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Native Plant Society of Texas

Spring symposium at the Wildflower Center

NPSOT Archive

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Registration is open for our Spring Symposium at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on March 28.

Speakers at the event this year will be Brandi Clark Burton of Austin EcoNetwork on Building an Environmental Community; Scooter Cheatam on Useful Wild Plants; Dawn Hancock on Pollinators; Dr. Ashley Lovell of Texas Land Conservancy on Saving Nature; and Andrea DeLong-Amaya of the Wildflower Center on Native Plant Selections.

Whimsical-butterfly-chairs-in-the-courtyard-IMG_07901-641Online registration is closed but you may register at the door as long as seats are available. A light breakfast, box lunch and full access to the Wildflower Center gardens is included. Doors open at 8 am. Please see the attached agenda.

Brandi Clark Burton is the founder and “chief inspiration officer” of Austin EcoNetwork, which connects people, information, events, and resources related to Austin and the environment through a community website and twice-weekly newsletter. She has been voted “Best Environmentalist” four times in the Austin Chronicle readers’ poll and has received numerous other awards.

Scooter Cheatam is an architect and botanist. His major effort over the past 30 years has been to direct, illustrate, write, edit and lay out the Encyclopedia of the Useful Wild Plants of Texas, a 12-volume, 6000-page work produced by the Useful Wild Plants Project and designed to find and publicize textile, food, construction, and pharmaceutical uses for native plants, ensuring the plants’ survival and the continued viability of farming and ranching families and communities.

Ashley Lovell specializes in using social science techniques to promote collaborative approaches to land management. Dawn Hancock is a Master Gardener and former president of our North Central Texas Chapter. Andrea DeLong-Amaya is Director of Horticulture at the Wildflower Center, where she oversees the master plan for the gardens.

Nearby accommodations for those staying overnight include Holiday Inn Express and LaQuinta Inn.

The Spring Symposium is a joint production of the Native Plant Society of Texas and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. Contact our State Office for more information.

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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: middleton

About the Region

2026 Fall Symposium Logo

This low-elevations region of Texas extends inland from the barrier islands, about 60 or so miles, and stretches from Brownsville to Louisiana. In total, it covers about 9.5 million acres, with a high point of 150 feet in elevation. More than 1000 species of plants can be found in this region. On the southern end, species more common in Mexico (such as Sabal mexicana) and Central America occur.

The barrier islands provide us with dune systems, and clay flats to the inland side, which have species found in these areas alone. Many plants here, such as Ipomoea pes-caprae (beach morning glory), can be found throughout tropical regions of the globe. I’ve encountered the same species on the beaches of Guam.

Once inland, vast marshes and wet prairies occur. Occasionally, oak (Quercus fusiformis) groves can be found. Common grasses include species of Bothriochloa, Paspalum, and Sporobolus; eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides); and switchgrass (Panicum species). Many rivers and creeks cut through the Gulf Prairies, and along these riparian areas various species of trees, Sabal minor, and other plants adapted to clay soils can be found. Due to overgrazing, farming, and fire suppression, woody species such as mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and huisache (Acacia farnesiana), and invasive species such as chinaberry (Melia azedarach), Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), and Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum) have increased and displaced our native flora.

Source: Wildflowers of Texas by Michael Eason