Gulf Marshes and Prairies
The Gulf Marshes, covering approximately 500,000 acres, are on a narrow strip of lowlands adjacent to the coast and the barrier islands (e.g., Padre Island), which extend from Mexico to Louisiana. The Gulf Prairies, about 9 million acres, include the nearly flat plain extending 30 to 80 miles inland from the Gulf Marshes. The Gulf Marshes are a low, wet, marshy coastal area, commonly covered with saline water, and range from sea level to a few feet in elevation. The Gulf Prairies are nearly level and virtually undissected plains having slow surface drainage and elevations from sea level to 250 feet. Soils of the Gulf Marshes are dark, poorly drained sandy loams and clays, and light neutral sands, typically showing little textural change with depth. The loamy and clayey soils are commonly saline and sodic. Prairie soils are dark, neutral to slightly acid clay loams and clays in the northeastern parts. Further south in the subhumid Coastal Bend, the soils are less acidic. A narrow band of light acid sands and darker loamy to clayey soils stretches along the coast. Inland from the dark clayey soils is a narrow belt of lighter acid fine sandy loam soils with gray to brown, and red mottled subsoils. Soils of the river bottomlands and broad deltaic plains are reddish brown to dark gray, slightly acid to calcareous, loamy to clayey alluvial.Printer Friendly: Species List | List with Images | List with QR Tags to Mobile
scientific name | common name(s) | image gallery |
Nuttallanthus texanus | Texas Toadflax Texas Toad-flax Toadflax | |
Nymphoides aquatica | Big Floatingheart Floating Hearts | |
Nymphaea odorata | American White Water-lily Fragrant White Water-lily Fragrant Water-lily White Water-lily Sweet-scented White Water-lily Sweet-scented Water-lily Beaver Root | |
Oenothera lindheimeri | White Gaura Butterfly Gaura Lindheimer's Beeblossom Lindheimer's Gaura | |
Oenothera speciosa | Pink Evening Primrose Showy Evening Primrose Mexican Evening Primrose Showy Primrose Pink Ladies Buttercups Pink Buttercups | |
Onoclea sensibilis | Sensitive Fern Bead Fern Sympathy Fern | |
Opuntia engelmannii var. engelmannii | Cactus Apple Prickly Pear | |
Opuntia macrorhiza | Bigroot Prickly Pear Twist-spine Prickly Pear Common Prickly Pear Plains Prickly Pear | |
Osmunda cinnamomea | Cinnamon Fern | |
Osmunda regalis | Royal Fern | |
scientific name | common name(s) | image gallery |