October 2007 Vol. V No. 2

Directors & Officers

Ruth Loper, Director

Lynn Sherrod, Director

Clyde McKinney, President

Phone 903-967-3998

franclyde@peoplescom.net

Liz Soutendijk, VP Programs

Elizabeth Parks, Sec/Treasurer

Ron Loper, VP Field Trips

Marjorie Sherrod, VP Membership

Herb Jarrell, Newsletter Editor

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Our Chapter has invited our guest speaker to dinner at Gilbert's El Charro at 2623 E. Fifth and the Loop, 903-596-7222. We will have dinner at 5:30 PM prior to our Chapter Meeting. Everyone is invited!

CURSES ON YOU, SNAKE-COTTON!

Lately, on my usual walks and jogs (more like the old man’s shuffle) around the lake, I noticed a new color overtaking the landscape, producing a contrasting texture to the usual grasses and occasional remnant of wildflowers. Being somewhat botanically challenged, I inquired as to what it was and was told it was snake-cotton.

Thinking this would be a good opportunity to try to learn something, I turned to my growing, but largely unread, botanical library. So, after blowing my nose, I looked through my watering eyes at Tull & Miller—nothing. Wiping my eyes, I consulted “Wildflowers of Louisiana and Adjoining States” by Brown and struck out again. Not to be discouraged, I blew my nose again and consulted Campbell and Loughmiller (1984) and found slender snake-cotton, Froelichia gracilis, but it was described as “growing in the plains and rocky slopes of West Texas”—didn’t sound right to me. I used my eye drops, then found Ajilvsgi. This had to be it. She listed snake-cotton, Froelichia floridana, and described it as inhabiting “deep sands in prairies, rangelands, disturbed areas and woodland edges and openings” throughout the state. Then, there it was … the last sentence: “Plants of snake-cotton are wind-pollinated and are considered a major cause of hay fever.”

Just to make sure there were not more Froelichias around, I hoisted my “Shinner’s” to my lap. Sure enough, floridana and gracilis were the only two listed, so it must be one of the two. Gracilis was described as being located throughout much of Texas except for the far eastern part. It also said that the two often grow together in the same areas and can hybridize. It then mentioned the observation of Ajilvsgi that it causes hay fever. I said, “curses on you, snake-cotton”—and blew my nose again!

Clyde McKinney

OCTOBER PROGRAM

SEED COLLECTION and STORAGE

by Rossanna Ohlsson-Salmon

Learn how to collect and preserve native plant seeds! Attend our program at the Tyler Chapter's monthly meeting held on October 1st, 2007 at 7:00pm in the Fairwood United Methodist Church, 1712 Old Omen Rd., Tyler, Texas. The speaker, Rossanna Ohlsson-Salmon, holds a BS in Horticulture and is a seed collector for the LBJ Wildflower Center and the University of Texas for the Millennium Seed Bank Project.

A few of the other programs planned for the 2007-2008 year are: Identifying Native Grasses of Texas by Barron Rector, Plant Diversity on the Prairie by Jim Eidson, and Mushrooms and Fungi by David Lewis. The programs are free and open to the public. If you would like membership information about the Tyler Chapter of the Native Plant Society please contact Marjorie Sherrod, VP Membership at (903) 939-2227.

Liz Soutendijk

FIELD TRIP

For our October Field Trip, we will attend the Clymer Meadow function on October 6^th. We will probably meet in the Super 1 parking lot on the North Loop near US 69. We will discuss final arrangements, including a rendezvous time at the October 1^st meeting. Plan to enjoy the lunch provided by our host and hostess.

Ron Loper

NEW MEMBERS

Welcome our new members to the Tyler Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas!

Jeanne Ansley—Gladewater, TX & Kenneth & Sherry Bitz—LaRue, TX

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 above, please forgive our oversight and let us know.

Marjorie Sherrod

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

Smith County Seed Sale

Early in September, Ron Loper and Fran and Clyde McKinney manned and womened our booth at the Smith County Master Gardener’s Fall Conference and Bulb Sale, and were pleased to earn $73 selling seeds for the Tyler chapter. The money has been deposited to our Southside account.

2007 Stephen F. Austin Arboretum Les Reeves Lecture Series

October 18—Cecil Pounders, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Poplarville, Mississippi—“Improving Plants for Southern Gardens”—cpounders@msa-stoneville.ars.usda.gov

November 15—Ken Tilt, Auburn University, Alabama—“Lotus: The whole world gets it but US". One of the oldest cultivated plants in the world, worshiped and admired in religion, art and literature and is enjoyed by BILLIONS of people in China, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and other countries—all but US. From the beauty in the garden to elegance on a dinner plate to beer nuts in the bar to anti-aging and other medicinal wonders, Lotus makes a difference. See what you have been missing with this plant and possibly a few other jewels of the orient—kentilt@gmail.com.

December 20—Dave Creech, SFA Mast Arboretum Director, Nacogdoches, TX—“Mexico, China and baseball—ain’t life grand?—dcreech@sfasu.edu

The SFA Arboretum Les Reeves Lecture Series is normally held the third Thursday of each month from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm in room 110 of the Stephen F. Austin University Agriculture Building on Wilson drive (between the Art building and the intramural fields). It is FREE and open to everyone! Refreshments are served before the talk and a rare plants raffle is held afterwards. For more information see http://arboretum.sfasu.edu

Contributions to the 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.

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 Fairwood United Methodist Church in Tyler on the first Monday of each month, September through May. Fairwood United Methodist Church is located just off 5th Street (Highway 64) at 1712 Old Omen Road, east of Loop 323.

Please note: if you want to forward this newsletter to someone via snail-mail, simply fold it in half so that the blank back side of this page is available for addresses and postage, and staple or tape the two sides and the bottom.