Butterfly Vine from seed

I have long-since admired a particular plant growing in the Butterfly Garden on the bay side of Moody Gardens in Galveston. I'm actually amazed that I've never blogged about it before. This plant is a creeping and mounding vine, and I suppose it would climb if it had something to climb. In the summer it produces many small yellow flowers in clusters.

After those flowers are pollinated the seed pods form and things start getting interesting. The seed pods begin green and sort of blend in with the foliage, but they have a very interesting shape. Like many other seeds they have wings that help them disperse in the wind. It just so happens that these wings make them look a lot like butterflies. As the season progresses the seed pods dry out and become a more conspicuous brown. I collected some of these seed pods a few years ago and my mother-in-law was using them as decorations.

This summer I decided to dissect a few of these to get to the seeds. The seeds are smaller than I was expecting. I planted them in some moist soil and let time do its thing. Just a few of these germinated for me, not surprising considering the amount of time since they had been harvested. I planted one of these along the fence line at the house in Galveston and I'm hoping it will do well there without any special care. I have kept the other one at home, in a community pot with other seedlings I started this summer. It is slow growing so far. Perhaps I need to provide more sunlight.

Butterfly Vine (Mascagnia macroptera) seedling,

growing in a community pot with Cockspur Coral Tree (Erythrina crista-galli) seedlings.

I found a story from Birds & Blooms magazine about a woman who painted the seed pods as real butterflies. Pretty neat.

Cockspur Coral Tree from seed

This past summer my family ventured to Galveston in early June and again at the end of July. On our first trip we had a picnic at Moody Gardens and walked around the grounds. I was very sad to see that the butterfly garden was barren, normally fully planted and bursting in color. One of the few living plants in this area was a Cockspur Coral Tree (Erythrina crista-galli), which was about 10' tall and in bloom. I'm guessing this tree blooms through much of the year, because it also had seed pods on it.

Cockspur Coral Tree (Erythrina crista-galli) in bloom at Moody Gardens, Galveston, Texas.

Cockspur Coral Tree (Erythrina crista-galli) in bloom at Moody Gardens, Galveston, Texas.

You know me, I swiped a seed pod, thinking maybe I would be able to germinate them. I planted the seeds a while later and most (maybe all) of the seeds germinated. I don't know this species very well and was a little surprised to find how prickly they are, even as little seedlings. See the photo below.

Cockspur Coral Tree (Erythrina crista-galli) seedlings.

I don't recommend growing trees in a hanging basket. This is just what I started the seeds in.

Prickles on Cockspur Coral Tree (Erythrina crista-galli) seedling.

On our return trip to Galveston in July I took one little 5" tall seedling with me. I planted this seedling in one of the spots vacated by the Natal Plums (Carissa macrocarpa). The Natal Plums died back to the ground over the winter, but were sprouting back from the roots. My mother-in-law suggested that we take this opportunity and just remove them since they were way oversized for the location where they had been planted and were covered in fierce thorns. I obliged her, digging up all of the plants and roots, and transferred one of these to a pot, where I plan to keep it trimmed (sort of a bonsai) and small.

potted Natal Plum (Carissa macrocarpa)

The Cockspur Coral Tree looks pretty pathetic in this location right now, but I put some barriers around it so that it won't be mowed down and I'm hoping that the Galveston climate will have this little tree growing towards the heavens in no time. The little Natal Plum does not look pathetic in it's pot on my front porch. It looks awesome! Let's just hope I can keep it small - the thorns on this plant are vicious!

Trip Report: Exploring Austin, part 4

I've written about finding interesting Bauhinia, Catalpa, and Persimmon trees in the Austin area in previous posts.

Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa)

On my first morning in Austin I went to a small natural area known as Stillhouse Hollow Nature Preserve, nestled into a neighborhood. The sign at the entrance told about an endangered species, the Karst Invertebrate, which lives in limestone caves. This area is also home to the endangered bird species Golden-cheeked Warblers and Black-capped Vireos. There is a nice path through this park and then an overlook. Near the overlook are signs asking that people stay on the path and respect the native flora and fauna, one of which is this endangered species living underground. I would have loved to explore off the path and find this little cave dweller, but I stuck to the rules and observed from the path only.

Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa) seed pod

One item of interest off the path and out of reach was a shrub that had distinct seed pods. After using iNaturalist to identify this as a buckeye I assumed this was a species that I had seen in bloom once or twice before, one of the Aesculus genus. However, I learned that this was a Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa). Thankfully even though this plant was well off the path, I came across this plant at nearly every other park I visited in the Austin area and was able to collect seeds from other plants.

Photo by iNaturalist observer caliche_kid.

I researched germination methods for each of the species I brought home. Most require some form of cold stratification and spring planting. This species was the exception, suggesting germination of fresh seeds. I went ahead and planted some of the seeds, setting aside some others to try in the spring if this first batch wasn't successful. In the week after planting the seeds we had consistent rains every few days - unusual for August. After just 10 days I noticed that the seeds had sprouted and were growing vigorously.

Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa) seedlings - off to the races!
10 days after planting

Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa) seedlings.

15 days after planting.

I'm not exactly sure where I will plant these bushes. From what I can find online they are probably only hardy in zones 8 and greater, but I think my parents' land near Lake Texoma (zone 7b) might work. I'll probably wait to see how many plants I have. If I have plenty then I'll test some in that climate and keep others potted in my greenhouse as insurance.

Trip Report: Exploring Austin, part 3

In my last two posts I talked about plants that I found along the Colorado River in downtown Austin.

On a different day I went to St. Edward's Park to do some birding and I noticed one tree had small green fruits on it - about the size of a pecan with it's outer green shell still attached. iNaturalist to the rescue again, I learned that this was a Texas Persimmon Tree (Diospyros texana). My admiration for native Persimmon trees is well known to readers of this blog, and I was very excited to learn that there is more than one species that grows natively in the United States. I saw a larger specimen of this tree when I visited Mayfield Park and Nature Preserve, this one marked with a placard.

Texas Persimmon at Mayfield Park and Nature Preserve

I also found this tree growing at Commons Ford Ranch Metropolitan Park. I collected a couple of fruits and harvested the seeds. Since I had good luck germinating some native persimmons last year, I am trying the same method: removing all fruit from the seeds, placing them in a pot of soil outdoors, and leaving them alone through the fall and winter. I may move this pot into a slightly warmer spot over the coldest part of the winter, just in case they aren't quite as hardy as I'm hoping, but I do want them to experience the cold they would naturally in the Austin area. Here are some photos of the fruits and flowers by other iNaturalist observers.

Photo by iNaturalist observer butterflies4fun.

Photo by iNaturalist observer manesalinas.

I've done some research on this species (good info here and here) and found that it is likely hardy where I live in central Oklahoma, so I plan to try growing in here. It is also a recommended species for greater landscaping use, being small, nicely formed, attractive bark, naturally feeding wildlife, and drought tolerant. As the placard mentions above, the fruit is small but edible. Hopefully I'll have a chance to try one some day.

Trip Report: Exploring Austin, part 2

In my last post I talked about finding a native species of Bauhinia along the Colorado River in downtown Austin.

Catalpa leaves and seed pods

Also along this path I came across a large Catalpa tree. I am familiar with these trees growing in Oklahoma. They are easily distinguished by their large leaves, showy flowers in the spring, and long green seed pods through the summer into the fall. The tree along the path was in seed pod stage and the pods were longer and more slender (pencil size or skinnier) than those I am used to seeing (finger size or thicker). Comparing images on iNaturalist and reading some articles online, I believe this is the Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa), whereas the species I see at home is the Southern Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides). This is a bit ironic since I am finding the northern species to the south of where I am used to seeing the southern species. Anyway, I believe this is correct.

Catalpa seed pods

True to form, I collected the seeds from these long seed pods shown in the photo and will plant them next spring.

I have a few more posts related to my time in Austin, so stay tuned!

Trip Report: Exploring Austin, part 1

I spent two weeks in Austin this summer, taking a training course to be a Red Hat System Administrator. In the evenings I traipsed around the metro area, birding in local parks and natural areas and doing my normal thing - observing and logging everything new species (to me) using the iNaturalist app.

I visited 10 different parks during my two weeks and covered a lot of ground. I observed a few new species of birds (Black-crested Titmice, Least Grebe, Pectoral Sandpiper), several new dragon/damselflies (Swift Setwing, Marl Pennant, Kiowa Dancer, Dusky Dancer, Checkered Setwing, American Rubyspot), several new plants, and even found a nice gastropod fossil. But this is a plant blog, so let me dive in to more detail about some of the plants.

Small bilobed leaves of the Anacacho Orchid tree (Bauhinia lunarioides)

Along the Colorado River in Austin there is a nice walking trail that is well used by locals walking their dogs, cycling, and jogging, as well as to observe bats at the Congress Avenue Bridge. (I sort of stumbled along this myself and was treated to quite the spectacle around sunset.) Along this path I came across a couple of really neat plants. The first was a small shrubby tree (probably about 6' tall and about the same width that was covered in opened seed pods. There was nothing too remarkable about the tree except that the seed pods had all split open in a spiraling fashion and they were pretty conspicuous. Upon closer examination I realized the leaves were the distinct shape of a Bauhinia, which greatly excited me. I took some photos and uploaded the observation to iNaturalist, which suggested the name of Anacacho Orchid (Bauhinia lunarioides), a native of central and southern Texas into northern Mexico. This species has small and deeply split leaves, almost appearing as two leaves. The flowers (which appear in the spring) are white (or occasionally pink) and showy. I don't have any of my own photos of flowers to show, but the photos below are from iNaturalist observations (here and here).

Photo by iNaturalist user anschad.

Photo by iNaturalist user johnkarges.

Of course I collected a handful of seeds and brought them home for experimentation. I have started other species of Bauhinia from seed and they have germinated easily and been a fairly easy plant to grow, although they are tropical and cannot winter outdoors in my climate. This species appears to be a little more hardy, but not enough (zone 8) to overwinter in central Oklahoma (zone 7). It's not clear to me whether the tree was growing naturally along the path or had been planted there. I'm guessing the latter but who knows?

Part 2 coming later this week!