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Native Plant Society of Texas

2024 Annual Awards Announcement

Craig Dalton

by the Native Plant Society of Texas Awards Committee

Ashley Landry leading a native plant rescue project in Central Texas. Photo courtesy of Hillary Xu

Every year the Native Plant Society of Texas recognizes organizations and individuals that advance our mission. Their work will be honored during our 2024 Fall Symposium to be held October 10-12th in New Braunfels, Texas. Have a look at the extensive overview of all symposium activities on our website. You can attend in person or virtually by registering here and enjoy the stories of extraordinary people from all over Texas who have done wonderful things that champion our mission. Our Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, October 12th will feature a presentation announcing the Memorial and other special awards. We will hear from Benny Simpson Fellow honorees. The evening is a fun and exciting event that we hope you will attend.

Benny J. Simpson Fellow Honorees

The honor of Fellow is conferred upon members in recognition of remarkable service to the Society in advancing our mission at the State or Chapter level. Fellows are chosen by the membership from a list of members with ten years of continuous commendable service. The 2024 Fellows are Cecil Carter, Kim Conrow, and Betsy Farris.

State Board Awards: Appreciation, Native Star and Digital Media

A 2024 State Board Award of Appreciation goes to Kyle Cowart for being an ambassador for planting Texas bluebonnets by making presentations to multiple groups, creating a display for outreach, and giving away seeds.

The Native Star Award is for a specific act of conservation or public service in the field of Texas native plants. The 2024 award goes to the Lingleville ISD PTO for mobilizing, inspiring, and enlisting the community to create an outdoor learning environment for Pre-K through 12
students as a hands-on living lab to enhance education. With the leadership of Emily Howe, Christine Whitefield, and Doris Hasten, the PTO received grants and in-kind donations, coordinated volunteers, and turned a tiny rural school construction zone into a campus-wide outdoor education living laboratory. A video presentation by these three women is available at https://youtu.be/5iT3JdBkxR4

The Digital Media Award recognizes outstanding digital publications featuring Texas native plants. The 2024 award goes to Joe Marcus for his significant contribution as program coordinator of the Native Plants of North America database and website for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Joe developed a program to recruit photographers to contribute images and many other volunteers to gather species information, upload images to the database, and independently verify the species identification of each photograph submission.

Memorial Awards

The Society has seven awards that help us to stay connected to the people from the past who were important in the study and advancement of Texas native plants and to people who founded and developed our Society. Through these awards we show our respect and admiration for those who we memorialize and those who are continuing the efforts today.

The Mary Jo Laughlin and Dr. Eula Whitehouse Memorial Award is awarded for visual art that illustrates, interprets, or promotes Texas native plants. The 2024 award goes to Jane Felts Mauldin for her beautiful and enticing illustrations highlighting Texas native plants in the Herald-Zeitung newspaper in New Braunfels. Jane’s work provides a visual connection to Texas native plants to all readers of the newspaper, thereby enhancing the educational work of the Society’s New Braunfels Chapter.

The Shirley Lusk Memorial Award honors a community scientist for collecting and preserving Texas native plants for public education by providing an outstanding contribution of herbarium vouchers. The 2024 award goes to Mary Curry for collecting herbarium vouchers for BRIT concentrating on specimens of botanical, geographic, and taxonomic significance. Like the namesake of this award, Mary is a self-taught botanist and naturalist who has a vast knowledge of the vegetation region known as the Northern Cross Timbers.

The Carroll Abbot Memorial Award is for writings in the popular vein on Texas native plants. The 2024 award goes to Amy Martin for her book Wild DFW: Explore the Amazing Nature around Dallas-Fort Worth which explores the ecology, natural history, and flora and fauna of North Texas and where to experience them. Amy Martin has been an environmental writer in the DFW area for many years. This book provides useful information for both the experienced naturalist as well as the novice nature explorer on how to safely explore natural habitats that are often overlooked in the urbanized areas of DFW.

The Nancy Benedict Memorial Award is for a specific act of conservation or public service in the field of Texas native plants. The 2024 award goes to Ashley Landry for founding and leading the Native Plant Rescue Project (NPRP) in Central TX, resulting in 1000s of plants and seeds and over 275 species being saved from development and given to botanic gardens, nurseries, and the public. This project grew out of Ashley’s concern about the eradication of many native species due to residential and commercial development projects in Williamson, Burnet, and Travis counties. NPRP is a collaboration between the Native Plant Society of Texas, both the State organization and the Williamson County Chapter.

Patty Manning

The Lynn Lowrey Memorial Award is for horticultural achievement. The 2024 award goes to Patty Manning for work done through Twin Sisters Native Nursery in the Big Bend region, developing propagation protocols and providing new plant species to the Sul Ross State University Plant Material Center, and donating to living collections for botanical gardens throughout Texas.

Patty died on September 10th, 2024 at her home in Alpine. The Society is greatly saddened by her passing. She was aware of this award and especially happy to be associated with Lynn Lowrey. Patty’s long career in West Texas spanned academia, field research, commercial plant propagation and the visual arts. She will be greatly missed.

The Charles Leonard Weddle Memorial Award is for lifetime achievement in the field of Texas native plants. The 2024 award goes to Barney Lipscomb for serving as Director of BRIT Press and Library, Editor-in-Chief of botanical journals, Leonhardt Chair of Texas Botany; doing research and fieldwork; co-authoring several flora books and multiple journal articles; and speaking dynamically to NPSOT audiences on multiple topics.

The Donovan Stewart Correll Memorial Award is for scientific writing in the field of the native flora of Texas. There was no 2024 award in this category, and we look forward to 2025 nominations for this award.

The 2024 Fall Symposium is just around the corner! If you would like to meet some these amazing people, or listen to them tell part of their story, register for the event either in person or online.

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About the Region

New Braunfels, the location of our Fall 2024 Symposium, straddles both the Edwards Plateau Ecoregion and the Blackland Prairie ecoregion. Interstate 35 divides the city of New Braunfels; its path through the city closely parallels the boundary of these two ecoregions, with the Edwards Plateau on the west side and the Blackland Prairies region to the east. The Edwards Plateau area is also called the Hill Country; however, this general term covers a much larger area extending farther north. Spring-fed creeks are found throughout the region; deep limestone canyons, rivers, and lakes (reservoirs) are common. Ashe juniper is perhaps the most common woody species found throughout the region. Additional woody species include various species of oak, with live oak (Quercus fusiformis) being the most common. Sycamores (Platanus occidentalis) and bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) border waterways. This area is well known for its spring wildflower displays, though they may be viewed in spring, late summer, and fall, as well. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, average annual rainfall in the Edwards Plateau ranges from 15 to 34 inches.

The Blackland Prairie extends from the Red River south to San Antonio, bordered on the west by the Edwards Plateau and the Cross Timbers, and on the east by the Post Oak Savannah. Annual rainfall averages 30 to 40 inches, with higher averages to the east. This region is dominated by prairie species. The most common grass species include little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) in the uplands and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) in the riparian areas and drainages. Common herbaceous flowering plants include salvias, penstemons, and silphiums. This area has suffered greatly from overgrazing and agricultural use. Few intact areas remain, though many of the plants can be found along county roadsides throughout the region.

Our four host chapters (New Braunfels, Lindheimer, Guadalupe, and the Hill Country chapters) are located in one or both of the ecoregions above. However, the eastern portion of Guadalupe County also falls within the Post Oak Savanna ecoregion. Annual rainfall averages 35 to 45 inches, with higher averages to the east. A wide variety of hardwood trees are found, including several species of oaks, elms, and in the Bastrop area, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). Grasses and forbs dominate in the open savannas, with most common grass being little bluestem. Ranching, agriculture, and fire suppression have allowed woody species to encroach on the once-open savannas.

Source: Wildflowers of Texas by Michael Eason