From Forest to Skillet: Edible and Native Plants in the Cross Timbers of Oklahoma. 773 yard species and counting!
To pull or not to pull?
Things I keep thinking are human introduced but they’re actually native
This is Acalypha and native. It volunteers abundantly in the shade under our red oak. Parietaria. Native. Also volunteers.
To be added: Purslane, Mollugo, bedstraws, peppergrass, yellow oxalis, Euphorbia maculata, Euphorbia dentata (wild poinsettia), Melothris pendula, Cynanchum laeve (milkvine), little barley
Plants that are human introduced but not a big problem in undisturbed areas
Armeria serpyllifolia, thyme-leaved sandwort. Human introduced but not aggressive invader. This one was an accidental import from TX. Seed leaves with one tiny true leafSeveral with seed leaves onlyIn our yard, we have both a human-introduced geranium and a native geranium. I’ve only seen these two species in our yard so far but there are several other species in Oklahoma. At the seedling stage they are identical, to the best of my knowledge. I wait until they bloom and seed to pull the somewhat aggressive human-introduced one. The native one can crowd plants in spring too (they both die back by the peak of summer) so I will pull either near less competitive plants or new plants I’m trying to get started. I am remembering which is native by saying “awns are ours” (little awns on sepals distinguish the two in outboard). Fatoua villosa, non native. Maple that blows in from the neighbor’s yard. I am not sure of the species but there’s nothing locally native here in that genus (Acer). This grass starts out very delicate and bright green in a clump. The roots are shallow and easy to pull. Abby told me what it was last year and i have tragically forgotten again but I remember it’s not native.
To be added: chickweeds, henbit, deadnettle, dandelions, shepherds purse, white clover, yellow clover, crepe myrtle, Sherardia arvensis
Human-introduced species that can disrupt the local ecosystem aggressively
Fish mint. Weird one! Leaves almost violet like before blooming and now I can see they are less round and have touches of red. Plus it smells strongly when crushed. After finding some possible epazote in the backyard, I wonder if a few owners back at this house were into growing a lot of culinary fun!Invasive dayflower. I wrote up how to distinguish it from the native perennial in another post. I am not sure how invasive it is outside disturbed areas, but it does seem to crowd out and overgrown things like white avens in my yard, so we’ve been actively removing it.
To be added: privet, Bermudagrass, King Ranch bluestem (aka KR grass), salsify, some brome grasses, some Poa grasses, some Palsalpum grasses, crabgrass, autumn clematis, that one aggressive sedge
Native species but no thanks
Stickers/sandburs/goatheads are native but they hurt. They like sand. if we were managing a larger area of land, I would leave them alone outside our paths and main dog area, as I’m sure something needs them. I’m not keeping them in our small space though.
BiggerSmallerCottonwoods blow in from everywhere. Do not need dozens of baby trees.Seed leavesSeed leaves plus a small adult leafHackberry trees can be a great choice for a yard but there are LOTS of seedlings everywhere (because birds love their tiny fruits). So don’t buy a hackberry. Dig up a tiny seedling or wait for one to show up where you want it. they have very distinctively notched seed leaves for the genus! I doubt one could tell apart the species at this age.
To be added: baby walnut trees, baby red oak trees, poison ivy
Native species that sometimes crowd my new stuff or have aggravating seeds
Four different sizes of Chenopodium seedlings. A common name for this genus is lambsquarters. I like to make sure there are some around, because it’s a hostplant for Hayhursts Scallopwing skipper, the seeds are food for birds, and the leaves are edible to humans as raw or cooked greens. But it seeds ABUNDANTLY and I don’t need all of them.Seed leaves in February/MarchFirst leafEarly leaves are more ornate than later in summer White avens is a native perennial species that volunteers in our yard. It does great in dry shade, which we have a lot of. It seeds prolifically. It’d be a perfect ground cover except for the fact of its clingy seeds. They’re not painful, but they stick to my pants, regardless of material, and get all over the dog’s legs too. Right now, we coexist by my trimming off the flowers by the paths so they can’t go to seed right in the path. I let the rest do their thing. I assume birds must like the seeds too as they’re not tiny. All the three pics above were taken on the same day on the first day of March.
To be added: trumpet vine (as with the trees, I don’t have enough room), sticky seed pod legumes, bidens (sometimes)
