News and announcements from our committee chairs, board members, and chapter leaders. Subscribe to our mailing list to stay up to date. For chapter news, visit Chapters. If you are looking for a calendar of events, see our Events Calendar.
Got Milkweed? Monarchs Need It To Survive
By Kip Kiphart In 2010, the monarch was added to the World Wildlife Fund’s Ten Most Threatened Species List, due to loss of habitat necessary for survival of the monarch migration. Fall migrating monarchs past through Texas, overwinter in the transvolcanic mountains of Mexico and return to Texas in the
The many beneficial traits of cedar elm
The “cedar” in the name refers not to any trait of the tree itself, but to the junipers it likes to hang around with. And even those junipers are not really cedars.
February 2011
NICE! Plant of the Month (Quercus muhlenbergii) Family:Fagaceae Other Common Names:Chinkapin Oak Type:Moderate sized shade tree, deciduous, white oak and resistant to oak wilt disease. Natural Habitat:Calcareous woods in Trans Pecos, Hill Country, and East Texas and much of the eastern two thirds of U.S and northeastern Mexico. Growth:40-60 feet;
Chinquapin Oak – a NICE! good looking shade tree
By Carolyn Walden Last month Bill Ward wrote about tree diversity as a hedge against the spread of “oak wilt” that mostly attacks live and red oaks. He introduced the first of seven trees that are being promoted by the Operation Nice! (Natives Instead of Common Exotics!) in 2011. The
Don’t trip on the devil’s shoestring
Coralberry brightens the understory with clusters of pinkish-purple fruit all winter long.
Fund okayed to implement strategic plan
The State Board approved establishing a bank fund to support implementation of the 2009 Strategic Plan.
Annual symposium to be in Houston
**ARCHIVED POST ** The Native Plant Society of Texas will hold its 2011 annual fall symposium and state meeting on October 13 – 16 in Houston, featuring the coastal prairies and marshes of Texas. The meeting will be at the Omni Houston Hotel at Westside located at 13210 Katy Freeway
Tribute to a Wonderful Life
By Bill Lindemann This article is dedicated to the memory of a long time friend, mentor and fellow naturalist. In 1965 I worked for what was then Humble Oil and Refining Company, now Exxon, and was transferred from Wichita Falls to Tyler. I bought my first home in a pine
Winning photos announced
Winners of the 2010 photo contest were picked by popular ballot and announced at the awards banquet
Calling all quilters
Quilt blocks must be present for judging at the State Board meeting on July 16 in Fredericksburg. Blocks should have a design that expresses the meaning of the Society.
Law would require disclaimer on invasives list
**ARCHIVED POST ** A proposed new Texas law (HB 338) would require any public entity other than the Texas Department of Agriculture that produces a list of noxious or invasive terrestrial plant species growing in this state to include a disclaimer.
January 2011
NICE! Plant of the Month (Quercus polymorpha) Family:Fagaceae Other Common Names:Mexican or Netleaf White Oak Type:Moderate sized shade tree, late deciduous, nearly evergreen, resistant to Oak Wilt Natural Habitat:Native to one county in Texas near the Big Bend area and throughout Mexico into Guatemala (USDA Plant Profiles); potential for unreported
