Family Malvaceae Swamp Rose-mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) Growing up to 6 feet tall, this striking plant has unlobed serrate leaves. It makes a large white hibiscus-like flower with a red center in the summer. Found sometimes in the flood plain area of the park. Used as a demulcent and emollient for dysentery as well as lung and urinary problems.

Sida (Sida rhombifolia) Easily identified by its small yellowish-white flowers with a yellow center. Leaves are roughly diamond-shaped, with serrate margins along half of the leaf. Found along the canal in the flood p

Family Oxalidaceae
Violet Wood Sorrel (Oxalis violacea) Pinkish purple flowers with clover-like leaves up to 12 inches grow in a variety of locations including lawns. Both flowers and leaves close up at night. Spring and fall blooms may be nibbled or eaten on salads. They have a yummy sour taste from oxalic acid, which may be poisonous if eaten in very excessive amounts. Originally introduced from South America. Small songbirds like sparrows eat the seeds, and doves eat the seeds, leaves, and bulbs.

Common Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis stricta) 3 small heart-shaped leaflets per leaf. Tiny yellow 5-petalled flowers bloom off and on from March until frost. Sour leaves were once used for nausea, mouth sores, and sore throats, but large doses may cause oxalate poisoning.

Family Plantaginaceae

Common Plantain (Plantago major)Oval-shaped rosette of leaves with base at ground.

Family Phytolaccaceae

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)

Family Polygonaceae

Virginia knot-weed (Polygonum virginianum) Slender, erect racemes sparsely flowered with tiny white summer/fall blooms. Throughout the floodplain area. Knotweeds are important to songbirds. Mourning doves, blackbirds, finches, and sparrows all eat the seeds, as well as some mammals.

Curlydock (Rumex crispus) Dense clusters of tiny green flowers grow on spikes up to four feet tall. Flowers turn to a reddish brown color with black seeds that stay on the erect spike, creating a striking-looking plant. Basal leaves have very wavy margins. Dried roots are used as a "blood purifier," to treat skin diseases, liver ailments, sore throats, and enlarged lymph glands. May relieve or cause diarrhea, depending on harvest time and dosage. Rabbits eat the leaves, and some songbirds eat the seeds, including red-winged blackbirds and sparrows. People sometimes gather the leaves for greens. Found along the levee at the Acadiana Nature Station.

Smartweed (Polygonum hydropiperoides)

Family Rosaceae

Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) A parent of hybrid garden strawberries. 3 leaflets per leaf with serrate margins. Small white flowers with yellow centers in spring precede ½-inch red fruit. We know from historical records from the Civil War that it was once more abundant than it is today. Songbirds such as sparrows, crows, finches, grosbeaks, brown thrashers, towhees, and especially cedar waxwings and robins eat the fruit. Rabbits, possums, skunks, mice and squirrels eat the leaves as well as the fruit. American Indians and settlers both used the plant medicinally to treat sore throats, digestive problems, to treat scurvy, and as a nerve tonic.

Indian Strawberry (Duchesnea indica)