PlantHere

Plant profile · Austin & Hill Country

Puffballs

Marshallia caespitosa
native · Hill Country

Puffballs is a perennial wildflower native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1–1.5 ft tall and 5 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms white, pink and purple in Apr–Jun. Good for bees, butterflies, beetles and small mammals.

Will it grow in your yard?

Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Puffballs against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.

The facts

5 sources
Type
Perennial wildflower
Sun
Full sun to part shade (4–8 hrs of direct sun)
Water
Low
Height
1–1.5 ft
Spread
5 ft
Bloom
Apr–Jun · white, pink, purple
Foliage
Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil
Takes caliche and clay · recorded on calcareous, clay, dry, limestone, loam, sand, well drained
Wildlife
Supports bees, butterflies, beetles and small mammals

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie

842 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.