Water or Lance-Leaved Violet (_Viola lanceolata_) is a small violet found in swampy places in East Texas and north to Nova Scotia. It resembles the white violet, _Viola vittata_, so abundant on the Coastal Plain, which has narrower leaves and is taller.
About twenty different violets have been reported from the state, mostly from the eastern part. The bird’s-foot violet (_Viola pedata_) comes into East Texas. It has large flowers, 1-1¾ in. across, the 3 lower petals much lighter than the dark purple upper ones. It resembles the cultivated pansy, which, however, has been derived from _Viola tricolor_ of Great Britain. The native violets bloom from February to May.
[Illustration: PRAIRIE-LILY STIFF NUTTALLIA]
Usually herbs which are clothed with rough, bristly hairs; sepals usually 5, calyx tube joined to ovary; petals usually 5; stamens numerous, the outer petal-like; ovary inferior.
Prairie-Lily. Showy Mentzelia (_Mentzelia decapetala_) is a handsome-flowered plant which ranges from the Panhandle to Southern Canada. The large flowers, 3-5 inches across, greatly resemble those of the cactus group and have the same tendency to open in the afternoon. The stout, branching plant grows 2-2½ feet high. The stems are quite conspicuous, as they soon become white and shining; the leaves are noticeable because they cling very closely to the clothing by means of barbed hairs. This clinging characteristic is responsible for the Mexican name of “buena mujer” (good woman), applied to this and other similar species.
Stiff Nuttallia (_Mentzelia stricta_) has smaller, paler flowers, but otherwise it is very much like the showy mentzelia except for the small leaves on the seed capsule. It grows in sandy soil, blooming in the summer and fall. Other common names include stick-leaf, poor-man’s patches, star flower, and good woman. _Bartonia aurea_ of garden culture is a member of the group which was introduced from California.
[Illustration: LOW PRICKLY PEAR TEXAS PRICKLY PEAR]
Succulent herbs and shrubs; stems usually spiny and leafless; sepals and petals not differentiated, few or many; stamens many; ovary inferior; fruit pulpy, often edible.
Devil’s Tongue. Low Prickly Pear (_Opuntia humifusa_) grows in dry, rocky or sandy soil from Texas to Missouri, the flowers blooming in May and June and the fruits ripening to a rose-red in the late summer and fall. The flat-jointed stems are often oval but vary in shape and in the number of large spines growing from the spine cushions scattered over the stems. Sometimes no spines are present, but often 1-2 occur along the margins. Numerous short leaves, which are present only in the spring in this and other cacti, grow from the spine cushions. The spine cushions also bear dense clusters of slender, short brown spines. The flowers are yellow with red centers, 3-4 in. broad, widely spreading. Like many other cacti, they open in bright sunlight. The plant is low and has tuberous roots.