The Dirt

A Blog of the Acadiana Native Plant Project

Native plant of the month: Quercus pagoda (Cherrybark oak)

from September 2022 newsletter Cherrybark oak is a relatively fast growing, long-lived large deciduous tree with attractive dark bark...

Asclepias viridis, green milkweed

Throughout the years, Asclepias viridis or green milkweed has acquired several common names such as spider milkweed, American silkweed,...

Spring Ephemerals

Spring is here and flowers are popping up everywhere, in this case, flowers that no one planted, they just appear every spring and go...

Plant of the Month: Carpinus caroliniana, Ironwood

The weather is still cool and we have another month to plant trees so this month, Carpinus caroliniana, also known as ironwood or...

Our 2023 Plant of the Year: Mamou

One of our New Year's Resolutions is to raise the profile of some of our most beloved native plants by featuring them in our outreach and...

Native plant of the month: Asclepias species

Native milkweed species in the genus Asclepias are herbaceous perennials found in many different habitats in Louisiana. Most have milky...

Native plant of the month: Baptisia alba (white false indigo)

Baptisia alba is a showy white flowered legume growing 2-4 ft. tall by 2 ft wide. It is a mound-shaped bushy perennial with smooth leaves...

Native plant of the month: Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweetgum)

This month I decided to take my mind off prairie plants by looking up to the trees and experiencing the onset of fall color in Louisiana....

Native plant of the month: Sassafras albidum (Sassafras)

Gumbo weather makes us think of file’. Sassafras is a small to medium sized deciduous tree or shrub with horizontal branching in tiers....

Native Plant of the Month: Quercus pagoda (Cherrybark oak)

Cherrybark oak is a relatively fast growing, long-lived large deciduous tree with attractive dark bark broken into shallow longitudinal...

Native plant of the month: Helianthus angustifolius (swamp sunflower)

Yellow is the color of October in my prairie. It seems like every plant with a yellow fower is flowering now: the goldenrods and many...