Salvia coccinea
Several whorls of red to pinkish flowers form an interrupted spike on a square stem. This showy southern native is characterized by the loose, widely spaced nature of the flowering spike. It is found in the hot sands of the South. The flamboyant, cultivated member of this group, Scarlet Sage (S. splendens), was introduced from […]
Rudbeckia hirta
Depending on growing conditions, this species may act as an annual, biennial or as a short-lived perennial. Bright-yellow, 2-3 in. wide, daisy-like flowers with dark centers are its claim-to-fame. They occur singly atop 1-2+ ft. stems. The stems and scattered, oval leaves are covered with bristly hairs. Coarse, rough-stemmed plant with daisy-like flower heads made […]
Quercus muehlenbergii
A tree with light gray platy or scaly bark and smooth, gray twigs changing to brown on the current year’s leaf-bearing growth. Leaves up to 8 inches long and 4 1/2 inches wide with their widest part nearer the apex than the base. Larger leaves broadly rounded from the widest part to the apex and […]
Ratibida columnifera
A plant branched and leafy in lower part with long leafless stalks bearing flower heads of 3-7 yellow or yellow and red-brown, drooping rays surrounding a long, red-brown central disc. With sombrero-shaped flower heads, it is usually 1 1/2 ft. tall but can reach 3 ft. Flower petals range from dark red and yellow, to […]
Quercus shumardii
Shumards oak is a pyramidal tree, growing 50-90 ft. and becoming more open at maturity. Bark is thick, smooth and grayish, becoming furrowed and darker gray. The columnar trunk is frequently buttressed at the base. Lower branches are chiefly horizontal. Leaves frequently turning scarlet in the fall, up to 7 inches long, with 2 to […]
Quercus macrocarpa
Bur oak is a large, deciduous tree with a very wide, open crown. Usually wider than tall, the tree can exceed 100 ft. in height and width. The massive trunk supports heavy, horizontal limbs and rough, deep-ridged bark. Leaves up to 9 inches long with a central midrib from which branch veins lead into rounded […]
Sorghastrum nutans
Yellow indian grass is a tall, bunching sod-former, 3-8 ft. in height, with broad blue-green blades and a large, plume-like, soft, golden-brown seed head. This showy perennial’s fall color is deep orange to purple.This is a beautiful grass with a somewhat metallic golden sheen to its flowering parts. It is an important associate in the […]
Solidago nemoralis
Slender-stemmed plant, 1 1/2 to 3 ft. tall. Thin, coarsly-toothed leaves. Flowers occur on the upper side of hairy stalks which arch out and downward creating a vase-shaped flower cluster. Clumps of slender, gray-downy stems produce terminal, one-sided, yellow plumes that gives the perennial a vase-shaped appearance.Prairie Goldenrod attracts butterflies. Individual plants bloom at various […]
Taxodium distichum
This lofty, deciduous conifer grows 50-75 ft. or taller. It is slender and conical in youth, becoming flat-topped in very old age. Sage-green leaves, which appear to be bipinnately compound (but are not) and resemble feathers, turn copper-colored before falling. A tapering trunk is slightly buttressed at the swollen base. “Knees” develop mostly in poorly […]
Solidago gigantea
Giant Goldenrod, Solidago gigantea, is a smooth-stemmed goldenrod with arching flower stalks bearing flower heads to 1/4 of an inch (6 mm) long