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Texas is a vast state. At nearly 269,000 square miles, it is second only to Alaska in size and comparable to Florida in plant diversity. With nearly 6000 taxa in the state’s flora, you could spend a lifetime exploring and learning about the plants within its borders. Coastal Texas offers dune species; South Texas has sabal palm groves and night-blooming cereus cactus that can be several meters tall. Pine woodlands, orchids, and pitcher plants are found in East Texas, while extensive stands of yucca and ocotillo dominate in the arid lands of West Texas. Oak-juniper-pine woodlands characterize the upper elevations of the sky islands. Grasslands and canyon lands sweep through the Panhandle, and, of course, wildflowers line the country roads in Central Texas. Texas is fortunate to have such floral diversity. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, it also offers a wide range of habitats for fauna. The scope of this book primarily covers herbaceous flowering angiosperms. Trees, shrubs, cacti, grasses, sedges, rushes, and nonflowering plants (ferns and fern allies) are not covered. Occasionally, a few woody vines are included as well as semiwoody species, such as plumed tiquilia (Tiquilia greggii), as they fall into a gray area called subshrubs. Because Texas covers a large area and consists of such a variety of habitats, every effort has been made to ensure equal representation throughout the ecoregions and geographic areas of Texas. Of course, some locales have more plant diversity, and thus have more species represented here. I have also endeavored to include a wide range of plant families, and within larger families, examples of each genus. For the sake of space, many species had to be omitted; just a quarter of the state’s herbaceous and semiwoody angiosperms are included. Nonetheless, a conscious effort was made to incorporate species that have not been included in other field guides. Both native and introduced species are described, as all of these are now part of the region’s flora. When Europeans arrived in the area now known as Texas, they brought plants for medicinal, aesthetic, and agricultural uses. Over time, these plants have escaped and naturalized. Other species were accidental introductions—unintentionally spread via seed mixes or other sources of contamination. New species continue to arrive, whether as garden escapees or seeds inadvertently spread through human activity. The majority of species included in this book are common plants that can be found throughout Texas—roadside wildflowers, if you will. Uncommon species, such as Echeveria strictiflora, are also included, as well as rare plants. Some less-showy species have also been described. When one hears the term “wildflower” one immediately thinks of a large blousy flower that can be seen, and often identified, while traveling down the high way at 80 miles per hour. However, many of Texas’s wildflowers do not fall into this category. These plants, with small or insignificant flowers, are included here, with special attention given to the species I am most often asked to identify. A reference that many still use is The Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas by Correll and Johnston (Texas Research Foundation, 1970). While it is out of print and difficult to find, used copies do become available. For readers wishing to take their botanizing to the next level, this book is a wealth of information and has historic value as well. The Flora of North Central Texas (Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 1999), is another wonderful reference. It was the first botanical tome I purchased as an undergraduate, and many years later I still use it. Please see the bibliography at the back for other print resources. Online resources can be helpful, too. For the most current nomenclature and complete maps, I prefer BONAP (The Biota of North America Program) and ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). Others prefer to use The Plant List or Tropicos, although these can disagree from time to time. Another source is the USDA PLANTS Database; although it is known to have errors and somewhat outdated nomenclature, it is an excellent resource for user-friendly maps, and many species do have illustrations or photographs. In this book, I have elected to use the most updated nomenclature according to ITIS, and have included synonyms for some of the recent changes.
