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Native Plant Society of Texas

Highland Lakes Chapter

Native Plant Rescue Project – May 17 Chapter meeting

Our next Highland Lakes-NPSOT Meeting, which will be Saturday, 17 May, 1:00-3:00 p.m. at the Marble Falls Library, 101 Main Street. 

This meeting will count as one hour of Advanced Training credit for Master Gardeners, and one hour of Advanced Training credit for Master Naturalists.

Ashley Landry is the founder of the Native Plant Rescue Project (NPRP), which is a Central Texas-based nonprofit that coordinates plant rescues prior to construction. She was the 2024 Nancy Benedict Memorial Award winner and has been featured in Wildflower magazine, NPAT’s Prairie People, The Austin Chronicle, Vibrante magazine and on Central Texas Gardener. Ashley is an avid iNaturalist user and enjoys spending her free time botanizing.
 
Ashley’s presentation will address:

  • A brief history of the Native Plant Rescue Project in Central Texas
  • A few highlights of rare species they’ve rescued, species that have been propagated, and some of the native plant gardens they’ve created
  • A discussion of their remnant prairie sod relocation
  • An overview of their involvement with plant rescue in the Highland Lakes area
  • Discussion of how you can help us save local ecotype plants in this area

You can learn more about NPRP by finding them on Instagram @nativeplantrescueproject or by visiting their website, www.native plant rescue project.org.
 
Upcoming Highland Lakes-NPSOT Chapter Meetings: 

We have a summer break in July; our next meeting on Saturday, 20 September will feature Lee Marlowe, a Sustainable Landscape Ecologist at the San Antonio River Authority. 

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