Join / Renew / Gift Donate Shop Member Portal Language

Search
npsot_bluebonnet_full_color

Native Plant Society of Texas

Nominations are due no later than May 31!

NPSOT Archive

**ARCHIVED POST **

About the Awards

Each year NPSOT recognizes the achievement of individuals whose work enriches our understanding or appreciation of Texas native plants. Awards may be presented for acts of conservation and public service, excellence in writing, horticultural achievement, lifetime achievement, and service. Recipients are honored at the awards banquet during the Fall symposium.

Note: Nominations for Fellows Award candidates and for various competition and contest winners awarded at our annual meeting will be opened later this year.

The Awards Committee

These awards are selected by the awards committee with approval by our state board. The committee wants your input to identify qualified candidates for the Memorial, Native Star, and Digital Media awards listed below.

Nomination Deadline: May 31

Nominations must be submitted via the Nomination Form no later than May 31, 2022, to be considered for the awards this year.

Rules & Qualifications

  • Memorial award recipients need not be members of the Society, with the exception of the Shirley D. Lusk Memorial Award.
  • Each memorial award may be made annually, although it is not mandated that an award be given in any category every year. An award will be given only when there is justification for it.
  • Only those publications or acts published or performed within the past five years will be considered.
  • Only those publications, which deal with the native Texas flora, or acts of discovery, rediscovery, conservation or service, in a broad sense, on Texas soil with the native Texas flora, shall be considered for awards.
  • Publications may be books, monographs, papers, magazine articles, etc. If a paper or magazine article, it would probably record original or groundbreaking work.
  • The lifetime achievement award shall be for longtime service and achievement in the collection, study, usage, writing, planting, growing, observing, etc., in the arena of the native flora of the state of Texas.
  • No one individual, a group or an organization may win more than one award in any calendar year.
  • Only one award per category will be given for memorial awards.
  • An award recipient is not required to accept an award in person although this is certainly preferred. If the award is not accepted in person, it may be mailed to the recipient or given in person to a designated substitute.
  • Award recipients are expected to pay for their own transportation and lodging. All Memorial, Native Star, and Digital Media Award recipients may receive a complimentary registration package, including banquet dinner.
  • None of the above shall preclude the state board from giving awards of merit, service, appreciation, etc., to members or non-members of the Society.

Go to Nomination Form

Previous Winners

You can view a list of all previous winners by visiting Memorial Awards.

**ARCHIVED POST** **ARCHIVED POST LINKS & PICTURES MAY NOT WORK** **ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: stephanie

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