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Native Plant Society of Texas

Support native plants with your holiday gifts

NPSOT Archive

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When you think holiday gifts you might not immediately think of native plants. But why not?

Check out our online bookstore. We’ve listed the best field guides and landscaping books we know of.

blue_logo-t-shirtWe also have a selection of t-shirts and other gift items at our CafePress store. We have shirts in lots of styles and colors, with three different printed designs including our corporate bluebonnet logo.

If you are ordering merchandise on Black Friday or anytime this season, please use our Amazon Smile site. It has everything regular Amazon has at the same prices, but we get a small donation when you designate the Native Plant Society as the beneficiary. It helps support our programs while keeping membership dues low, and it costs you nothing extra.

Or maybe you prefer to give a live native plant as a gift. We don’t sell those on our website, but you might be able to find them at one of our chapters or at one of the many nurseries that sell Texas native plants. One of the nurseries in our Native Plant Partners program is a good place to look.

 

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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: Bill Hopkins

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