Join / Renew / Gift Donate Shop Member Portal Language

Search
npsot_bluebonnet_full_color

Native Plant Society of Texas

Clear Lake Chapter

Plant of the Month: Texas Bluebells

Presented by Atalanda Cameron
January 11, 2021

Botanical name: Eustoma exaltatum
Common names: Texas Bluebells, Prairie Gentian, Showy Prairie Gentian
Family: Gentianaceae (Gentian)

[MUS—EASY AND FUN]

[Atalanda] Hi, my name is Atalanda Cameron. I’m an environmental science student at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, and I’m an intern at the Environmental Institute of Houston this semester. This is a presentation on Texas Bluebells.

Texas Bluebells, otherwise known as Eustoma exaltatum, are from the Gentian Family. They have multiple common names including the Prairie Gentian and the Showy Prairie Gentian. The flowers are bell-shaped with upright stems with a blue to light violet bell bloom with white gradient from center. They can grow up to 1.5 feet with their blooming time mainly in the summer.

Texas Bluebells grow individually. The flowers are pentamerous meaning they have five petals, and their width is about two to four inches. The leaves grow in opposite orientation and are deciduous, meaning the leaves will fall off at the end of the growing season. When the seed capsule ripens, the stalk may be cut back two or three inches above the ground for maintenance. They are very popular in other countries like Japan, where they have been bred and hybridized for their beauty for over 70 years.

Texas Bluebells prefer moist, sandy and loamy soil. They also grow best with full or partial access to sunlight. Depending on where they are grown, the growth cycle can be annual, biennial, or perennial. They are found naturally in moist well-drained areas around streams and river beds, and they grow best in well-watered, well-drained gardens.

Due to over picking of naturally grown bluebells, they are much less common than they were a few decades ago. Unfortunately, the over-picking makes it hard for them to be pollinated and spread their seeds, but people have expanded their habitat by spreading them to different regions.

When growing in the garden, plan to propagate at the end of March. The seeds are very small and can be somewhat difficult to work with, but they have a higher germination rate through surface seeding when sunlight is able to penetrate them. For best results, germinate the seeds in a warm 70- to 75-degree environment.

For more resources and more information, visit the Native Plant Society of Texas.

[MUS—AND THAT’S IT]

Resources

Related Posts

Plant of the month for August is Splitbeard Bluestem, Andropogon ternarius, and also called Feather Bluestem or Paintbrush Bluestem. It is a native. It's a warm season grass. It's a perennial. It's a bunchgrass. By warm season, it means that it's dormant in the winter and starts growing in the spring as the weather warms up. A bunchgrass tends to stay in a small circle or a bunch. The grass has numerous thin basal leaves, which usually stay about 12 or 15 inches tall, which makes it ideal in our home landscapes. It grows best in part shade to full sun. And this grass will be available at our plant sale on October 20 and 21. It prefers to grow in sand or well-drained soil, which we kind of struggle with here, but it does do well. It's shade tolerant and drought tolerant. I know the camera has a hard time focusing on those light hairy little seeds. The bloom time is from August to November. In late summer, it will send up its bloom stalk, which may be up to three feet tall. And, as the seeds on the long slender stalk mature, they'll split into two tiny stems about two inches long, each with seeds of fluffy white tufts. The seeds are wind distributed. The plants may be started from seed or another way is to dig your mature plant and with your shovels, cut it into maybe four sections, which then can be replanted in other places in your yard or shared with some of your neighbors. It's an easy plant to grow. Splitbeard can be found on the prairie with Little Bluestem and it's great when it's seen in the afternoon sun en masse; reminds me of snowflakes on the branches. And it can be used in a winter dried arrangement in the house. Native bees can use Splitbeard Bluestem for nesting materials. And until their bloom stalk is sent up, the narrow basal leaves are hard to distinguish from other bunchgrasses such as Sideoats Grama. And there it is. And you note how the seeds are all on one side, thus its name. We don't have any of this one for sale at our fall sale. Maybe we will in the spring, in April. But it was interesting, I thought, when I looked for Splitbeard Bluestem in the Wasowski book of Native Texas Plants these two bunchgrasses were on the same page. So, that is the story of the Sideoats Grama and the Splitbeard Bluestem.

Plant of the Month: Woolly Bluestar

February 15, 2023

Our Plant of the Month for February 2023 is Amsonia tomentosa, commonly known as Woolly Bluestar, Woolly Amsonia, Small Leaved Amsonia, or Gray Amsonia.

Oyster Mushroom

Plant of the Month: Oyster Mushroom

January 9, 2023

Our plant of the month for January isn’t a plant at all, it’s a fungus!
Botanical name: Pleurotus ostreatus
Common name(s): Oyster Mushroom, Pearl Oyster Mushroom

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