer. and W.I. Collected near the Navasota River in the 1940's; not much seen since. Flowering all year; our collections from Sept. and Oct.

According to Mabberley (1987), a jute-like fiber is obtainable from the plants.

Perennial herbs from stout taproots or annuals (only occasionally biennial) from slender roots. Stems decumbent to erect; herbage with simple and branched hairs or glabrous. Leaf blades crenate to palmately or pedately 3- to 10-parted, the lobes entire to toothed, lobed, incised, etc. Stipules paired, ciliate, sometimes deciduous. Flowers showy, red to purple, wine, or sometimes pink or white, in our species racemose or occasionally somewhat corymbose or umbellate. Some species gynodioecious, with perfect and smaller male-sterile flowers. Epicalyx of (1-)3 bracts present or absent. Calyx deeply 5-lobed, each lobe usually with 3 to 5 conspicuous nerves. Petals 5, cuneate, truncate and erose to fimbriate, clawed bases with white hairs along the margins. Stamen tube filamentiferous along upper 1/2 to 4/5 the length. Style branches as many as the carpels, filiform, longitudinally stigmatic. Fruit a schizocarp; mature carpels 9 to 23(28), indehiscent or partially 2-valved, each with a sterile upper cell or beak, this small and angular to large and prominent, often reticulate and/or rugose, glabrous or pubescent, sometimes with a "collar" subtending the base of the beak, unilocular, 1-seeded.

Nine species in the U.S. and N. Mex.; 6 in TX; 5 here.

Some species are cultivated for their flowers. Others have edible roots or medicinal uses (Mabberley 1987).

To assure positive identification, it is desirable to have a specimen with entire or long-sectioned root and mature carpels. It is also helpful to note the color of the fresh corolla, as the color often changes substantially upon drying. The genus is often misspelled Callirrhoë.

1. Calyx subtended by an epicalyx of 3 bracts (epicalyx rarely absent in C. papaver) ..............2

1. Calyx not subtended by an epicalyx .........................................................................................3

Our most abundant Callirhoë. Two varieties are listed for TX (Dorr 1990), both of which we have.

var. involucrata Low Poppy-mallow, Buffalo Rose, Winecup. Sinuses of leaf blades extending to within 5 to 15 mm of the petiole; stipules 5 to 15 mm long, (3.5)5.5 to 10(16) mm broad; carpels strigose.

var. lineariloba (T. & G.) Gray Slimlobe Poppy-mallow, Geranium Poppy-mallow. Sinuses of leaf blades extending to within 2 to 4 mm of the petiole; stipules 2.5 to 11.5 mm long, 1.5 to 7.8(9) mm broad; carpels glabrous or more or less strigose. [C. lineariloba (T. & G.) A. Gray; C. geranioides Small].

The Plains Indians made use of the edible roots. The leaves are also edible and are useful for thickening soups and such, having the same mucilaginous properties as okra (Kindscher 1987). The dried root was used by the Sioux in smoke treatments for colds and in teas for pain relief (drunk or applied externally) (Kindscher 1992). Tull (1987) reports orange to gray dyes from the petals, but these have only fair light-fastness.

NOTE 1: The name C. pedata was for years erroneously applied to the annual C. leiocarpa (above). Also, for many years and in most manuals covering the TX flora, this plant was treated as a variety of C. digitata. The true C. digitata is absent from TX, being distributed on Ozark plateaus. C. digitata has more dissected, (3-)5- to 10-cleft leaves, caducous stipules, and a paniculate inflorescence. Dorr (1990) discusses the problem thoroughly. The first two common names listed above apply properly to C. digitata, but because of the confusion have come into use for our plant as well.

NOTE 2: Most TX populations have glabrous and glaucous stems, glabrous mericarps, and small rectangular beaks and grow in open areas. In AR and OK the stems tend to be strigose with 4-rayed hairs, carpels are strigose with simple hairs, and beaks are almost as large as those of C. alcaeoides. Leaves of these plants are also larger than those of typical TX plants. In the northern part of its range, therefore, it is often difficult to distinguish C. pedata and C. alcaeoides, but this is seldom a problem here.

The roots of C. digitata sensu A Gray are said to be edible (Kindscher 1987), but whether this applies to C. pedata as well is unclear.

Annual or perennial herbs, sometimes suffrutescent at the base or with ligneous rootstocks, more or less pubescent with stellate, forked, or scale-like hairs, but never silvery-lepidote. Stems prostrate to erect. Leaf blades variously shaped, symmetrical, palmately (rarely pinnately) veined, in our species unlobed. Flowers axillary, solitary or in small fascicles or cymes or sometimes forming a terminal leafy panicle, pedicel shorter than to longer than the calyx. Epicalyx usually absent. Calyx 10-ribbed at the base, enclosing the fruit at maturity. Petals variously colored, glabrous or sometimes with a ciliate claw, usually oblique, entire. Staminal column antheriferous to the summit. Style branches filiform, as many as the carpels. Carpels 5 to 15 around a central axis, separating at maturity. Schizocarp ovoid to disklike; mericarps glabrous to minutely pubescent, sides often reticulate or rugose, body with a lower, 1-seeded, indehiscent cell triangular in cross-section and an upper, sterile, dehiscent cell often with 2 apical spines, lower portion separated dorsally from the upper portion by a shoulder.

About 150 to 250 species of warm regions, especially Latin America; 10 listed for TX (Hatch, et al. 1990); 5 here. Many species have long and complex synonymies. This treatment is based on Fryxell (1985)

Fibers are obtained from a few species, including our S. rhombifolia (Mabberley 1987). Tull (1987) says that the young green fruits are edible.

1. Plants more or less prostrate ...................................................................................................2

1. Plants erect to ascending .........................................................................................................3

Fryxell (1985) maintains--and I agree--that variability in this species is continuous and chooses to recognize one highly variable taxon. If varieties are recognized, our plants are var. mexicana (Moric.) Shinners, with leaves linear to linear-lanceolate and carpels with 1 aristate tip.

This is one of the species with usable fibers in the stem (Mabberley 1987).

Herbs, subshrubs, or small trees (ours not arborescent), ours with herbage pubescent with stellate hairs or hirsute with long simple hairs, other species sometimes glabrous or glandular pubescent. Leaves stipulate, alternate, ours unlobed or only slightly lobed, usually palmately veined, blades generally ovate or cordate, usually crenate or serrate. Flowers solitary in the axils or less commonly aggregated into panicles, racemes, etc. Epicalyx absent. Sepals 5, usually united below, persistent. Petals 5, usually yellow or orange in ours. Stamen column filamentous at apex. Styles as many as carpels, stigmas capitate. Fruit a truncate-cylindric or ovoid schizocarp of 5 to many carpels united in a ring around a central column, mericarps usually 1-celled with 2 or more seeds (in some species the carpel divided in 2 by an endoglossum), apically rounded or acute to acuminate or spinescent, usually smooth-sided, dorsally dehiscent nearly to the base. Seeds glabrous or slightly pubescent.

About 200 species of the tropics and subtropics of Amer., Afr., Asia, and Austr.; 13 in TX; 2 here. This treatment follows J. Fryxell (1983) and P. Fryxell (1988).

Some species are cultivated for ornament or use in medicine. Some are fiber plants, notably A. theophrasti Medic. (Mabberly 1987). The flowers of A. esculentum of Brazil are edible (Mabberly 1987).

1. Carpels 10 to 15, ca. 10 to 18 mm long, with divergent beaks 2 to 5 mm long .......................

The stems yield a usable fiber. The plant is an important crop in China (Mabberly 1987).

This plant was treated by Correll and Johnston as (1970) A. incanum (Link) Sweet. Hatch, et al. (1990) erroneously listed A. incanum as a synonym of A. fruticosum. A. incanum is a valid species which occurs in Baja California, NW. Mex., AZ, and disjunctly in Hawaii. It is very similar but has strictly 5 carpels. GPFA (1986) lists only A. incanum with the characters and ranges of both species more or less combined. It is unclear to which species the specimens it cites for CO and NM belong; plants cited for TX are probably A. fruticosum while those cited for AZ are likely A. incanum.

Coarse annual herbs, shrubs, or small trees (in tropical regions). Herbage usually punctate and irregularly dotted with black glands. Leaves palmately veined, entire or more commonly palmately lobed or parted. Flowers axillary, conspicuous. Epicalyx or "square" of 3 to 7 bracts, these free or united, entire to lacerate. Sepals united, calyx truncate to 5-lobed. Petals convolute, white to yellow or purple, often purplish-red near the base or changing color after opening, longer than the stamen tube. Fruit a loculicidal capsule, each of the 3 to 5 cells with 2 to several seeds covered with a dense tomentulum (fuzz) and sometimes also loose woolly hairs (lint).

About 39 species in tropical and warm temperate regions. We have the one species found in TX as a waif from cultivation.

The seed fibers are the cotton of commerce. G. hirsutum L. and G. barbadense L. are the two most widely grown species in the U.S. In addition to fiber, the seeds provide oil and high-protein flour or meal, the latter an important ingredient in cattle feed. Only glandless cultivars which do not produce toxic gossypol yield seed meal edible by humans. The flowers are used in India in yellow dyes, and waste products from fiber, oil, and meal processing are used in various ways (Mabberly 1987).

1. G. hirsutum L. Upland Cotton, Algodón. Annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, cultivated as annuals; stems to a maximum of ca. 1.5 m tall; herbage gland-dotted. Leaves to ca. 15 cm long and about as broad, 3- or 5-lobed above the middle or sometimes unlobed, long petioled. Involucral bracts usually 3, broadly ovate, to ca. 6 cm long, lacerate with about 7 to 13 slender teeth. Corolla whitish to yellowish, often pinkish or purplish with age, petals ca. 3 to 5 cm long, asymmetrical, longer than the staminal column; filaments loosely arranged on the column and of varying lengths. Carpels and styles 3 to 5. Fruit ca. 4 cm long, ovoid, beaked, smooth, with a few oil glands, 3- to 5-celled with 5 to 11 seeds per cell; seeds with abundant fuzz and lint. Natural tetraploid of Cent. Amer.; many races and varieties in most cotton-growing regions of the world. An occasional waif in cotton-producing regions of TX. Flowering in summer. [G. mexicanum Tod.].

Some locally cultivated varieties have maroon foliage or are glandless--it is possible these might also be found as waifs.

Annual or more commonly perennial (as in ours) herbs, often shrubby, usually with some stellate pubescence. Leaves crenate or dentate to pedately or palmately cleft, lobed, or dissected, usually long-petioled. Stipules present but usually caducous. Flowers solitary in the axils or sometimes racemose, peduncles and pedicels present or the peduncles obsolete. Epicalyx usually present, of (7)12(15) free or united, usually linear bracts. Calyx of 5 sepals more or less united, often enlarged in fruit. Petals (in ours at least) usually 2 cm or more long, oblanceolate to obovate, showy. Staminal column anther-iferous along the sides, truncate or 5-toothed apically. Style with 5 short, more or less divergent branches, stigmas 5, peltate or capitate; carpels 5, permanently united, essentially glabrous to long hairy. Fruit a subglobose to ovoid or prismatic, loculicidal capsule enclosed or subtended by the accrescent calyx. Seeds several per capsule, without lint.

About 200 species of warm temperate and tropical regions; 12 in TX; 2 here.

Many species are cultivated for their showy flowers, including H. rosa-sinensis L. (China Rose), H. syriacus L. (Rose-of-Sharon), and many cultivars of mixed descent, often with one of the above named species in the lineage. Several species are sources of fiber for products such as rope, hats, mats, sails, etc. The flowers and/or leaves of some species are edible; hibiscus blossoms are a common ingredient in herbal teas. A few species are woody enough to supply timber for various uses (Mabberly 1987).

A monotypic genus of the W. Hemis.

1. M. caroliniana (L.) G. Don Carolina Modiola. Perennial herb; stems low, procumbent or creeping, rooting at the nodes, suffruticose at the base, to 6 dm or more long; herbage stellate-pubescent and/or hirsute with simple or geminate (paired) hairs. Petioles 2 to 7 cm long, often equalling or longer than the blades; blades shallowly to deeply palmately 3-to 5-lobed and/or incised, toothed, 2 to 7 cm long, to 4 cm wide; stipules 3 to 5 mm long, lanceolate to lance-ovate. Flowers solitary and axillary; pedicels 5 to 25 mm long, commonly filiform, in fruit to 6 cm long, equalling or longer than the subtending petiole. Epicalyx of 3 persistent, foliaceous bracts. Calyx 2.5 to 5 mm long in flower, 4.5 to 7 mm long in fruit, lobes triangular to more or less ovate, pubescent with mostly simple hairs; petals 4 to 6 mm long, little longer than the calyx, apically rounded, salmon-color to purplish-red or orange red, sometimes with dark or purplish-red bases, corolla open only during sunlit hours; stamens 10 to 20 or 30; styles 15 to 30, stigmas capitate. Fruit depressed-globose, carpels 15 to 30, separate at maturity, thin-coriaceous, reniform, much flattened, hirsute or pubescent, with 2 spreading apical awns or cusps, eventually falling from the axis and opening at the apex, becoming glabrate; seeds 1 per carpel, 1 to 1.3 mm long, smooth, dark brown. Lawns, waste grounds, disturbed areas, salt marshes, etc. In TX primarily in the S., but occurring elsewhere; FL to TX, N. to NC and VA, S. to Arg. Mar.-May, occasionally also in the fall.

From about 3 to 20 species, depending upon interpretation, native to warm and tropical America. We have one variety of the one species found in TX.

1. M. arboreus Dill. ex Cav. var. drummondii (T. & G.) Schery Drummond Wax-Mallow, Texas-Mallow, Turk's-cap. Shrub to 3 m tall, usually shorter, well-branched; herbage tomentose to tomentulose with stellate hairs. Petioles to ca. 7 cm long, shorter than the blades; blades essentially cordate or suborbicular-ovate, usually shallowly 3-lobed or -angled, 4 to 9 cm long and about as broad, margins crenate-dentate, base deeply cordate; stipules caducous. Flowers axillary or racemose, pedunculate. Bracts of epicalyx 5 to 16, linear-spatulate, to ca. 1.3 cm long, persistent. Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed above the middle, lobes triangular-lanceolate; corolla 2 to 3.5 cm long, bright red to scarlet, contorted, tubelike, petals 5, erect and connivent or only the apices spreading, cuneate-obovate, emarginate, basally auriculate on one side; staminal column exserted, 5-parted at the apex, with filaments crowded toward the apex; style branches 10, stigmas capitate to discoid. Fruit at first fleshy and berry-like, to ca. 2 cm broad, red, 5-celled, each cell 1-seeded; 1 carpels indehiscent at maturity, dry and stony, usually eventually separating from one another. Thickets, limestone ledges and slopes, wooded gullies, along streams, and in palm groves; also persisting where cultivated. From S. Ed. Plat. S. and E. to FL, also NE. Mex. and Cuba. Flowering throughout the year in its range; in our area usually summer to fall. [M. drummondii T. & G.].

Tull (1987) lists a number of uses. The fruits are edible raw or cooked and can be used to make jelly or syrup. The flowers can be used like Hibiscus flowers in herbal teas. The leaves may be eaten raw or cooked, though some find them tough and the pubescence unpleasant. Peach, mauve, and tan dyes can be obtained from the leaves and flowers.

Annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs. Stems erect; herbage with stellate hairs, these sometimes appressed or somewhat scale-like. Leaves alternate, petiolate, usually simple (as in ours), blades ovate to lanceolate or orbicular, crenate or dentate to palmately cleft; stipules commonly linear to falcate. Flowers axillary or in terminal racemes or spikes. Epicalyx usually of 3 bracts. Calyx 5-lobed. Corolla yellow to orangey (some, but not ours, with a red center) or purple. Staminal column antheriferous at apex. Styles usually as many as the carpels, (5)8-18(20), stigmas capitate. Fruit a schizocarp; mericarps usually pubescent or setose, indehiscent, more or less horseshoe-shaped with a ventral notch, compressed or sometimes turgid, sometimes tuberculate, aristate, or cuspidate, 1-seeded. Seeds glabrous.

A genus of 14 species of the tropics and warm temperate zones, primarily in the Americas; 3 species in TX; 1 here.

1. M. aurantiacum (Scheele) Walp. Wright False Mallow. Perennial from a woody root; stems 1 to several from the base, erect or reclining, sparingly branched, to ca. 6 cm tall, stems and branches stellate-lepidote. Petioles slender, slightly shorter than to about equalling the blades; blades ovate to cordate-ovate or oblong, to 6.5 cm long and 3.5 cm broad, basally rounded to broadly cuneate or truncate, apically obtuse to rounded, crenate to serrate, upper surface sparsely and lower surface more densely stellate pubescent; stipules lanceolate, to ca. 3 mm long. Flowers mostly solitary in the axils. Bracts of epicalyx 3, ovate to subcordate, acute to acuminate, adnate to but much shorter than the calyx. Calyx ca. 9 to 12 mm long at anthesis, lobes ovate-acuminate, epicalyx and calyx more or less densely stellate-tomentose; petals yellow to orange, sometimes drying pale pink, ca. 13 mm long. Mericarps 15 to 20, ca. 5 mm long, firm-coriaceous, smooth, reniform, much-compressed, reddish brown with a lighter patch near the point of attachment to the central column, the back narrow, flat, and with acute angles, apex gibbous or humped and hirsute, ventral surface aristate or pointed. Rare in Cen. and S. TX, infrequently collected in our area; also perhaps in Mex. adjacent to Cameron Co. Apr.-Oct. [M. wrightii Gray].

About 30 species of N. Amer., tropical and S. Afr., and Madag. We have the 1 species found in TX.

1. K. virginica (L.) K. Presl ex Gray Perennial herb to ca. 15 dm tall; stems branched or sometimes unbranched in small individuals; herbage stellate-hirsute or -tomentose, somewhat rough, greenish to somewhat cinereous. Lower leaves cordate-suborbicular to -ovate and angled, coarsely toothed to dentate, upper leaves and bracteal leaves mostly lanceolate, with or without 3(5) divergent lobes in the basal half, dentate to double-dentate or coarsely toothed, to ca. 8 cm long, petioles from shorter than to longer than the blades. Flowers axillary, pedicels from shorter than to equalling or exceeding the subtending bracteal leaves. Bracts of epicalyx (5-)7(8), linear subulate, 6 to 10 mm long. Calyx at anthesis 8 to 13 mm long, 5-lobed to below the middle, lobes lanceolate, minutely puberulent; petals 5, rose or pink, (2.5)3 to 4.5 cm long, 2 to 3 cm broad; column, including styles, 15 to 25 mm long, staminal tube usually not filamentiferous at the apex; styles 5, divergent, stigmas capitate. Capsule strongly 5-angled, depressed-globose, carpels densely and stiffly hirsute-villous with hairs 1.5 to 2 mm long; seeds 1 per cell, smooth. Brackish or nearly-fresh marshes, also shores and swamps. Coastal TX; FL to TX, N. to VA and DE; also Cuba. Known in our area from the R. D. Anderson Arboretum in College Station. June-Oct.

If varieties are recognized, our plants are var. althaefolia Chapm. with stems and calyces densely pubescent [K. althaefolia (Chapm.) Gray].

Annual, biennial, or perennial herbs. Stems trailing or procumbent to ascending or erect, glabrescent to sparsely pubescent, often with stellate hairs. Leaves alternate, long petiolate; blades orbicular or reniform in outline, crenate, dentate, or serrate to shallowly or deeply palmately 5- or 7-lobed, some (not ours) deeply dissected. Stipules persistent, ciliate, asymmetrically ovate. Flowers solitary or clustered in the axils, sometimes grouped in terminal inflorescences. Epicalyx of (2)3 distinct bracts, these subulate or linear to ovate or obovate, persistent. Calyx 5-lobed, lobes filiform to linear or lance-ovate, often spreading and accrescent in fruit. Petals white to pink, purple, or blue-white, truncate to obcordate or apically notched. Staminal column included, antheriferous only at the apex. Styles as many as the carpels, 8 to 15(20), filiform, stigmatic surface introrsely decurrent. Fruit a schizocarp, disk-like, depressed in the center, pubescent to glabrous. Mericarps round-reniform, compressed, beakless, smooth to rugose or reticulate, indehiscent, 1-seeded.

About 100 species of Eur., Afr., and the Mid. East, several of which are naturalized in the New World; 4 found in TX; 2 here.

Some are cultivated for ornament, e.g. M. moschata (Musk Mallow), as leaf vegetables, e.g. M. verticillata and M. parviflora, or for their edible fruit, e.g. M. sylvestris. Some are used in herbal medicines. The common names "Cheeses" and "Cheese-weed" refer to the shape of the fruit (Mabberly 1987).

1. Mericarps definitely rugose or reticulate, usually with dorsal angles more or less winged; petals 4 to 5 mm long, little if at all longer than the calyx; pedicels shorter than the calyx .....

This plant has the potential to be weedy as the seeds remain viable for up to 200 years (Fryxell 1988). It is grown as a forage crop in Mexico (Fryxell 1988) and the young leaves are edible as a potherb (Tull 1987).

Medve and Medve (1990) gave recipes for a Cheeses soup and a confection using this species. They mention that the plant's mucilaginous properties make it useful as a skin softener.

GPFA (1986) lists M. rotundifolia L. as a synonym, but that is a separate, valid species.

Perennial insectivorous plants. Leaves tubiform or pitcher-like, partially filled with digestive liquid. Insects attracted by nectar glands and prevented from escaping by the very smooth lower interior and a zone of stiff, retrorse hairs below the pitcher rim. Flowers usually solitary, regular, hypogynous, perfect. Fruit capsular.

Three genera and 15 species of W. and E. N.A. and E. S.Amer.; we have the one Sarracenia species found in TX; there are 8 in the U.S. and parts of Canada. Where species are sympatric, hybrids occur, but this is not a problem in our area.

The family is not of economic importance. Species of Sarracenia (Pitcher Plant) and Darlingtonia (Cobra Lily) are grown in acid bog terraria as oddities. Some species have been dangerously over-collected for sale. Most have a higher survival rate when grown from seed or purchased as nursery-grown plants.

1. S. alata Wood Yellow Trumpets, Pitcher Plant. Plants acaulescent, rhizomes with overlapping, scale-like leaves. Pitcher-like leaves estipulate, yellow-green to bright green, erect, gradually expanded upwards to the orifice, to 7.5 dm tall, with a narrow adaxial wing to 1 cm broad, abaxial hood with a narrow base, ovate to suborbicular, to 4 to 6 cm broad, upper portion of pitcher and the hood often with red or purple veins, reticulations, or generally colored, tube glabrous to finely and shortly pubescent externally, early or late season leaves sometimes not pitcher-like, these termed phyllodia--if present, phyllodia somewhat sword-shaped, ca. 1/2 to 2/3 as long as the pitchers. Flowers solitary on scapes about equalling the pitchers, nodding at anthesis. Calyx subtended by 3 appressed, persistent bracts, these apically rounded, 1 to 1.5 cm long; sepals 5, imbricate, persistent, 3 to 6 cm long, bluntly obtuse; petals 5, imbricate, deciduous, bright-, whitish-, or greenish-yellow, 5 to 7 cm long and up to 4 cm broad at the apex, hanging down between the style lobes, constricted into an obovate basal portion and an ovate-orbicular to somewhat obovate, broadly rounded upper portion; stamens many; gynoecium 5-carpellate, style 1, slender below and expanded above into a greenish-yellow, convex, peltate, umbrella-like, 5-lobed structure 5 to 8 cm broad, with a stigma under each of the notched lobes; placentation axile below, intruded-parietal above. Fruit a loculicidal capsule, 5-locular, muriculate; seeds many, irregularly clavate to evolved, laterally winged or keeled, tuberculate, dark. Acid bogs on slopes, and in pinelands. E. and SE. TX; known in our area from sandy acid bogs in Robertson and Leon Cos.; Gulf Coast Plain from E. TX and S. LA to SW. AL. Mar.-Apr.(May).

This species can be grown from seed, though germination can be a lengthy process. Terrarium plants may flower when shorter and have smaller flowers than wild plants.

Perennial, biennial, or annual insectivorous herbs. Leaves primarily in a basal rosette or alternate and crowded below, circinate or infolded in bud, modified as active, triggered traps (e.g. Dionaea) or as passive traps with sticky glandular hairs as in our Drosera. Stipules present or absent. Inflorescence scapose; flowers perfect, regular, 5-merous. Gynoecium superior, unilocular, carpels 3(5), styles 3(5) bifid or divided (united in Dionaea). Fruit usually a 3- to 5-valved loculicidal capsule; seeds (3 to) many.

Four genera and about 85 species worldwide; 1 genus and 3 species in TX; 2 species here.

These plants are often grown as curiosities. Venus' Fly Trap (Dionaea) is especially popular. It has been over-collected from the wild but may be easily propagated by tissue culture.

Small biennial or perennial (rarely annual) herbs. Leaves all in a basal rosette, circinate in bud, red or green, upper surface, margins, and sometimes petioles with tentacle-like gland-tipped hairs, each bearing a droplet of shiny, viscous fluid. Stipules absent or present and scarious, divided or fringed, free or adnate. Inflorescence a 1-sided raceme, (1-)2- to many-flowered, occasionally branched, the undeveloped tip usually nodding or rolled under. Flowers short-pedicellate, diurnal, sepals, petals, and stamens withering-persistent. Sepals 5, imbricate, sometimes slightly connate at the base. Petals 5, white to pink, free or slightly basally united. Stamens 5, usually opposite the petals. Styles 3(5), very deeply bifid. Some species with cleistogamous flowers. Capsule with 3(5) parietal placentae and 3(5) valves, many seeded. Seeds minute and reticulate or ornamented.

About 8 species, primarily of wet or damp places; 3 species in TX; 2 here.

Small insects are attracted to the sticky droplets and become stuck. The hairs then curl around the insects, holding them fast while they are digested. Some are cultivated as curiosities.

to 12 rows. Damp sandy soil, often with moss, in pine or mixed woods, also open bogs. E. and SE. TX; S. VA and TN to SE. KS and E. OK, S. to FL, AL, LA, and TX. Feb.-Jun. [D. annua E. L. Reed; D. leucantha Shinners].

Ours annual or perennial herbs (elsewhere also low shrubs or suffrutescent). Leaves simple, alternate, opposite, or whorled, entire; stipules absent (present in some Eurasian species). Foliage often pubescent with hairs clustered so as to appear stellate. Inflorescence various, flowers perfect, hypogynous, regular with the possible exception of the calyx. Sepals 5, convolute, with the outer often smaller than the inner and sometimes adnate to them. Petals 3 (in Lechea) or 5, absent in cleistogamous flowers, convolute in the opposite direction from the sepals, often crumpled in bud. Stamens (3) to many, irregular in number, distinct, inserted on or just outside a nectary disk. Ovary of (2)3(5 to 10) united carpels, unilocular or sometimes appearing divided by the intrusion of broad parietal placentae. Style (0)1, stigma 1(3), some-times lobed. Fruit a loculicidal capsule, seeds (1)3 to many.

Seven or eight genera with ca. 175 to 200 species of temperate and warmer regions, especially the Mediterranean and E. U.S.; 2 genera and 9 species in TX; 2 genera and 6 species here.

The family is not of great economic importance. Some species of Helianthemum and Cistus are grown as ornamentals. Some Cistus species are sources of aromatic resins used in soaps, etc. (Mabberley 1987).

Ours perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, with hairs grouped and appearing stellate. Flowers of two types: chasmogamous flowers showy, with pedicels ultimately to more than 1 cm long; sepals (3)5, the outer 2 smaller and united to the inner 3; petals 5, yellow; stamens 10 to 50(100). Cleistogamous flowers with pedicels usually less than 3 mm long; sepals smaller than those of chasmogamous flowers; petals absent; stamens 3 to 8. Gynoecium with (2)3 carpels, style short to elongate, stigma capitate. Capsule 1-celled with 2 or 3 slender parietal placentae, each with few to many seeds.

About 110 species in the N. Hemis., the center of distribution around the Mediterranean; 4 species in TX; 3 here.

A few species are grown as ornamentals, notably H. nummularium (L.) Miller and its forms (Mabberley 1987).