Species Native to Missouri
Common Name: green eyes
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Native Range: South-central United States
Zone: 6 to 8
Height: 1.50 to 3.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Bloom Time: June to September
Bloom Description: Yellow rays and maroon center disks
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Naturalize
Flower: Showy
Tolerate: Drought, Dry Soil
Culture
Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates light shade. Prefers slightly alkaline soils. Good tolerance for heat and drought. May produce more flowers with consistent moisture, but at the possible cost of stem-drooping. Easily grown from seed. May self-seed in the garden.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Berlandiera texana, commonly called Texas greeneyes, is a hirsute perennial sunflower that is native to dry, rocky/sandy, calcareous soils in open woods, glades, and thickets in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. In Missouri, it is primarily found in the southern Ozark region. Daisy-like flowers, in corymbiform terminal clusters, bloom from June to September atop erect, branching, purple-pubescent stems rising to 1.5-3' (occasionally to 4’) tall. Each flower features yellow rays (usually 5-12), shallow cup-like green calyces (bracts) beneath the rays, and maroon center disks (to 1/2” diameter). Stems are clad with alternate, broadly triangular, coarsely-toothed leaves (to 6” long) which are cordate at the base, rounded to blunt at the apex and pubescent on both sides. Larger lower leaves are petiolate and smaller upper leaves are sessile. Once the flower petals and disk flowers drop, the remaining stiff, cupped, green calyces surrounding the greenish center disks resemble green eyes, hence the common name.
Genus name honors Jean-Louis Berlandier (1805-1851), French-Swiss botanist and physician, who collected plants in Texas and Mexico in the early 1800s.
Specific epithet refers to the State of Texas where this plant grows.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Root rot may occur in overly moist soils.
Uses
Perennial border. Wildflower meadow. Naturalized areas. Edger for informal situations.