A Celebration of the Native Plants We Love
Valentine’s Day is a time to show our love and appreciation to those we care about most. Those of us in NPSOT have an abiding love and affection for our native plants of Texas. In that realm, let’s reflect on some native Texas plants and their connection to Valentine’s Day, love, and romance.
Love and beauty are in our native plants, such as the Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis), whose scientific name means “love grass spectacular”, for its beautiful soft and hazy purple seed heads. Another native North Texas plant that hopefully is not found in your landscape, is the fascinating but parasitic Love Dodder (Cuscuta gronovii). A Dodder is a plant that preys on other plants. For more on the plant, including its role in romantic traditions, Steven Schwartzman has a fascinating article on the NPSOT website.
Valentine’s Day History
The heart symbol, so prevalent on Valentine’s Day, goes back to Aristotle and is globally used to represent romantic love and fondness. Emotions from the heart are expressed in the bygone name of “Bleeding Hearts” for Turk’s Cap (Malvaviscus arboreus), plus in the name of a hardy native North Texas perennial, Heartleaf Skullcap (Scutellaria ovata).
Red and its historical ties to blood have represented love, beauty, fertility, and courage as far back as the Paleolithic age. For beautiful, red-flowered native plants in addition to the Turks Cap, the brilliance of the Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is hard to top. Annual Phlox (Phlox drummondii) and Standing Cypress (Ipomopsis rubra) are other red beauties that would warm any loved one’s heart.
Giving your special someone flowers on Valentine’s Day is the most traditional of gifts. Interestingly, this practice blossomed in Victorian times, but it goes back to even earlier times, starting in ancient Persia. When being demure was essential, a system called floriography was utilized as a language of flowers. Flowers functioned as the means of communication with individual plants and flower colors conveying specific feelings or other meanings.
Rethinking Valentine’s Day Favorites
Red Roses were as popular then as now and indicated love, desire, and devotion. Closer to our native Texas prairies, Native Americans saw wild roses as a symbol of life. They were often attached to infants’ cribs to bring vitality. Wild and prairie roses were also depicted in beads and quillwork to represent survival. Some of our native roses include:
- White Prairie Rose (Rosa foliolosa)
- Climbing Prairie Rose (Rosa setigera)
- Carolina Rose (Rosa Carolina)
Lastly, the Native Americans utilized plants for medicinal and romantic treatments. Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) was used as a powerful love medicine. It was thought to possess seductive powers to help in attracting potential suitors.
Wishing you a Valentine’s Day filled with love, and a growing appreciation for native Texas plants.
