Gulf Marshes and Prairies
The Gulf Marshes, covering approximately 500,000 acres, are on a narrow strip of lowlands adjacent to the coast and the barrier islands (e.g., Padre Island), which extend from Mexico to Louisiana. The Gulf Prairies, about 9 million acres, include the nearly flat plain extending 30 to 80 miles inland from the Gulf Marshes. The Gulf Marshes are a low, wet, marshy coastal area, commonly covered with saline water, and range from sea level to a few feet in elevation. The Gulf Prairies are nearly level and virtually undissected plains having slow surface drainage and elevations from sea level to 250 feet. Soils of the Gulf Marshes are dark, poorly drained sandy loams and clays, and light neutral sands, typically showing little textural change with depth. The loamy and clayey soils are commonly saline and sodic. Prairie soils are dark, neutral to slightly acid clay loams and clays in the northeastern parts. Further south in the subhumid Coastal Bend, the soils are less acidic. A narrow band of light acid sands and darker loamy to clayey soils stretches along the coast. Inland from the dark clayey soils is a narrow belt of lighter acid fine sandy loam soils with gray to brown, and red mottled subsoils. Soils of the river bottomlands and broad deltaic plains are reddish brown to dark gray, slightly acid to calcareous, loamy to clayey alluvial.Printer Friendly: Species List | List with Images | List with QR Tags to Mobile
scientific name | common name(s) | image gallery |
Maclura pomifera | Osage Orange Bois d' Arc Bodark Horse Apple Hedge Apple Bowwood Yellowwood Naranjo Chino Monkey Brains | |
Manfreda variegata | Mottled Tuberose Huaco Texas Tuberose | |
Mitchella repens | Partridgeberry Twinberry Running Box Pigeon Plum | |
Monarda citriodora | Lemon Beebalm Purple Horsemint Lemon Mint Plains Horsemint Lemon Horsemint Horsemint Purple Lemon Mint | |
Morus rubra | Red Mulberry Moral | |
Nekemias arborea | Peppervine | |
Nelumbo lutea | American Lotus Yellow Water Lotus Yellow Lotus | |
Nemophila phacelioides | Texas Baby Blue Eyes Large-flower Baby-blue-eyes Baby Blue-eyes Flannel Breeches | |
Nuphar lutea | Yellow Pond Lily Yellow Cow Lily Cow Lily Spatter Dock Wakas | |
Nuphar lutea ssp. advena | Common Spatterdock Spatterdock Yellow Cow-lily Cow-lily Yellow Pond-lily Brandy-bottle | |
Nuttallanthus texanus | Texas Toadflax Texas Toad-flax Toadflax | |
Nymphoides aquatica | Big Floatingheart Floating Hearts | |
Nymphaea odorata | American White Water-lily Fragrant White Water-lily Fragrant Water-lily White Water-lily Sweet-scented White Water-lily Sweet-scented Water-lily Beaver Root | |
Oenothera lindheimeri | White Gaura Butterfly Gaura Lindheimer's Beeblossom Lindheimer's Gaura | |
Oenothera speciosa | Pink Evening Primrose Showy Evening Primrose Mexican Evening Primrose Showy Primrose Pink Ladies Buttercups Pink Buttercups | |
Onoclea sensibilis | Sensitive Fern Bead Fern Sympathy Fern | |
Opuntia engelmannii var. engelmannii | Cactus Apple Prickly Pear | |
Opuntia macrorhiza | Bigroot Prickly Pear Twist-spine Prickly Pear Common Prickly Pear Plains Prickly Pear | |
Osmunda cinnamomea | Cinnamon Fern | |
Osmunda regalis | Royal Fern | |
Oxalis stricta | Common Yellow Oxalis Yellow Wood-sorrel Upright Yellow Wood-sorrel Yellow Woodsorrel | |
Parkinsonia aculeata | Retama Paloverde Mexican Paloverde Jerusalem Thorn Horsebean Lluvia De Oro | |
Pappophorum bicolor | Pink Pappasgrass Pink Pappusgrass | |
Palafoxia callosa | Small Palafox Small Palafoxia | |
Paspalum floridanum | Florida Paspalum | |
Passiflora foetida | Corona De Cristo Fetid Passionflower | |
Palafoxia hookeriana | Sand Palafox Showy Palafox Hooker Palafoxia Sand Palafoxia Hooker's Palafoxia | |
Passiflora incarnata | Maypop Purple Passionflower Purple Passion Vine Apricot Vine | |
Passiflora lutea | Yellow Passionflower Yellow Passion Vine Yellow Passion-flower | |
Paspalum monostachyum | Gulfdune Paspalum | |
Parthenocissus quinquefolia | Virginia Creeper | |
Palafoxia rosea | Rosy Palafox Rose Palafoxia | |
Palafoxia sphacelata | Othake Sand Palafoxia | |
Panicum virgatum | Switchgrass Wand Panic Grass | |
Penstemon cobaea | Prairie Penstemon Prairie Beardtongue Foxglove Penstemon Foxglove Beardtongue False Foxglove Large-flowered Penstemon Large-flowered Beardtongue Cobaea Penstemon Cobaea Beardtongue Wild Foxglove | |
Penstemon tenuis | Brazos Penstemon Brazos Beardtongue Gulf Penstemon Gulf Beardtongue Gulf Coast Penstemon Gulf Coast Beardtongue Sharp-sepal Penstemon Sharp-sepal Beardtongue | |
Peltandra virginica | Tuckahoe Green Arrow Arum Arrow Arum Green Arum | |
Physostegia angustifolia | Narrowleaf False Dragonhead False Dragon-head | |
Phlox drummondii | Annual Phlox Drummond Phlox Pride-of-Texas Texas Pride | |
Phlox drummondii ssp. mcallisteri | Mcallister's Phlox Drummond Phlox | |
Phlox glabriflora | Rio Grande Phlox | |
Physostegia intermedia | Spring Obedient Plant Marsh Obedient Plant Slender False Dragonhead Intermediate False Dragonhead | |
Phacelia patuliflora | Sand Phacelia Sand Scorpionweed Blue Phacelia | |
Phlox pilosa | Downy Phlox Prairie Phlox Fragrant Phlox | |
Phlox pilosa ssp. pilosa | Downy Phlox Prairie Phlox Fragrant Phlox | |
Phlox roemeriana | Goldeneye Phlox Golden-eye Phlox | |
Physostegia virginiana ssp. praemorsa | Obedient Plant Fall Obedient Plant Lionheart False Dragonhead | |
Pinus palustris | Longleaf Pine Georgia Pine Longleaf Yellow Pine Southern Yellow Pine Longstraw Pine Hill Pine Hard Pine Heart Pine | |
Platanus occidentalis | American Sycamore Eastern Sycamore American Plane Tree Plane Tree Buttonwood Buttonball Tree | |
Polystichum acrostichoides | Christmas Fern | |
scientific name | common name(s) | image gallery |