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Texas frog-fruit

Scientific Name: Phyla incise Small, Phyla nodiflora (L) Greene
Common Name: Texas frog-fruit

Morphological Characteristics:

  • Plant type: perennial
  • Height: 3 to 6 inches
  • Propagation: seeds, cuttings
  • Light Req.: medium
  • Water Req.: low
  • Bloom period: spring-fall
  • Suggested use: groundcover.

Texas frog-fruit is a small prostrate spreading perennial forb that may be used as an excellent ground cover for hot, dry areas of soil. It is an evergreen in warmer areas or zones protected from frost. It spreads vigorously but is not invasive. When it is in extremely dry places, it tends to hug the ground reaching a height of 3-6 inches. When given extra water or growing in more shady conditions it grows a bit more upright, up to about 8 inches. The flower heads are usually about ½ inch long and the blossoms themselves are tiny and white, opening in a ring. The leaves are rather long and stiff, with pronounced serrations on the edges. The plant roots wherever the stems touch the ground. Texas frog-fruit transplants easily and will blooms in the shade.

Texas frog-fruit generally is a good nectar plant for butterflies and is the larval food plant for the Phaon Crescent Spot, Buckeye, and White Peacock butterflies.

Conservation Use:

Why collect this plant?
Knox City Plant Materials Center has identified this plant as having potential benefits to the following conservation practice standards: 645 Upland Wildlife Habitat Management; 342 Critical Area Planting; 562 Recreation Area Improvement; 643 Restoration and Management of Rare or Declining Habitats.

Your assistance in collecting this plant helps support the NRCS conservation practice standards which are employed daily to conserve the natural resources of Texas!

Centers Requesting Seed:

Knox City Plant Materials Center

How to Collect Seed/Plants:

  1. Identify native plant stands in your area. You can go to the following websites for helpful photos http://plants.usda.gov or http://www.noble.org/imagegallery/index.html or www.wildflower.org
  2. Determine if seed is mature. Separate the seed head from the plant.
  3. Hand strip mature seed heads by grasping the bottom of the seed head then gently pulling away from the base of the plant. Deposit seed heads in a brown paper sack. Collect seed from a minimum of 30 to 50 plants.
  4. When collecting plants, rooted stem sections may be harvested and places in wet paper towels to keep roots moist. Place plants in a sealed plastic bags for shipment.
  5. Label each collection as it is made so collections do not get mixed up. Information required includes: Collector’s name, number of plants collected, location (parish, city, highway, and GPS coordinates), site description (soil type, slope, and plants growing in association).
  6. Complete NRCS-ECS-580; Plant Collection Information Form and mail with collected seeds to the NRCS Plant Materials Center requesting the species.

Knox City Plant Materials Center
3776 FM 1292
Knox City, TX 79529-2514

Helpful Tips:

Look for superior plants that display differences in color, height, or forage abundance and record observations. Differences in growing site or location should be made into separate collections if they are separated by more than 1 mile between sites.

Photos:

Texas frog-fruit
frog fruit leaves and stolons

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NRCS Species for 2006 Plant Collections - Texas frog-fruit (PDF; 65 KB)