Sea purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum) — , native, iNat 96. A fleshy, hairless, prostrate perennial forming mats to six feet across, with pink to purple flowers in the leaf axils year-round and black, glossy seeds . It is a dune-front pioneer statewide and one of the few vascular plants on the wind-tidal flats . A second, smaller species, western seapurslane (Sesuvium verrucosum), has five island records .
Sea rocket (Cakile) — , native. Southern searocket (Cakile lanceolata, iNat 6) and American searocket (Cakile edentula, iNat 1) both have island records ; the genus is a dune dominant statewide .
Beach evening-primrose (Oenothera drummondii) — , native, iNat 96. Yellow flowers on erect to sprawling stems up to about twenty inches, blooming in every month, native to Florida, Louisiana, the Carolinas, and Texas; a butterfly nectar plant and moth host . It is on the Padre Island foredune list as well at Padre Island National Seashore .
Camphor daisy (Rayjacksonia phyllocephala) — , native, iNat 32. An annual to about three feet with yellow daisy heads mainly September through December and sporadically from February to July .
Gulf croton, beach tea (Croton punctatus) — , native, iNat 183. A perennial subshrub to about three feet with white flowers in May and June and a capsule fruit, native along the Gulf and southeastern coasts ; a dune dominant statewide and on the Padre Island foredune list at Padre Island National Seashore . "Beach tea" and "Gulf croton" are the same plant.
Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) — , native, iNat 58. An annual one to three feet tall with showy yellow flowers marked with red, June through October, and leaflets that fold when touched; it prefers deep sandy soils . The Padre Island grassland list includes it at Padre Island National Seashore , as does the TPWD forb list . A related sensitive pea (Chamaecrista nictitans) and Chamaecrista chamaecristoides also have island records .
Lazy daisy (Aphanostephus skirrhobasis) — , native, iNat 1. Twenty to forty-five narrow white-to-pink rays, often red underneath, around a yellow center; the heads stay shut all morning and open by midday, which is the source of the name. Blooms February to December on dry sand .
Other forbs with many island records that a visitor is likely to notice: zizotes milkweed (Asclepias oenotheroides, iNat 229), betonyleaf mistflower (Conoclinium betonicifolium, 215), Texas palafox (Palafoxia texana, 136), firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella, 133; also in the TPWD forb list ), camphorweed (Heterotheca subaxillaris, 89; TPWD forb list ), southern seaside goldenrod (Solidago mexicana, 77), limewater brookweed (Samolus ebracteatus, 78), whitetop sedge (Rhynchospora colorata, 118), Corpus Christi fleabane (Erigeron procumbens, 42), largeleaf pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis, 43), catchfly prairie gentian (Eustoma exaltatum, 34), silverhead (Blutaparon vermiculare, 19), woolly tidestromia (Tidestromia lanuginosa, 5; a TPWD dune dominant ), and alkali heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum, 48), the "sea heliotrope" of the Padre Island flats at Padre Island National Seashore , .
Observe responsibly
Wildlife, tides and access conditions change. Keep a respectful distance, do not feed wildlife, stay out of dunes and marked nesting areas, and use current official rules before fishing or handling any catch.