Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

rate this answer

Sunday - March 16, 2014
From: McAllen, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Propagation, Seeds and Seeding, Medicinal Plants, Poisonous Plants, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Different colors of Argemone spp. from McAllen TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I took pictures of at least 5 colors of pricklepoppy today. Is this common to have so many colors in one area? How do I harvest the seedpods and when is the best time to do so?ANSWER:
We think that living in Hidalgo County, in far South Texas, you are probably in an unique situation to see the maximum number of species of the genus Argemone in bloom. When we searched on Argemone in our Native Plant Database we got 13 species listed as native to North America (excluding Mexico). We further sorted that list by asking for natives to Texas, which gave us 9 results. Finally, we went through that 9 and checked with the USDA Plant Profiles, and found the following 5 listed as native to Hidalgo County.
Argemone sanguinea (Red prickly poppy) - red, pink, February to May
Argemone mexicana (Mexican pricklypoppy) - yellow, March to June
Argemone aenea (Golden pricklypoppy) - yellow, March to August
Argemone albiflora (Bluestem pricklypoppy) - white, March to July
Argemone albiflora ssp. texana (Bluestem pricklypoppy) - white, March to June
The six pictures below from our Image Gallery are those 5 species native to your area. On the face of it, that is not five different colors, but one was listed as "pale blue" and the others are varying shades of white, red, pink and yellow. If you follow each plant link above you can read what their growing conditions are, colors and bloom time to attempt to confirm the colors you found. You will note that we have included two pictures of Argemone sanguinea (Red prickly poppy), one pale pink, one red.
This is not to say you did not see all those colors. Some of them may not have been reported to the USDA, from which we get our information on whether or not the plant is native. Seeds of others may have blown in or been transported by animals or birds and, again, do not appear in our Native Plant Database. Some could even come from seed mixes not devoted exclusively to native plants.
Now, on to your question on propagating these plants. We are sorry to say we did not have as much information in our Native Plant Database on Argemone as we would like. Look again at our webpage on Argemone albiflora ssp. texana (Bluestem pricklypoppy). On that page, pay special attention to Growing Conditions, Propagation and Benefits, which includes a warning on the poisonous parts of the plant. Beyond that, we found these two websites with more information:
Gardeners HQ How to Grow Argemone
Protobase Record Medicinal Plants
From the Image Gallery
More Poisonous Plants Questions
Plants in wheelbarrow dying in Jacksonville, FL
June 22, 2011 - I planted a wheelbarrow with daisies, petunias and black and blue salvia. the salvia is thriving, but the others died. Is the salvia toxic to them?
view the full question and answer
Non-toxic evergreen shrub around duck pen
September 10, 2015 - I live in Zone 6a, and am looking for a non-toxic evergreen shrub to use around our fence that pens in our ducks. It doesn't have to be native to our particular state. I have 74 feet of fence on th...
view the full question and answer
Can a dog die from eating a holly bush?
January 12, 2016 - Can a dog die from eating a holly bush?
view the full question and answer
Plant ID from San Marcos TX
June 07, 2014 - My dogs love to eat the leaves of a certain little orange wildflower. It might be Wedelia or Texas creeping oxeye. Have you ever heard of this?
view the full question and answer
Is Artemesia ludoviciana allelopathic?
February 20, 2009 - I recently read that Artemisia ludoviciana is allelopathic to some other plants. I planted some last fall between a rusty blackhaw viburnum and a Mexican buckeye. Do you know whether it is phytotoxi...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |