April 2007 Vol. IV No. 8
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Directors
& Officers
Ruth Loper, Director
Lynn Sherrod, Director
Sonnia Hill, President
Phone
903-849-5357
Sonnia36@hotmail.com
Jim Showen, VP Programs
Elizabeth Parks, Secy/Treasurer
Liz Soutendijk, VP Field Trips
Herb Jarrell, VP Membership
Kay Fleming, Newsletter Editor
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FROM
THE PRESIDENT
Dr.
Elray Nixon, to whom the Illustrated Flora of
East Texas is dedicated, will be in Nacogodoches for a book signing at 7 PM on March 30th at Stephen
F. Austin University's
Biology Department. Bring your book if you have one.
An Earth Day Festival will be hosted by Camp
Tyler, 15143
Camp Tyler Road in Whitehouse, on Saturday, April 21 from 10 am to 4 pm. Activities highlight ways to
keep our earth clean and vital. There will be hayrides, hikes, music,
animals and much more. Participants include University
of Texas at Tyler, Master
Naturalists, and The Audubon Society.
The 3rd Annual
Anderson County Master Gardeners Spring
Conference will be at Elmwood
Gardens www.elmwoodgardens.com, in Palestine
on May 11th. This year’s conference
is titled “Let's Talk Water!” Pre-registration and pre-payment is required by
Friday, May 4th. Check in from 8:00
to 8:45 A.M. Conference ends at 3:00 P.M.
Speakers will
include: Dr Monty Dozier of Texas
A&M University
(Water Harvesting), Dr John Nielsen-Gammon of Texas
A&M University
(Climatology), Mr. Keith Hansen; Smith County Agricultural Extension Service
(Mulch-Compost), and Dr Dotty Woodson; Tarrant County Agricultural Extension
Service (Lets go Natural – Plants Native to Our Area).
Lunch will be
provided by Elmwood Gardens.
There will be plenty of time between speakers for strolling through the gardens
and/or visiting a wide variety of exhibits/vendors. Door prizes will be given.
For additional
information go to: http://aggiehorticulture.tamu.edu/anderson Sonnia Hill
APRIL
PROGRAM
Our April 2nd program will be presented by Mr.
Barney Lipscomb and is titled The
Paintings of Redoute'. Mr. Lipscomb is Dorothea Leonhardt Chair of Texas
Botany and Head of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press. He is an author, researcher, and raconteur. He is co-author
of "Shinners & Mahler's Illustrated Flora of
North Central Texas," the "Illustrated Flora of East Texas,
Volume 1,” and numerous scientific publications. Barney has interests
that include poisonous plants and forensic botany. He has provided his expertise,
assisting in several criminal cases. He serves on the board for the North Texas Poison Center and enjoys teaching at schools where he is known as
"Barney the Botanist." This will be our joint meeting with the Tyler
Chapter of the Audubon Society.
DINNER FOR GUEST SPEAKER – Our Chapter has
invited our guest speaker to dinner at Gilbert's El Charro
at 2623 E. Fifth and the Loop. We will have dinner at 5:30 PM prior to our Chapter Meeting. Everyone’s
invited!
Future Program
Our May 7th program will feature Linda Chance from Louisiana presenting a program on "Bog Restoration." Jim Showen
FIELD
TRIPS
Spring Rains,
warmer weather, open fields, and woodland edges equal lots and lots of wildflowers!
We will be going on April 21st
to explore the Wildflowers at the Mineola Nature Preserve. I have put in a
special request for us with the town manager to “PLEASE NOT CUT THE GRASS – in
the fields and by the roadside at the Preserve before our visit.” He accepted
our request. Let’s meet at the Preserves Pavilion (you will see it from
the parking area) at 10:00 AM,
Saturday, April 21st. At our April chapter meeting we can set
up a car pool location for those that live in and around Tyler.
Directions: Take 69 North
toward Mineola. Before you get into
the town you will see construction of the soon to be Mineola
By pass and a new hotel going up on your
left. Just before you get to the hotel there is a sign for the Mineola Preserve. Turn right onto FM 2720 (the construction has made it a dirt road – this may
change by the 21st.) This will take you to Cap Ranch Road (FM 2724). Turn left and follow Cap Ranch Road to the entrance of the
Preserve. The entrance is on your right
approximately
2 miles. Liz Soutendijk
NEW MEMBERS
We want to welcome our new
members to the Tyler Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. It’s great
to have you with us! If you haven’t come to one of our meetings or our field
trips you are missing out. Also if you have recently joined our chapter and
you’re not listed below, let us know. Sometimes our State office is slow in
getting the word to us.
RECENTLY JOINED
MEMBERS
John Lester
Bart Soutendijk
PONDERINGS
Squaw-weed
By Kay Fleming
It
seems that everywhere you drive around the Tyler
area there are fields of yellow flowers. While there are many others that bloom
in the early spring, these yellow ones seem to dominate the landscape. I refer
to them as “Squaw-weed.” Not only because it arouses my imagination but the
plant’s yellow blossoms just speak to me in a language that can only be
interpreted by these earliest Texans. The plant is Senecio ampullaceus,
commonly called Texas groundsel,
ragwort, or my old favorite, “Squaw-weed.” I have always day-dreamed of a
beautiful bronze skinned Indian maiden lying in a field of its yellow blossoms.
Squaw-weed is most common in sandy open woods, fields, and roadsides. Individual
plants are usually about 12-16 inches tall but mature plants can grow over 2 ½
feet. Its leaves clasp the stem at their bases and are often woolly-pubescent.
Flower heads are about 1 inch across and usually have about 8 ray flowers. The
flower heads attach at the end of the plants stems forming flattened yellow clusters.
Senecio is a member of the Asteraceae
or sunflower Family. A few years ago
there were 6 species of the Genus Senecio that
were recognized by botanists in East Texas. However,
with extensive examination of the various plants’ morphological differences and
laboratory testing of chromosome numbers, all but the plant Senecio
ampullaceus has been reclassified into the
Genus Packera. (Of course this may change
again next week. Botanists like to do this kind of thing.)
Senecio vulgaris (common groundsel) is an introduced species
of the Genus that has been reported in the Dallas/Fort
Worth areas but to my knowledge, yet to be identified
in our area. This species contains toxic pyrrolizidine
alkaloids that have caused deaths in livestock but should be easy to recognize
since it usually has no ray flowers.
Most
of the books I have read indicate that Texas
squaw-weed is endemic to Texas.
However, with its wide distribution throughout East Texas,
I have always suspected this endemic status to be in error. The USDA plant
website shows a map with Texas, Arkansas
and Missouri colored like the
plant exists there but only Texas
shows actual county distribution. I bet the plant could also be found in Louisiana.
Some species
of Senecio have been used in poultices for
wounds and abscesses. The name groundsel was thought to have derived from
variations of the word “grundeswelge” which was an Anglo-Saxon word for
pus-absorber. The Genus name Senecio was
derived from the Latin word “senex” meaning old man. This alludes to the hoariness of
many of the plants and the white hairs of the flower’s pappus.
The
next time you look out across that yellow field of Squaw-weed; keep an eye out for
that beautiful bronze skinned Indian maiden lying in the field. I know one day
she’ll be there.
Contributions
to Newsletter
The newsletter is normally
printed monthly, September through May. Members are encouraged to submit
articles for publication in the newsletter.
Contributions will be considered on the basis of interest, suitability,
and available space. Grammar and
spelling corrections will be made at the discretion of the editor. Email your
articles and announcements to the editor at kfleming@suddenlink.net
or mail to Kay Fleming, 809 E. Clinton Ave,
Athens, TX 75751.
If you have never attended one of our meetings, and
you are interested in learning more about native plants and their habitats, we
invite you to give us a visit. Our
meetings are held at the Walter Fair United Methodist Church in Tyler on the first Monday of
each month, September through May. Walter Fair United Methodist Church is located just off 5th Street (Highway 64) at 1712 Old Omen Road, east of Loop 323.
NPSOT, Tyler Chapter
c/o: Kay Fleming
809 E. Clinton
Athens, TX 75751
