September 2006 Vol. IV No. 1

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

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Hello everyone. I miss our meetings during the summer but can usually make up for them by going out “botanizing.” By this, I mean that I go out looking for new plants to bring home, dissect, look at under the microscope and figure out what they are. This summer there has been a dearth of these due to the drought and this heat but I saw one I would like to share with you.

I visited Elizabeth Parks, walked around her property a bit, and as we were heading back to the house for a cool drink; I saw a plant, with opposite leaves, tiny flowers, and some fruit hanging down parallel to the stem. I knew it was something I had not seen before and we brought it back to key out using one of the many books I had lugged to her house, i.e., Shinners, Nixon’s Vines, Trees, the new ET Flora, Nixon’s Herbaceous Plants…the list goes on.

We started with Shinners and by carefully examining the tiny asymmetrical, 2-lipped flower we were lead to the Phrymaceae family. Fortunately for us, there is only one species, Phryma leptostachya, in this family so we did not have to go through another key to identify this delicate plant. You will notice when you go to the links below that it is in the Verbenaceae family but several experts decided that after careful study of the pollen morphology and other characteristics of Phryma, it “emerges as a distinct lineage”, therefore, should be placed in its own family.

The common name for P. leptostachya is lopseed and it describes the fruit, which become reflexed and lie parallel to the inflorescence axis. The plant is 1-3 ft. tall. The 1/3 in. long flowers are on spikes terminating the stems and upper leaf axils and are light lavender with a paler whitish lower lip. The calyx has three distinctive upper teeth that are seen clearly in photos viewed on the Internet.

The plant is native to Asia and North America’s east coast. This disjunct distribution pattern can be found in other species such as Campsis radicans, the common trumpet creeper. Plant geographers have concluded that changes in sea level, landmasses, and mountain building in the Mid-Tertiary Period, may account for the restricted range of many plants.

By the way, my photos of this plant are still in the roll that has been in my camera since I visited Elizabeth in early July. I may have to switch to 24 exposure rolls. I have always used 36 exposures so I don’t have to be changing the roll as often when I am on field trips but I just looked to see how many I had shot so far and I still have 14 photos left to shoot. Here are a couple of websites where you can view this flower and see if perhaps you have overlooked it in your back yard somewhere. Keep your eyes open.

http://www.missouriplants.com/Whiteopp/Phryma_leptostachya_page.html

http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/images.asp?plantID=3692

Now that the cooler weather is almost around the corner, I can hardly wait for our very fun field trips so I can have some more botanical puzzles to solve.

NPSOT News - You may recall that a large amount of NPSOT money had been embezzled by the contract coordinator and she did not file any taxes for the organization during this period, from 2001-2005.   When the tax returns were filed in February of 2006, the IRS assessed NPSOT with about $13,000 in penalties for this non-filing period.  Bill Lindemann, the state President, wrote the IRS explaining what had happened, asking for an abatement of the penalties.  In June, the IRS responded by completely abating all the penalties and clearing the NPSOT record. Sonnia Hill

SEPTEMBER PROGRAM

Liz Soutendijk will be presenting our September program on “Invasive Plants.”  The program is designed to upgrade our awareness of Invasive Plants in Texas and particularly in East Texas. Liz will be talking about what is an invasive plant, what makes a plant invasive, how do they get here, the problem with having invasive plants around, and what we can do to prevent their spread?  Fellow citizen scientist, Clyde McKinney and North East Texas Forest Service staff member, Allen Smith will accompany Liz in presenting information on specific invasive plants in East Texas. 

In addition to being Vice President in charge of Field Trips for our chapter, Liz is a member of East Texas Master Naturalist, Friends of the Mineola Preserve, Quitman Garden Club, and Wood County Master Gardeners. She gives presentations to the public on “Adding Natives to Your Landscape”, “Invasive Plants”, and “Wildscape Gardening.” Jim Showen

FIELD TRIPS

Our September Field Trip will be Saturday, September 23^rd to Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area (GEWMA). We will meet at the Headquarters’ Office off of Hwy 287 at 9:00 AM. See the adjacent map insert. Another notice with a map and carpooling information will be sent closer to the date.

The GEWMA is comprised of 2,000 acres of hardwood bottomland floodplain and almost 500 acres of natural watercourse; 350 acres of wetlands, marshes and swamps, and nearly 300 acres of sphagnum moss bogs. It's rolling sandy hills dominated by post oak uplands, bottomland hardwood forests, natural springs, pitcher plant bogs, sloughs, marshes, and relict pine communities offer a large variety of plant life for a great field trip (900 plant species have been documented). The specific area where we hike will be determined by the weather between now and September 23^rd.

In 1989, a listing of goals for the Engeling Area was adopted by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and is used as guidelines for preparing Wildlife management plans. Two goals that concern Native Plant enthusiast are:

• To provide natural environments for use by educational groups, naturalists, and other professional biological investigators.
• To protect populations of endangered or threatened migratory wildlife, plant species, related habitats, unique natural sites and relic vegetation communities.

I look forward to seeing many of you join us on a great field trip. Liz Soutendijk

Field Trips Past - The picture to the right is of Tyler Chapter Members at Fort Worth’s Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT). This picture was part of the Fort Worth Star Telegram’s three-part series on BRIT that was published in June. Amanda Neill, collection manager, is showing us selected plant specimens from their collection of over a million specimens. A few of their plant specimens were collected and pressed by botanists as far back as the 1700s.

This was a great field trip with Barney Lipscomb guiding us on tours of the facility and presenting a “white glove” tour of their spectacular library. Those of us who attended are grateful to Liz Soutendijk for her efforts in arranging such an interesting and enjoyable trip. Kay Fleming

NEW MEMBERS

We want to welcome 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 are not listed below, let our Chapter President know. There’s always a possibility that our State office has failed to get the information to us on your membership.

RECENTLY JOINED MEMBERS

Bob Gamble

Suzanne & Kraig Stemme

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

Wildscapes: Gardening to Attract Wildlife” Workshop: The Fredericksburg Chapter of NPSOT is sponsoring a full day “Wildscapes: Gardening to Attract Wildlife” Workshop on Saturday, September 16, 2006 in beautiful Fredericksburg. Five knowledgeable speakers will teach participants how to build a visually appealing garden featuring native and adapted plants that will attract and sustain wildlife.

A poster, flyer with detailed information, and a registration form is posted on the Fredericksburg Chapter’s Wildscapes website at: www.npsot.org/Fredericksburg/wildscapes. You can also call or email Pam Middleton if you have questions or need more information about the workshop. Her phone number is: 830-997-0971 E-mail: pekingred@austin.rr.com

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Call for Fall Symposium Silent Auction Items: Its time to start thinking about our Fall Symposium’s Silent Auction.  As most of you know the proceeds of each year's silent auction is used for grants and education.  This is going to be an exciting year as NPSOT moves more aggressively to fulfill its commitments toward "education" and "outreach".  A successful 2006, silent auction will position NPSOT so that we as an organization can "Make a Difference" with grant and scholarship funds that will meet our stated objectives.  This is one of the few ways that each member of the entire state organization can participate and contribute in a way that really can "Make a Difference" - either through the donation of items for the auction or through actively bidding on items during the auction.  We are asking each of the 32 chapters in the state to be responsible for the contribution of at least six items for the auction - whether chapter members or businesses in the area donate them. Most of the auction items should be valued from $30.00 to $50.00 if we are to reach our target for this year's silent auction.

Please call or e-mail us for an information form and then return it to our office. Please describe each donation in detail for display and catalog purposes - for example:  "two $50 gift certificates", "one-hour Swedish massage", etc.  If possible, please include a brochure, photograph or informational sheet.  Be sure to specify location if applicable (For example - "one-night stay at River Lodge on the Guadalupe River near Canyon Lake", and any limitations such as availability or excluded items such as ("available between September 1st and December 21st only", "does not include transportation", etc.).

If you have any questions, you can contact NPSOT Silent Auction Committee Members Larry Maroney at 830-72-0187 (E-mail: lmaroney@gvtc.com) or Elizabeth Bowerman (E-mail: cdrliz@sbcglobal.net)

PONDERINGS

CHICORY

By Kay Fleming

Have you ever had your curiosity peaked about chicory? Well, neither had I until recently. Back in May, I was told that two of our more adventurous Chapter members, Bea Stiles and Jim Stewart, had found locations in Smith County where this invasive plant was growing. After several E-mails from the Ruth and Ron Loper and a promise of lunch, I was coaxed into taking a look. It appeared that chicory had never beencollected in Smith County. The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) asked us to collect and press a specimen for their herbarium.

Common Chicory, Cichorium intybus, is also known as Succory, Witloof, and Blue-sailors or Ragged-sailor for its colorful but tattered-looking flowers. Its scientific name is thought to have derived from the old Latin generic name for endive or succory. The plant is native to Eurasia. It was thought to be a cool-climate species that was rare in Texas but it looks like chicory wants to see more of the “Lone Star State.” Even though Louisiana is famous for the use of chicory in coffee, it reportedly is difficult to grow in Louisiana and mostly seen growing wild in only northern parts of the State.

Ruth and Ron had already received directions to the plants location by the time I arrived to collect a specimen and after a few “howdy dos,” we were piloted by Ron to chicory “ground-zero.” As we approached the first plant, I could see it from afar and it was outstanding. It was growing on the corner of an intersection and was about 4 feet tall with delicate pale blue blossoms. We drove past this one lonesome looking plant and continued down the road. On another road intersection was a stand of about half a dozen plants. One plant was over 6-foot tall with others of varying heights. There was an excavation site where at least one chicory plant had been dug up. It made me wonder if someone knew they had found chicory or if they had just wanted to transplant a pretty plant.

Chicory is a perennial and member of the Asteraceae or sunflower family. Their pale lavender-blue flower heads are about 2 inches across with about 20 ligulate or ray type flowers that are square tipped. Each tip is serrated with 5 fine teeth. The flower heads have no disk flowers and open during the morning hours unless it is an overcast day. We collected our specimens about 9:30 in the morning. The leaves of the plant were mostly basal and pinnately lobed and oblong-lanceolate. Their midribs were purple and the stems contained a milky sap.

Although the ground-up root of chicory has produced the most notoriety for its use as a Cajun coffee additive, the root has also been used as a substitute for coffee. This is surprising to me since chicory possesses no caffeine. Tons of chicory are imported annually for the unique coffee blends produced in the United States. According to Dr. Charles Allen in his book “Edible Plants of the Gulf South,” the root can also be eaten like parsnip. I however, have read mixed opinions on this endeavor.

The plants leaves and stem tips, when very young, can be eaten raw in salads or cooked as greens. Like the flowers of our yucca plant, the colorful blue flower petals of chicory can also be added to a salad. Where chicory is plentiful you can turn flowerpots over the very young plants, plug up the hole in the flowerpot’s bottom, and let the young maturing plants blanch in darkness as they grow. This will make the leaves white. These white leaves, known as by some as French endive, can be added to salads and will have no bitter taste. It is the growth of the plant in light that seems to give them their bitterness.

If the spread of this invasive plant continues, you might be able to make your own chicory brew one day. All you need to do is dig up its long taproots, scrub them, and roast in the oven till they are hard, brittle, and dark brown on the inside. Grind the roasted root and then brew as you would coffee but probably using a little less. You can also be a sissy and blend it with coffee. I have to admit that I have never tried coffee with chicory. Pure Columbian decaffeinated coffee has been my preference but the adventurous spirit in me would sure go for a little brewed chicory. Got any?

HAS YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS CHANGED?

Just a reminder – If you have changed your Email address please let our newsletter editor know as soon as possible. Email Kay at kfleming@mycvc.net and let him know of the change. We don’t want anyone to miss out on any information or changes in an event. It also saves our chapter money if we can Email you instead of sending your newsletter by postal service.

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@mycvc.net or mail to Kay Fleming, 809 E. Clinton, Athens TX 75751. If you are able to receive your newsletter by Email, please send Kay your Email address. This will save the Chapter mailing expenses.

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. We have a good time! Our meetings are normally 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 5^th 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