Texas
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More Swamp Work
Where Chris and I are working reminds us a bit of a mix of the Everglades, which I think mentioned in the last Swamp Work post. It isn’t common to walk through thickets of cut grass, getting cut up by it as we walk through. And then there is the mud slogging. Sometimes we’re able to walk through areas with a mostly hard bottom, albeit a little muddy, but then we get in areas that are 1-2′ thick of floating plants and root matter and once you break through that it’s mud on the bottom. Then you slog through that. Previously these areas in the ‘glades would’ve been accessed by…
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Texas Wildflowers: Lupinus texensis, the Texas bluebonnet
The second in a series on wildflowers: Texas bluebonnets are the ubiquitous sign that spring has sprung in Texas. Well, there area few other signs, but when you are driving down the highway and see the flowers blooming, you know it’s time to start digging in the dirt and pulling out the shorts—maybe! The bluebonnet is one of five state flowers. That is, all five lupine species are considered the state flower! Texas bluebonnet story. A few years ago I grew some in a container in Florida. They did pretty good for the climate and some day I’d love to grow them again. Of course there are the beautiful fields…
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Texas Wildflowers: Castilleja indivisa, Texas/Indian paintbrush
The first in a series on Texas wildflowers. The commonly known Indian Paintbrush is almost as famous as it’s wildflower friend the Texas Bluebonnet. The bright red of the paintbrush is usually in a field alongside of its more popular friend. The red and blue are a symbol that spring has definitely arrived in Texas! This native annual can be grown from seed in your own yard if you so wanted. The red of the plant is actually not the flower but bracts surrounding the smaller, less conspicuous flower. In the field we photographed we found a magenta variety in the mix… *later edit*: I actually think this might be…
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Corallorhiza wisteriana, spring coralroot orchid
After finding the flowering plant of spring coralroot orchid at Texoma a week ago Chris and I wanted to find more to get better photos. I asked the folks at Tandy Hills if they’d seen any there but they answered with a negative. My next step was to ask the Fort Worth Nature Center and I got a positive answer. We weren’t quite sure where we might find them other than near the river area and in shaded leaf litter so we set off for the Riverbottom trail. We walked for twenty minutes or so and then Chris spotted some that already had seed pods. *drat*. We kept walking and…
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Swamp Work
Chris and I have made it to our job site down here in S.E. Texas. I spent a little bit of time in Sabine Pass back in college when I was capturing and tagging Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. Luckily I am in a bigger area and not so near all of the petroleum refineries this time around. We’re working in the Big Thicket doing a wetland inventory for a bigger project that will be handled later. Much of the project area is similar to where Chris and I hiked in south Florida, similar to regions of Big Cypress and the Everglades and Water Conservation Areas. But, there are different plants…
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Awaiting Spring at Tandy Hills
Chris and I ventured to Tandy Hills on Friday to check on the trout lilies for the season. While we did find a lot of the plants up and growing, we didn’t find a single bloom. We couldn’t decide if we were too late or a bit early, even though last year we saw blooms at about two weeks prior to this time. So, who knows? It has been dry this year so perhaps a rain event would trigger some blooms? If not, I guess I will have to wait until next year. I didn’t leave empty handed photograph wise, though. We did find a few flowers poking out and…
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Of Sycamores and Endings
Yesterday Chris found a gigantic leaf in the woods that turned out to be an American Sycamore. It is almost 18″ in width and the little Chris has found on the internet it seems that the largest so far is only 15.5″. Perhaps this is a record? If anyone out there can find more information, please let me know! Our time in Sabine National Forest is up. I think I’ve walked over almost every inch of this forest from Patroon to Shelbyville. It has been an awesome experience, walking this forest. When we first arrived it was warm and fall was just beginning. The leaves were turning red and yellow…
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Nature in the City: Trinity River Audubon
On our last break we took a visit to the Trinity River Audubon south of Dallas. Not much was going on in the way of wildlife, but it was still a beautiful place to visit. I had no idea the place even existed until a few months ago. It was cold and windy the day we were there so the wildlife was probably hiding as well. I am sure migratory birds enjoy a nice stopover here. Now some photos: The education center. It hosts an area for school groups to eat lunch, nice restrooms, and great exhibits, including a hands on build your own river exhibit. Pretty cool! Near the…
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The Woods: Part III
When I initially saw the plant there on the right I thought it was some type of coral root orchid. After consulting our Texas orchid book I quickly realized it wasn’t but was left hanging on what it actually was. The thought crossed my mind that perhaps it was a parasitic plant but I still wasn’t sure. So I sent an email off to Prem who is much more of an orchid expert than we are and I knew he’d be able to tell me what they were. Turns out we have beech drops a parasitic plant to beech trees! Pretty nifty and interesting! Parsley hawthorn What I really need…
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The Big Thicket
The Big Thicket is a patchwork of forest in east Texas that is run by the National Park Service. It is similar to Big Cypress National Preserve in that hunting and other recreational uses are allowed unlike many other national parks in the system. I had been here 9 years ago in a wetlands class in college but didn’t quite remember everything about it. We went to a few different trails, the Sundew Trail, the Pitcher Plant Trail and the Beech Woods Trail. The last ivory billed woodpecker verified in the United States was seen in the Big Thicket near the Neches River. Interesting stuff! We found a black rat…