Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Wednesday - May 22, 2013

From: Kerrville, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: General Botany
Title: What are the native plants in Kerrville, Texas?
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

What are the native plants in Kerrville, Texas?

ANSWER:

I can guide you to a source that will produce a list of a large number of the native plants of Kerrville/Kerr County, TX; but it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to assemble a list of all the native plants that grow there.  Here is how to get a list of the native plants that have been reported as occurring in Kerr County, Texas by the USDA Plants Database: 

Go to the USDA Plants Database.  Select "Advanced Search" from the Search menu on the left side of the Home page.  On the "Advanced Search and Download" page under Part A:  PLANTS Core Data choose "Texas:Kerr" under "County Distribution" in 1.  Distribution.  In 2.  Taxonomy put a check in the "Display" box beside "National Common Name".  Next, under 3.  Ecology select "North American Native" under "Native Status" and put a check mark in the "Display" box.  Scroll down to the end of Part A (just before the beginning of Part B:  Characteristics Data) and click on the yellow box that says "Display Results".  

This will give you a list of ~570 North American native plants that have been reported as being found/collected in Kerr County. This won't be a complete list of all the native plants in Kerr County, but it is a pretty good start.  The USDA Plants Database get their data from several sources, e.g., records of specimens of the plant in internationally recognized herbariums; publicly available published literature (preferably peer-reviewed) such as scientific journals, floras, masters theses and doctoral dissertations; and verified records from interested individuals.  You can read the Standards for Contributors that must be met in order for a plant record to be added to the database.

For a shorter list of the more common wildflowers in Kerrville, you can find a Wildflower Check List on the web page of the Kerrville Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas.  The list includes links to photos of many of the species.

Certainly not all plants that are native to Texas are also native to the Kerrville area, but there are several sources that cover all vascular plants, both native and introduced naturalized plants, in Texas.  They are:

If you wanted to take the time and effort, you could go through the maps in the two volumes of the Atlas of Vascular Plants of Texas and note those species that occur in Kerr County.   I would imagine that there would be approximately 570 plants—perhaps a few more because the publication also includes naturalized plants.  The sources used to compile Dr. Turner's list are similar, if not identical to those used by the USDA Plants Database.

 

More General Botany Questions

Strange form of Dasylirion sp. (sotol)
December 27, 2008 - Mr. Smarty: I have a client with a huge (2 ft. diameter trunk), multi-headed dasylirion. On one or more of the heads, the leaves arch inward instead of outward. Someone said this is because of an inju...
view the full question and answer

Can foxglove poison be transmitted to the soil and taken up by another plant
May 29, 2012 - Hi Mr. Smarty Plants, Recently I discovered a Foxglove that had come up after being planted 2 or 3 yrs ago. Next to it I have some medicinal Feverfew growing. (They were so close together I suspec...
view the full question and answer

Why will my Butternut trees not produce nuts in Tennessee?
May 06, 2009 - I have 2 butternut trees planted about 20 ft from each other. I see the long blossoms on each tree but I have not gotten any nuts from either tree. I do not know if I have a male and female or if th...
view the full question and answer

How are full sun, part sun, etc, defined?
April 08, 2014 - Hello, I have a question about sun requirements. Does saying something needs "full sun" mean a particular number of hours? Does it mean 6 or more hours / day? 8 or more? Is there an agreed upon n...
view the full question and answer

Smarty Plants on spines
April 09, 2005 - What do you call part of a plant that is needle-like or has spikes or bristles?
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.