Gulf Marshes and Prairies
The Gulf Marshes, covering approximately 500,000 acres, are on a narrow strip of lowlands adjacent to the coast and the barrier islands (e.g., Padre Island), which extend from Mexico to Louisiana. The Gulf Prairies, about 9 million acres, include the nearly flat plain extending 30 to 80 miles inland from the Gulf Marshes. The Gulf Marshes are a low, wet, marshy coastal area, commonly covered with saline water, and range from sea level to a few feet in elevation. The Gulf Prairies are nearly level and virtually undissected plains having slow surface drainage and elevations from sea level to 250 feet. Soils of the Gulf Marshes are dark, poorly drained sandy loams and clays, and light neutral sands, typically showing little textural change with depth. The loamy and clayey soils are commonly saline and sodic. Prairie soils are dark, neutral to slightly acid clay loams and clays in the northeastern parts. Further south in the subhumid Coastal Bend, the soils are less acidic. A narrow band of light acid sands and darker loamy to clayey soils stretches along the coast. Inland from the dark clayey soils is a narrow belt of lighter acid fine sandy loam soils with gray to brown, and red mottled subsoils. Soils of the river bottomlands and broad deltaic plains are reddish brown to dark gray, slightly acid to calcareous, loamy to clayey alluvial.Printer Friendly: Species List | List with Images | List with QR Tags to Mobile
scientific name | common name(s) | image gallery |
Justicia pilosella | Hairy Tube-tongue Gregg's Tube-tongue False Honeysuckle | |
Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola | Southern Red Cedar Southern Redcedar Sand Cedar Coast Juniper | |
Kosteletzkya virginica | Virginia Saltmarsh Mallow Virginia Fen-rose Saltmarsh Mallow Seashore Mallow | |
Lippia alba | Bushy Lippia | |
Lindera benzoin | Northern Spicebush Spicebush Wild Allspice | |
Linum berlandieri var. berlandieri | Berlandier's Yellow Flax Yellow Flax Stiff-stem Flax | |
Liatris elegans | Pink-scale Blazing Star Pink-scale Gayfeather Pink-scale Liatris | |
Lithospermum incisum | Fringed Puccoon Golden Puccoon Narrowleaf Puccoon Narrow-leaved Puccoon Puccoon Narrowleaf Gromwell Fringed Gromwell Narrowleaf Stoneseed | |
Liatris pycnostachya | Prairie Blazing Star Prairie Gayfeather Prairie Liatris Kansas Blazing Star Kansas Gayfeather Kansas Liatris Cat-tail Blazing Star Cat-tail Gayfeather Cat-tail Liatris Hairy Button-snakeroot | |
Liquidambar styraciflua | Sweetgum American Sweetgum Red Gum White Gum Star-leaved Gum Starleaf Gum Alligator Tree Satin Walnut Bilsted Liquidambar | |
scientific name | common name(s) | image gallery |