Vol. 11, No. 4 July 2005
Monthly Meeting: Regular meetings are the third Thursday of the month 7:00 PM at St. Mary's
Catholic Church Parish Hall, 2108 Ridgewood, Longview (just off Hollybrook Drive). No meeting in December.
ST
Rosanna Salmon “Botany Made Easy”. A basic introduction to plant taxonomy & plant morphology.
August 18th Annual covered dish supper – “The Eatin’ Meetin” & Plant ID
PLEASE bring plants & reference books!!
September 15th Tentative: Parks & Wildlife program on the “Bats of East
Texas.
October 20th Presentation by Dr. Cheryl Boyette, coordinator of children’s workshops at SFA, who will inform us on educating young children in the appreciation of native plants.
November 17th Tentative: Slide presentation by Betsy Farris on the Lady
Bird Wildflower Center.
January 19 th
2006
Flo Oxley from Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in
Austin.

Surprise, surprise! It’s July in Texas and it’s HOT!
My native plants proved their worth for the last three months. We have had about ½ inch of rain per month in April, May and June. All my plants wilted, some terminally. But our natives not only bounced back, but flourished and bloomed. Folks, it works!
Floyd Anderson
Contributions to the newsletter are welcome and greatly appreciated.
Articles of interest and items for the Calendar of Events are needed.
Deadline for the August newsletter is August 5 th . You can contact
Rosanna by email as listed below or mail to: 492 Leisure Lane,
Waskom, Texas, 75692
For information call or email
:
President: Floyd Anderson
Secretary/Treasurer:
Program Chairman:
Betty Lee
Ellen Anderson
903-938-7077 leeodisjr@aol.com
903-984-5636 blee35@earthlink.net
903-938-7077 leeodisjr@aol.com
Publicity Chairman:
Newsletter:
Margie McCoy
Rosanna Salmon
903-645-3735 margiemccoy@yahoo.com
903-935-0660 texasrose@marshalltx.com
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
Tyler NPSOT: Monthly meetings first Monday of the month 7:00
PM, at Walter Fair Memorial Methodist Church, 1712 Old Omen Road,
Tyler, TX. Contact Jim Showen, President 903-566-0733, web page www.npsot.org/Tyler
Northeast Texas Field Ornithologists: General membership meeting first Tuesday of the month 6:30 PM at St. Mary’s
Catholic Church Parish Hall. Website address: http://members.tripod.com/netfo_tx/
Gregg County Master Gardener: Monthly meeting on second
Wednesday, 12:00 noon, in the Gregg County Extension Office, 405 E.
Marshall Street, Longview, TX

Houston Cactus & Succulent Society Show & Sale: September 10 th &
11 th at Houston Arboretum & Nature Center. Contact Phyllis McEuen 281 242
7314 mailto:hmceuen@pdq.net
for more information.
Gregg Co. Fall Garden and Landscape Seminar: Saturday,
September 17 th , from 8:00am to 1:00pm. For more information contact Dennis
Smith at 903 236 8429, or mailto:dg-smith@tamu.edu
NPSOT Fall State Symposium: Annual symposium will be held in
the Trans Pecos region October 20-23 rd . For more information on places to
stay, contact the Chambers of Commerce in Alpine: 432-837-2326, Fort
Davis: 432-426-3015, Marathon: 432-386-4516, and Marfa: 432-729-4942
To view other upcoming events, workshops and seminars of the native plant world log onto the following: http://www.wildflower.org/?nd=calendars
3
Article by Logan Damewood
Oenothera speciosa
Showy Evening- Primrose
In late spring and summer one of the most common sights along East Texas highways is a mass of large white to pink upright blooms often called “buttercups.” These spectacular beauties are actually members of the Primrose family. “Texas buttercup,” usually found in disturbed areas or dry open areas, especially roadsides, is distributed almost throughout
Texas. Groups of thousands of individual flowers make extremely vivid late spring displays.
This species is one of our showiest and most abundant wildflowers. Blooms have yellow centers, pink veins and are about two inches wide. Plants grow 1 to 1 ½ feet tall with downy stems, and wavy-edged leaves. The fruit is an eight-ribbed capsule.
O. speciosa is one of nearly 150 species of the family Onagraceae, all American . Shinner’s
& Mahler’s Flora of North Central Texas lists thirteen species common to our part of the state. A perennial, the evening primrose goes dormant in the summer and revives with the fall rains. In most gardens the plant is so rampant that is becomes a pest.
Evening primrose is called by many other names, including Showy-primrose, Buttercup,
Texas-buttercup, Showy evening-primrose, Mexican evening-primrose, Mexican primrose,
White evening primrose, and Amapola Del Campo. The only significant commercial use is the oil of Oenothera found in many cosmetics.