September Plant of the Month - Zexmenia

Zexmenia (Zexmenia hispida)

By Helen Vargus

Zexmenia is a Texas native perennial belonging to the native aster family.  Visitors can view this plant growing in the Butterfly Garden at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. It is known under various names-- Zexmenia, Orange Zexmenia, Hairy Wedelia, Wedelia, or Texas Creeping Ox-eye. Independent and native plant nurseries will most likely be the source for purchasing plants.

Zexmenia plants are not fussy about the type of soil for growth as long as it is well-drained. It can be grown in sand, loam, clay, caliche, and limestone. For the first year, it may require supplemental water as it becomes established. Zexmenia is drought tolerant and can exist on rainfall, but in faster draining soils it may require more water during drought conditions. 

The 1 ¼” flowers of Zemenia have showy yellow to orange daisy like heads. The flowers vertically extend on long stems above the leaves. The first flowers in June are sparse, but as the temperatures rise they become more numerous. It will bloom from June to November. It will grow in sun or part shade. More shade will produce fewer flowers.



The upper stems are covered in stiff hairs pressed closely to the stem. They are rough to the touch. Both sides of the gray-green leaves are also rough and hairy which makes the plants deer and grasshopper resistant. If your skin is sensitive to plant materials, you will want to cover your arms and hands when cutting back this plant.


In its natural habitat, this perennial shrub can get three feet tall. In my Texoma garden, it has never been more than 2 feet high. It will creep along the ground three to four feet from its base. Too much water or shade will make Zexmenia leggy, so it may need to be cut back periodically. It is not necessary to prune this plant during the growing season, but if the plant needs fuller growth or reshaping you can prune it back to half its height in July.

Zexmenia is nonaggressive and has proven to be well behaved in my garden. It can be propagated from fresh seed, semi-hardwood cuttings, or layering. 

Even though Zexmenia is native from central to west Texas and south into Mexico, it will survive in North Texas. This plant has been growing in my Sherman garden for the past eleven years and has survived all kinds of winter weather. With the first frost it goes dormant so there is nothing above ground that can get hurt. I leave the dead branches above ground in the winter as protection for the roots and as a source of seeds and cover for small birds. In late winter I cut it back to the ground and wait for new shoots to appear from the base.

Many types of bees and butterflies are attracted to the flowers of Zexmenia. It provides a nectar source for butterflies and pollen for various types of bees. It is a larval host for the Bordered Patch Butterfly.

Bee, butterfly nectaring on Zexmenia

NOTE:  Helen Vargus is president of the Bluestem Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists.

Enjoy Butterfly Garden Walks at Hagerman NWR on the first, third and fifth Saturdays in September, 9:30 - 11:30 am.

Butterfly Day, at Hagerman NWR, 10 am - 4 pm - Saturday, October 14, will offer walks, talks, crafts and more, all butterfly themed.

Hungry Hummers

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the garden at HNWR, by Dick Malnory

The Turk’s Cap blooming in the garden adjacent to the Visitor Center at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge offers hungry Ruby-throated Hummingbirds an alternative to the nectar feeder there. During the warm weather season, the volunteers in the Visitor Center have the added job duty of making nectar and keeping all the feeders filled. Now the nectar consumption is increasing as we find 2 - 3, even  5 hummingbirds swarming the feeder rather than the usual one or two, a sign that their fall migration has begun.

Just keeping the hummingbird feeders available to the birds has been an ongoing struggle for the volunteers this year, as some critter, probably a raccoon has been regularly helping him/herself to the nectar, first pulling the feeder off the pole, then when deterred by a newly installed squirrel baffle, pushing the whole thing -  pole, feeder and all over onto the ground!  We tried bringing the feeders in at night, but then Refuge Manager Kathy Whaley suggested we try hanging a feeder from a beam outside the window.   So one was installed that way yesterday, thanks to Deputy Manager Paul Balkenbush, and hopefully, that problem is solved. Watch and learn!

The feeder is now suspended from an exterior beam of Visitor Center.

The hummingbirds we see are medium to long-distance migrants, according to Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  Most Ruby-throated Hummingbirds spend the winter in Central America, and most get there by flying across the Gulf of Mexico. Some birds stay in North America along the Gulf Coast, parts of the southern Atlantic coast, and at the tip of Florida; these are usually birds from farther north rather than birds that spent the summer there.

Here are some Hummingbirds Facts, from USFWS:

• Hummingbirds are found only in the Americas, which are home to more than 300 different hummingbird species. Most are found only in Central and South America, but Arizona is a hotbed of hummingbird variety, with many Central American species reaching the northern limits of their range there. One species, the rufous hummingbird, summers in southern Alaska.  (Texas Parks and Wildlife notes:  "[Of the] more than 300 species, only 18 are found regularly in the United States. Of these, 9 are common to Texas, and an additional 6 have made accidental appearances in the state.")
• Unique shoulder joints, wing bones, and musculature allow hummingbirds to hover and even fly backward. When hovering, their wings beat about 55 times per second. Inflight, that rises to 75 beats per second or more. Their wingspans range from about 2½ inches for the bumblebee hummingbird, a Central American species seen in Arizona, to 4½ inches for the ruby-throated hummingbird of the Eastern U.S.
• It takes a lot of energy to power all those wing beats.Hummingbirds weigh about a tenth of an ounce – about the same as a U.S. penny – and consume about half that amount of sugar, in the form of flower nectar, every day.
• Hummingbirds often conserve energy by going into a state of torpor on cool summer nights or during unseasonable cold spells. They become motionless, their bodies cold to the touch, but they’ll revive when temperatures rise.
• The Eastern United States’ only breeding hummingbird, the ruby-throated hummingbird, builds a nest the size of a walnut, lined with soft mosses and held together with spider webs. The female lays two pea-sized eggs and tends them alone. The males have multiple mates and begin their long migration to Central America in August, with the females following a few weeks later.

Here are some “Cool Facts” about the Ruby-throated from Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds:

• ·The extremely short legs of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird prevent it from walking or hopping, allowing it to only shuffle along a perch. However, it can scratch its head and neck by raising its foot up and over its wing.
• Like many birds, hummingbirds have good color vision and can see into the ultraviolet spectrum, which humans can’t see.
• The oldest known Ruby-throated Hummingbird was 9 years 1 month old.

Also from Cornell -  "Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feed on the nectar of red or orange tubular flowers such as trumpet creeper, cardinal flower, honeysuckle, jewelweed, bee-balm, red buckeye and red morning glory, as well as at hummingbird feeders and, sometimes, tree sap. Hummingbirds also catch insects in midair or pull them out of spider webs. Main insect prey includes mosquitoes, gnats, fruit flies, and small bees; also eats spiders. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds sometimes take insects attracted to sap wells or pick small caterpillars and aphids from leaves."

Photo by Bill Buchanan, USFWS

I recently read of a study by two researchers, Bradshaw and Schemske,  that reported finding that the hummer chooses red flowers because the red ones are invisible to bees and therefore can potentially offer more nectar than flowers of other colors.

Youngsters ages 4 - 12 will have the opportunity to "Hobnob with Hummingbirds" when The Refuge Rocks at Hagerman, Saturday, September 16.

Hey Ma! Is that Snow?

It must be late summer when you see Snow-on-the-Prairie! Driving along the roads to  Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, this plant with cool appearing green and white leaves actually does look like a light dusting of snow where it is growing en masse. This white flowering plant can blanket a prairie in no time at all, hence the name. Because livestock stay away from the poisonous sap that the plant emits, it doesn't take much for it to cover a field. 

Snow-on-the-Prairie, by Brenda Loveless

There are actually two plants, Euphorbia bicolor Engelm. and A. Gray, and Snow-on-the-Mountain, Euphorbia marginata Pursh; NPIN, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Database, notes that the two are often confused.

As members of the Spurge Family, both plants have a milky sap that is irritating to humans with sensitive skin, as well as to the eyes and is toxic to cattle.  A volunteer at the Refuge told us that beekeepers try to keep bees away from the plant, as it makes the honey "hot".

Poinsettias are members of the same family. Growing 1 - 4 feet tall, in poor soils, the plants multiply by throwing seed, described by Dorothy Thetford in Wildflowers-of-Texas. Thetford says, “This ballistic dispersal of seeds explains the scattered arrangement of plants on the prairie.”

Both plants are annuals in the spurge family. The actual flowers are tiny white blossoms, surrounded by the green and white bracts. The bract of bicolor (in photos) is narrower than that of marginata.  The National Resources Conservation Service shows a range for Snow-on-the-Prairie including Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas. The bloom time is July – October. Anything that helps us think "cool" at this time of year in Texas is welcome!

NOTE: This is becoming an annual post!  Various versions posted in August 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Beyond the Butterfly Garden – August, 2017

Text and Photos by Laurie Sheppard

Butterflies can be found at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge during any month or season, and throughout the year, visitors are encouraged to look beyond the Butterfly Garden to find them. Although it seems the heat will never end, the blooming of Snow-on-the-Prairie signals a change. Thistle still blooms and Frostweed is a popular nectar plant on roadside edges.

Some butterflies can be found throughout the United States, while others are only seen in a localized area. A few stray into a different geographic area to feed but not to deposit eggs. While climate is a key factor in where a species is found, more important is the presence of a preferred food source for caterpillars and adults.

In Grayson County, butterfly watchers have documented 87 different species and most of those have been found on the refuge. The Painted Lady, at right, 

is a frequent visitor to all parts of the refuge because the adults are willing to nectar from a wide variety of blooms. They lay eggs on Thistle, Mallow, and many other plants. As you might imagine, this makes them one of the most common butterflies found, not only in the U.S. but around the world!

The American Lady, at left, looks very similar but it has a smaller range because of its nectaring habits and larval food sources.  You might find both feeding in the same location, especially if there is thistle in the area. The two primary ways to tell them apart are the number and size of the spots on the hindwing (Painted Lady has four equally sized spots) and the presence of a white dot in the orange area near the forewing’s edge on the American Lady. Look for “ladies” wherever you see flowers.

The Southern Broken-dash, shown at right,  is an uncommon butterfly in Grayson County. As its name implies, it is found in southern states and only in the east. It is one of the many skippers found on the refuge but may be difficult to identify without a photo. The adults feed on low flowers and their caterpillars feed on grasses. Look for them in the Sandy Point unit where grasses are not mowed and fall flowers grow undisturbed.

The Skipper family is widely varied in color and characteristics. The Common Checkered-skipper, shown at left,  is the most widespread because it adapts well to any environment. These are found in nearly all habitats but their larval food source is Mallow. Look for them in disturbed areas along roadsides, especially on any of the pad roads off of Oil Field Road. 

Reakirt’s Blue, at right,  is common throughout Texas and northward into Oklahoma and Kansas. Its range extends somewhat westward but is primarily found in the center of the country. It is in the family of Gossamer-winged butterflies and is easily identified by the four dark spots on its forewing. As with many hairstreaks and blues, look for these anywhere Frog Fruit and other low flowers grow, including along the Auto Tour. 

Another western blue is the Marine Blue, at right. These are found from Texas to California, but

since Hagerman NWR is near the eastern edge of their range, they are not always seen. However, they are far from rare and it’s worth a close look at every small grayish butterfly to see how many varieties you can find. As with most hairstreaks and blues, the pad roads are good places to look, where low flowers are abundant.

The strikingly colored Great Purple Hairstreak, shown at left, is also a Gossamer-winged butterfly, although it could never be mistaken for its gray cousins. It is only found in the south, from coast to coast, because its larval host is Mistletoe. Look up in the trees to catch a glimpse of one laying her eggs. 

Laurie Sheppard is a Texas Master Naturalist and regular blogger for Friends of Hagerman.

Please note:  Butterfly Garden Walks are set for August 19, September 2, 16, and 30 -  AND  - October 14 is Butterfly Day at Hagerman NWR, a full day of butterfly themed activities, talks and more!

Coral Honeysuckle, August Plant of the Month

By Nancy Cushion

Visitors to the Butterfly Garden at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge can relax in the shady small pergola at the back of the garden. The shade is provided by a native vine, Lonicera sempervirens, or Coral Honeysuckle. Other common names for L. sempervirens are woodbine, trumpet honeysuckle, red honeysuckle, and evergreen honeysuckle.

Coral honeysuckle is a smooth, twining evergreen vine bearing dark, shiny green leaves which are white on the lower surface. The upper pair of leaves are fused together, just below the flower cluster. The tubular or trumpet shaped corolla occurs in whorls of four to six blossoms. They are usually red outside and orange inside, or rarely, all orange or yellow. Red to green twining stems fade to gray with a shreddy texture when mature. Clusters of red berries mature in September to October. Ornamentally, coral honeysuckle is well suited to climb on a fence or trellis, it is evergreen through most of Texas, and often blooms in January and sporadically throughout the growing season March to June to attract pollinators.

Coral honeysuckle is a native of  East Texas and much of the eastern U.S.; the plant apparently tolerates a wide variety of soils, and once established, it requires very little, if any, watering.  It is wide ranging from Connecticut to Florida, west through the south and midwest to Nebraska.   For those wanting to incorporate this attractive native into their home landscape, this vine is widely available at local nurseries.

Snowberry Clearwing caterpillar

Snowberry Clearwing
(Hemaris diffinis)

Coral honeysuckle is a larval host for the Snowberry Clearwing Moth (shown above) and Spring Azure butterfly (shown below) and is also a nectar source for butterflies and hummingbirds.

Spring Azure Butterfly (Celastrina "ladon")

References

Native Plant Society of Texas

Texas Native Plant Database

Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA)

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Butterflies and moths.org

Note: Nancy Cushion is a member of the Blackland Prairie Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists.