All
photographs
are by Velmer Smith. Photographs may be used for
educational purposes or personal enjoyment. They may not be downloaded
for commercial use.
Thank you to Patricia Faulkner, Christopher Reid, Julia Larke and Steve
Shively, LA Natural Heritage Program, LA Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries,
for their assistance in identifying some plants unknown to me.
Content, courtesy of Velmer Smith, with the assistance of Alan Smith,
Phil Emerson, John Crosley, Jr. and Beauregard Parish Library, DeRidder,
Louisiana.
THESE PAGES MAINTAINED BY: Alan D. Smith
Many of the plants are found in the Bundick Swamp area, nearly
inaccessible in places. Variation in surface soils throughout
Beauregard Parish supports some interesting floral differences.
Jungle like palmetto flats in the swamp are bordered by lizard tails,
spider lilies, Louisiana iris, cardinal flower, bald cypress and the
Louisiana palmetto.
The area adjacent to Bundick Creek, locally known as "bottoms"
support clumps of lush sphagnum moss, trumpet creeper, spider worts,
Christmas fern, bayou violets, sweet bay (leaves aromatic when crushed)
and strawberry bush. Spectacular is the Indian-pink (spigelia).
The beech-magnolia-loblolly slopes support communities of plants that
are uncommon. The low growing partridge-berry, the Carolina-lily and
piney woods lily are found along the slopes. Common plants, false
foxglove, Carolina-Jessamine, pigeonwings, ladies' tresses orchid
and ruellia are also found. Forest floors are covered with a variety of ferns.
Bog areas support the pitcher plant, ten-angle pipewort, bearded grass
pink orchid, umbrella grass, and the pagoda orchid.
Sandy lands, composed of soils not expected in swamp areas, contain the
showy coral bean (poisonous), butterfly weed, trailing phlox, bull nettle,
May-apple, and Louisiana yucca. Spanish moss, generally not associated
with swampy habitat survives because it is not dependent on soil but on
air and high humidity.
Many of the plants have evolved to survive in their habitat.
Successful transplanting of the wildflowers is virtually impossible
and hastens their extinction. The semitropical, jungle like swamp has
been reduced by lumbering and other land uses. It is hoped this web
site will stimulate further study of the Bundick Swamp area by specialists
who will strive for preservation of the plant species.
Please don't pick the wildflowers
The common name of wildflowers of Southwest Louisiana
is followed by the Latin name.
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American Bluehearts -- BUCHNERA AMERICANA
Grassy Arrowheado -- SAGTTARIA GRAMINEA
Atlantic Pigeonwings -- CLITORIA MARIANA
Azalea -- RHODODENDRON CANESCENS
Bachelor Button -- POLYGALA NANA
Barbara's Button -- MARSHALLIA TENUIFOLIA
Sweet Bay -- MAGNOLIA VERGINIANA
Bear's Foot -- SMALLANTHUS UVEDALIA
Bearded Grass Pink Orchid -- CALOPAGON BARBATUS
Slender-leaf Betony -- STACHYSTENUIFOLIA
Bird Foot Violet -- VIOLA PEDATA
Blue-eyed Grass -- SISYRINCHIUM SAGETTIFERUM
Bluebonnet -- LUPINUS TEXENSIS
Blue Sage -- SALVIA AZUREA
Brazilian Vervain -- VERBENA BRASILIENSIS
Broad-leaf Snoutbean -- RHYNCHOSIA LATIFOLIA
Brown-eyed Susan -- RUDBECKIA HIRTA
Bull Nettle -- CNIDOSCOLUA TEXANUS
Bush Pea -- BAPTISIA SPHAEROCARPA
Butterfly Weed -- ASCELEPIAS TUBEROSA
Buttercup -- RANUNCULUS CAROLINIANUS
Butterfly Pea-- CENTROSEMA VIRGINIANUM
Button Bush -- CEPHALANTHUS OCCIDENTALIS
Cardinal Flower-- LOBELLIA CARDINALIS
Carolina Lily-1 -- LILIUM MICHAUXII
Carolina Lily-2 -- LILIUM MICHAUXII
Carolina Jessamine -- CELSEMIUM SEMPERVIRENS
Carolina Rockrose -- HELIANTHEMUM CAROLINIANUM
Carolina Rose -- ROSA CAROLINA
Calalpa Tree -- CATALPA BIGNONIOIDES
Catchfly -- SILENE SUBCILIATA
Christmas Fern -- POLYSTICHUM ACROSTICHOIDES
Colic Root -- ALETRIS AUREA
Coral Bean -- ERYTHRINA HERBACEA
Lance-leaved Coreopsis -- COREOPSIS LANCEOLATA
Cross-vine -- BIGNONIA CAPREOLATA
Cut-Leaf Ground Cherry -- PHYSALISANGULATA
Dakota Vervain -- VERBENA BIPINNATIFIDA
Dandelion -- KRIGIA OCCIDENTALIS
Day-flower -- COMMELINA ERECTA
Devils Shoestring -- TEPHROSIA VIRGINIANA
Dewberry -- RUBUS TRIVIALIS
Dogwood -- CORNUS FLORIDA
Downy Milkpea -- GALACTIA VOLUBILIS
Drummond Lily -- COOPERIA DRUMMONDII
Dwarf Palmetto -- SABAL MINOR
Eared Lobelia -- LOBELIA APPENDICULATA
Elephant Foot -- ELEPHANTOPUS NUDATUS
Eryngo -- ERYNCIUM INTEGRIFOLIUM
False Dragon Head -- PHYSOSTEGIA DIGILALIS
False Foxglove -- AUREOLARIA GRANDIFLORA
Foxglove Beard-Tongue -- PENESTEMON DIGITALIS
French Mulberry -- CALLICARPA AMERICANA
Fringe Tree -- CHIONANTHUS VIRGINICA
Kansas Gay Feather -- LIATRIS PYCNOSTACHYA
Gerardia -- AGALINIS PURPUREA
Golden Crownbeard -- BERBESINA ENCEFIOIDES
Greenthread -- THELESPERMA FLAVODISCUM
Herbertia -- ALOPHIA DRUMMONDII
Japanese Honeysuckle -- LONICERA JAPONICA
Trumpet Honeysuckle -- LONICERA SEMPERVIRENS
Hyssop-leaf Eupatorium -- EUPATORIUM HYSSOPIFOLIUM
Indian Hemp -- APOCYNUM CANNABINUM
Indian Pink -- SPIGELIA MARILANDICA
Plains Wild Indigo -- BAPTISIA LEUCOPHAEA
Iron Weed -- VERNONIA TEXANA
Jack-in-Pulpit -- ARISAEMA QUINATUM
Lady Tresses Orchid -- SPIRANTHES VERNALIS
Lizard's Tail -- SAURURUS CERNUUS
Marsh Cone Flower -- RUDBECKIA MISSOURIENSIS
Maryland Milkwort -- POLYGALA MARIANA
May-apple-1 -- PODOPHYLLUM PELTATUM
May-apple-2 -- PODOPHYLLUM PELTATUM
Meadow Aster -- ASTER PROTENSIS
Meadow Beauty, Common -- RHEXIA VIRGINICA
Meadow Beauty -- RHEXIA PETIOLATA
Milkvine -- MATELEA GONOCARPA
Mist Flower-1 -- EUPATORIUM COELESTINUM
Mist Flower-2 -- EUPATORIUM COELESTINUM
Mud Plaintain -- HERTERANTHERA LIMOSA
Mullein -- VERBASCUM THAPSUS
Multi-bloom Tephrosia -- TEPHROSIA ONOBRYCHOIDES
New Jersey Tea -- CEANOTHUS AMERICANUS
Partridge-Berry -- MITCHELLA REPENS
Partridge Pea -- CASSIA FASCICULATA
Passion Flower -- PASSIFLORA INCARNATA
Periwinkle -- VINCA MINOR
Prairie Phlox -- PHLOX PILOSA
Phlox, white -- PHLOX PILOSA
Pigeon Wings -- CLITORIA MARIANA
Pine Woods Rose -- GENTIAN SABATA GENTIANOIDES
Purple Pleat-leaf -- EUSTYLIS PURPUREA
Pink Scale Gay Feather -- LIATRIS ELEGANS
Pitcher Plant-1 -- SARRACENIA ALATA
Pitcher Plant-2 -- SARRACENIA ALATA
Pucoon -- LITHOSPERMUM CAROLINIENSE
Purple Head Sneeze Weed -- HELENIUM FLEXUOSUM
Purple Cone Flower -- ECHINACEA SANGUINEA
Red Milkweed -- ASCELEPIAS RUBRA
Ribbed Mock Bishop's Weed -- PTILIMNIUM COSTATUM
Rose Mallow -- HIBISCUS MILITARIS
Rose Pogonia Orchid -- POGONIA OPHIOGLOSSOIDES
Rough Skullcap -- SCUTELLARIA INTEGRIFOLIA
Ruellia -- RUELLIA HUMILIS
Sage, White -- SALVIA AZUREA
Sand Weed -- HYPERICUM FASCICULATUM
Scarlet Hibiscus -- HIBISCUS COCCINEUS
Sensitive Briar -- SCHRANKIA HYSTRICINA
Sharp-sepal Penstemon -- PENSTEMON TENNIS
Sharp Gay Feather -- LIATRIS ACIDOTA
Single Stem Scurfpea -- PSORALEA SIMPLEX
Slender Bush Clover -- LESPEDEZA VIRGINICA
Slender Silphium -- SILPHIUM GRACILE
Soloman's Seal -- POLYGONATUM BIFLORUM
Southern Clubmoss -- LYCOPODIELLA APPRESSA
Spanish Moss -- TILLANDSIA USNEOIDES
Spider Lily -- HYMENOCALLIS LIRIOSME
Spiderwort-1 -- TRADESCANTIS OHIOENSIS
Spiderwort-2 -- TRADESCANTIS OHIOENSIS
Spiderwort, white -- TRADESCANTIS OHIOENSIS
Spotted Bee Balm -- MONARDA PUNCTATA
Spring Cress -- CARDAMINE BULBOSA
St. John's Wort -- HYPERICUM MUTILUM
Strawberry Bush -- EUONYMUS AMERICANUS
Sundew -- DROSERA ANNUA
Sweet Pepper Bush -- CLETHRA ALNIFOLIA
Ten Angle Pipe Wort -- ERIOCAULON DECANGULARE
Bull Thistle -- CIRSIUM HORRIDULUM
Tickseed -- BIDENS ARISTOSA
Toad Flax -- LINARIA TEXANA
Trilobe Violet -- VIOLA LANGLOISII
Trumpet Creeper -- CAMPSIS RADICANS
Umbrella Grass -- DICHROMENA LATIFOLIA
Venus Looking Glass -- TRIODANIS PERFOLIATA
Wood Vetch -- VICIA CAROLINIANA
Violet Wood Sorrel -- OXALIS VIOLACEA
Violet, Primrose-leaved -- VIOLA PRIMULIFOLIA
Viperina -- ZORNIA BRACTEATA
White Clematis -- CLEMATIS DIOSCOREIFOLIA
White Clover -- TRIFOLIUM REPENS
Wild Bean -- STROPHOSTYLES UMBELLATA
Wild Bergamot -- MONARDA FISTULOSA
Wild Morning Glory -- IPOMOEA TRICHOCARPA
Wild Potato -- IPOMOEA PANDURATA
Winkler Gaillardia -- GAILLARDIA PINNATIFIDA
Wisteria -- WISTERIA FRUTESCENS
Wood Betony -- PEDICULARIS CANADENSIS
Wood Betony, yellow -- PEDICULARIS CANADENSIS
Woolly Groundsel -- SENECIO TOMENTOSUS
Woolly White -- HYMENOPAPPUS ARTEMISIAE
Yellow-eyed Grass -- XYRIS AMBIQUA
Yellow Meadow Beauty -- RHEXIA LUTEA
Yellow Savannah Milkwort -- POLYGALA RAMOSA
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Medicinal Herbs and Flowers, etc.
Of special interest to wildflower enthusiasts are the medicinal properties
of plants. There is evidence that plants played an important role in
Indian medicine. When checked with pharmaceutical directories of
today, it is found that 25 per cent of the plants were correctly used
by the American Indians. And we know plants still play a large role
in treating diseases. Echinea - purple cone flower - is taken by some
to boost the immune system. Wildflowers were an important part of the
Indian's diet. Until mid 1900, drug companies depended on their supply
of leaves and herbs that were gathered, prepared and provided by
individuals. The passion flower root brought 2 cents per pound.
Sassafras bark or root brought 19 cents per pound. The following are
flowers used by the American Indians and by doctors into the early 1900's.
(The preparers of this site are not responsible for the validity of this
list of flowers and do not endorse the use of flowers for those purposes
indicated.)
Flower
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Use/Comments
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Bearded grass-pink orchido
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Critically imperiled
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Blue-eyed Grass
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Cooked greens eaten to keep regular
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Bull Nettle
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Berries cut up and fried in grease, used to kill mange
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Buttercup
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All parts toxic
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Butterfly Pea
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Used as tea, for sore mouth
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Carolina Jessamine
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Entire plant toxic. Used as narcotic
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Christmas Fern
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Tea for rheumatism
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Coral bean
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Seeds are poisonous
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Cross Vine
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Made into leaf tea to cleanse blood
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Dogwood
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Bark used as a quinine substance
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Palmetto
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Abstract from berries used to treat prostrate
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False Fox Glove
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Slows down heart. In large amounts - fatal
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Fringe Tree
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Liver ailments
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Indian Pink
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Used in tea for parasites
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Iron Weed
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Tea for monthly period
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Jack-In-Pulpit
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All parts toxic
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Marsh Coneflower
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Root ooze used for earache. Wash used for snakebites
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May-apple
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Causes diarrhea. Roots soaked in whiskey used
for rheumatism
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Partridge Berry
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Bowel complaints. Tea used for sore nipples
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Passion Flower
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Sleep aid. Ten petals signify - 10 apostles, 5 stamens -
5 wounds, 3 styles in center for 3 nails
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Purple Head Sneeze Weed
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Bruised root steep and iron weed prevented
monthly periods for two years
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Rough Skull Cap
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Root used in kidney medicine
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Spiderwort
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Made into tea for stomach ache from overeating
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Spotted Bee Balm
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Heart trouble. Tea used for measles
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Strawberry Bush
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Perfume. Bladder complaints
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Trilobe Violet
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Leaves binded on head for headache
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Trumpet Creeper
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Used to treat coughs and asthma.
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Sweet potatoes
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soaked in vine tea before planting, kept away bugs and moles
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Wood Betony
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Cough medicine. Put in dog bed to de-louse pups
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Yellow Eyed Grass
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Root steep drunk for diarrhea
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Wildflower Pictures
Bundick Swamp Picture
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