The Dirt

A Blog of the Acadiana Native Plant Project

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...