​Carolina modiola - Modiola caroliniana

It is a low creeping perennial with reddish-orange flowers with a slender, hairy stalk. It blooms between February – June. Habitat includes lawns, gardens, disturbed sites, and wet areas. The leaves are up to 3 inches in length, delta to kidney shaped, and toothed.

​Heal All - Prunella vulgaris

Terminal white to pink or purple flower cluster in late spring. Like others in the mint family, it has opposite leaves and square stems. Medical research has shown that the plant can be used for antibiotic, hypotensive, antimutagenic, antitumor, and diuretic purposes. Rich in antioxidants. Grows along the levee.

​Tuberous Hedge-Nettle - Stachys floridana

Perennial with lavender flowers in spring. Returns each year from its white, wormlike 4-6 inch tubers. Commonly found in gardens. The foliage has an unusual pickle smell.

​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.

​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 Plantain - Plantago major

Oval-shaped rosette of leaves with base at ground.

​Pokeweed - Phytolacca americana

Pokeweed is an herbaceous perennial plant that grows up to 8 feet in height. It is native to the eastern United States. It has simple leaves and the stems can be green or purple. The flowers are green or white with 4-5 sepals and no petals, and have very dark purplish black berries. Songbirds, including the northern mockingbird, northern cardinal, and brown thrasher, will feed on the berries dispersing the seeds. The berries are toxic to many other species including humans. It is found growing in pastures, woodland openings, and edge habitats.

​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.

​Smartweed - Polygonum hydropiperoides

It is a perennial herb that grows up to 3ft tall. Preferred habitat is moist and wet. The leaves are alternate, lance-shaped, and about 4in long. The pinkish flowers are on spikes at the end of stems and about 3 millimeters wide. Flowers begin as greenish then turn whitish or light pink in color as they mature. The seeds are consumed by small birds and mammals.

​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.

​Bedstraw - Galium aparine

Weak-stemmed plant with hooked bristles on stem and leaves to grab animals or clothing and break off from the ground. Very small (1/8") spring-blooming white flowers on stalks arise from the axils of whorled leaves. There are 4 flower petals and each whorl has 6-8 leaves. Also called "cleavers" because of its clinging habit. Medical research shows that extracts are hypotensive (lower blood pressure) and contain asperuloside, which is anti-inflammatory. May cause slight skin irritation upon contact.

​Buttonweed - Diodia virginiana

A creeping perennial herb rooting at the leaf nodes. 2 or 3 small, 4-petalled, summer-blooming, faintly hairy, white flowers are found in the axil of each leaf. A very abundant weed in the Southeast.

​Horse-nettle - Solanum carolinense

Star-shaped white to purple 5-petalled flowers bloom in summer on 2-foot perennial plants with thorns along stems and underside of leaves. Fruits look like little yellow tomatoes, and tomatoes are in the nightshade family as well, but horse-nettle fruit is poisonous if consumed. Many birds eat the fruit, including wood ducks.

​Ground-cherry - Physalis heterophylla or angulata

It is a perennial plant reaching a height up to 20in. The leaves are alternate 2–4 in long and the flowers are simple inflorescences. The petals are yellow with purple highlights. The flowers face downwards when open. The fruit is edible and has a slightly bitter taste. The rest of the plant is poisonous. Preferred habitats include dry prairies, sandy or rocky soils, and roadsides.

​Lizard's Tail - Saururus cernuus

A colony-forming perennial herb to 3 feet tall with heart-shaped leaves. Dense spikes of white flowers curl over at the end, giving the plant its name. Blooms from April to July in moist places. Since it contains some novel compounds with sedative affects, its medicinal properties are being heavily researched. American Indians used it for a wash for general pain or rheumatism for its anti-inflammatory affect. Enjoyed by wood ducks.

​Verbena - Verbena brasiliensis

One of the most common wildflowers along the levee in the summer at the Acadiana Nature Park. Terminal clusters of tiny bluish purple flowers atop a tall herb with square stems and opposite leaves. Seeds are oblong nutlets eaten by songbirds such as sparrows, cardinals, and buntings.

​Bayou Violet - Viola langloisii

Single triangular leaves are common in the floodplain area throughout the year. In spring, a bluish-purple flower grows at each leaf. 2 upper petals, 2 drooping side petals, and a lower petal which provides a landing strip for insects.