Native Plants

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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.

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Monday - June 25, 2012

From: DRIPPING SPRINGS, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identification of 3 small flowers in Hays County, Texas
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Trying to identify three (3) wildflowers growing on my property in the northwest corner of Hays Co, all very, very small blooms of about 1 cm. (roughly 1/4 inch): (1) small white blooms with five petals, spiked leaves, total plant about 6" tall. (2)Small deep pink blooms with yellow centers, five petals, leaves spiked, total plant only a few inches tall. (3) small yellow bloom, many petals, large yellow center (looks like a tiny sunflower), long blooming stalk, dense spiked leaves that look like a tiny pine branchs and give off an oder when rubbed. Thanks.

ANSWER:

It is difficult to identify plants from a description alone, but here are some possibilities for the plants you describe.:

1. Here are two possibilities:

Possibly Valerianella amarella (Hairy cornsalad). Here are photos from the School of Biological Sciences, University of Texas.
Phyla nodiflora (Texas frogfruit)

2. Here are two possibilities:

3. Here is the most likely candidate:

Thymophylla pentachaeta var. pentachaeta (Dogweed)

If these aren't the plants you saw, you can try doing a COMBINATION SEARCH in our Native Plant Database choosing "Texas" from Select State or Province, "Herb" from Habit (general appearance) and the different flower colors ("White", "Pink" or "Yellow") from Bloom Color. You can also make selections for other criteria.

If you have photos, you can visit our Plant Identification page to find links to several plant identification forums that accept photos of plants for identification.