Who We Are

Yellow butterfly on purple flower, Phlox pilosa

 

Phlox pilosa, Marilyn Blanton, Cross Timbers

Our Mission

The mission of the Native Plant Society of Texas is to promote conservation, research and utilization of native plants and plant habitats of Texas through education, outreach, and example.

Our Vision

We want all Texans to value native plants, native habitats and healthy ecosystems as essential to the well-being of living things and to our quality of life. Our vision is a future where native habitats are managed as critically beneficial natural assets, and where residential and commercial developments employ sustainable designs that preserve and promote native habitats.

Our more than 30 chapters across Texas further the mission of the Society at the community level, sponsoring educational speakers, field trips, workshops, on such subjects as plant identification, propagation and landscaping, work in demonstration gardens and many other types of projects.

Our People

Texas is one of the most biologically diverse states, with over 5,000 species of native plants. The Native Plant Society of Texas is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation with more than 30 chapters across Texas that work to further its mission to promote research, conservation, and utilization of native plants and plant habitats of Texas. As a community-based environmental conservation organization, NPSOT honors and celebrates the equally remarkable diversity of our communities and our unique ecoregion. By promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in our work and leadership, we hope to expand our membership to advance the Society’s mission through education, outreach, and example.

Texas es uno de los estados con mayor diversidad biológica, con más de 5000 especies de plantas nativas. La sociedad de plantas nativas de Texas es una corporación sin fines de lucro 501(c)(3) con más de 30 capítulos en todo Texas que trabajan para avanzar su misión de promover la investigación, conservación y utilización de plantas nativas y las hábitats de plantas de Texas. Como organización comunitaria de conservación del medio ambiente, NPSOT honra y celebra la diversidad igualmente notable de nuestras comunidades y nuestra ecorregión única. Al promover la equidad, la diversidad y la inclusión en nuestro trabajo y en liderazgo, esperamos expandir nuestra membresía para avanzar la misión la sociedad a través de la educación, la divulgación y el ejemplo.

About the Society

The Native Plant Society of Texas is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, funded by membership dues, individual and corporate contributions, and foundation grants and run by volunteers.

The Society was founded in 1981 in Denton, following organizational efforts begun by Carroll Abbott and others. The late Ann Miller Gonzalez, wrote about the founding of the Society.

To learn more about Carroll Abbott and the early native plant movement in Texas, see Mr. Texas Bluebonnet – the Carroll Abbott Story.

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