PlantFiles: Skeleton Plant
Lygodesmia texana

This native plant grows in sunny relatively dry areas of Texas. Most of the growing or blooming season it is pretty much leafless. The flowers are pretty and it is a popular nectar plant for butterflies. It tolerate poor rocky soils and infrequent rainfall during the drier parts of the year.

This is a native Texas wildflower which is also known as purple dandelion, milk pink and flowering straw. I could not locate any information on it's hardiness zones, but it grows in the western 2/3 of Texas. It does not grow in north east Texas, but does grow from Beaumont southward along the coastal region. It is interesting because by the time the buds form, the basal leaves wither and die and the upper leaves are just scales. The plant looks as though something has eaten all of the leaves.

The 1.5 to 2 inch strikingly beautiful blooms may be lavender, pale blue or rose. The tips of the petals are squarish and have 3-5 small lobes. The styles are very erect and are striped with deep lavender or purple. Only one head opens at a time and the bloom does not last very long. It blooms for a long period of time and makes an excellent plant for a native plant area and/or a xeriscape area. Because it takes very little water, it should not be overwatered. Bees love it and butterflies use it as a source of nectar.

It contains a milky sap and may have toxic levels of nitrates.

I have not grown this plant in my yard, but have seen it in its natural settings so I rate it a neutral.