Calyptocarpus vialis | Texas Native Plant Week

Horseherb, aka: straggler daisy, is an interesting kinda-sorta native plant. You see, we have some *in* our flower garden from a pot that we bought, and where we bought it from called it native. It wasn’t long after we bought it that I actually paid attention to the grass around my yard and noticed that the same plant grew throughout the yard, intermingled with the grass and other weeds. It had been on my mind for awhile to check the plant out online and follow-up with digging more information on it, and finally a few weeks ago I actually looked it up. I had a suspicion that perhaps it wasn’t native afterall, especially since it was hanging out in the lawn.

And like I said, it’s a kinda-sorta native plant. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center calls it a native as does the Native Plant Society of Texas, however the USDA considers it introduced. What a conundrum!

A quick Google search yielded this this interesting paper discussing a bit more in depth the native status of the plant. My county isn’t listed as containing the plant though it is most definitely here. Likely if it is in my yard it is in other people’s yards, and who knows about natural areas.

As for other people and their congeneality towards it, there’s a love/hate vibe that runs through gardeners. Some folks love it because it creates nearly evergreen mats that are shade tolerant. To be honest, I do like the look that is presented of it taking over a section of a yard; low growing, green—no need to mow. Now, the opposite of these folks are the haters, who think it’s an evil foe. And I see their point too—the pot I planted in my garden readily spreads and I have to trim it back frequently to keep it in the spot I want it in. In all honesty, I think it needs to move somewhere else where it can spread a little more and keep me from trimming it once a month.

So, horseherb…a weed to some, and others an interesting native plant.

What do you think? Do you grow horseherb?