Snake Herb

Dyschoriste linearis

Also called Snakeherb

Hills guide picknative · Hill Country

Snake Herb is a groundcover native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 0.5–1 ft tall and 1.5 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low water, and handles caliche soil. Blooms purple in Apr–Oct. Evergreen — it holds its leaves through winter. Deer rarely browse it. Good for butterflies.

Will it grow in your yard?

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From our guide

Village of the Hills

Low spreading perennial with narrow leaves and small lavender tubular flowers.

Why it works here

Tough low groundcover for hot dry ground, blooming over a long season and hosting butterfly larvae.

Watch out

Spreads by rhizome. Inconspicuous — use it as a matrix, not a feature.

The facts

6 sources

Type: Groundcover
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Low
Height: 0.5–1 ft
Spread: 1.5 ft
Bloom: Apr–Oct · purple
Foliage: Evergreen
Soil: Takes caliche · recorded on caliche, dry, limestone, rocky, sand, silt, well drained
Deer: High — deer rarely browse it. Rarely browsed
Wildlife: Supports butterflies

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

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

Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut Plain

639 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.