The Drought Continues

September brought some relief from the all time record hundred plus degree days and we finally received some good rain - 6.15 inches. Every bit of which soaked into the ground. This was very good for the range grasses. It always amazes me how grasses can respond so quickly. All the pastures were brown and with no growth at all, yet in four days everything was green again. Wildflowers were blooming and grasses were shooting up and producing seed heads . . . . but this doesn’t end the drought. Remember that up until September we received only 11.24 inches for the year and during the hot summer months of May, June, July and August we only had 1.69 inches!

Since there was basically no runoff, our lakes, tanks and creeks are still, with a few exceptions dry. I hesitate to say the drought has a benefit, but it did give us the opportunity to remove silt from the lakes.

This tank was built in the late 1970’s. It has never been dry before and it was still boggy as the one loader got stuck in the mud. Photograph taken by J. David.

This pile of silt is 270 feet long, 50 feet wide and 6 foot high! Removal increased the tank capacity by 30 percent. After a prolonged drying out, we will spread it on the ranch. Photograph taken by J. David.

Madrone Lake, our most used recreation lake, on May 31, 2009. The creek that feeds it stopped flowing on July 28, 2008. Photograph taken by J. David.

Madrone Lake on October 8, 2009. The September rains soaked into the very dry earth. There has been no runoff to the lake nor spring activity to fill the lake. Photograph taken by J. David.

My observation of the effects of this drought on trees is that the most affected were Spanish Oaks. A Texas Forest Service representative estimated that we’ve lost 1,000! It surprised me that we lost at least five Bur Oaks. They have a tap root which goes deep into the ground. On the entire 5,500 acres I found only one Bur Oak. It’s probably 150 years old and in my 40 years here, it has never produced an acorn. We have planted all the other Bur Oaks on the ranch. Those five that died from the drought were seven to ten years old. Lacey Oak, some call it Blue Oak, and Live Oak have survived without loss. There has been some loss of Native Pecan, Walnut, BigTooth Maple, and Bald Cypress. It’s important to withhold judgement on this until next spring as some of these may come back to life.

This nice Spanish Oak shut down in late August. Aesthetically, it is a real loss as it was positioned along the road for all to see. Notice on the right a dead Bald Cypress. Photograph taken by J. David.

These are just two of many Bald Cypress we’ve introduced. Naturally there weren’t any on the ranch. I knew it was a risk to plant them at higher elevations, but since the creek had begun to run it was a good gamble. These are 40 foot tall and I don’t expect them to spring back to life as they got severely stressed in 2008 as well as in 2009. Photograph taken by J. David.

We call this the Catfish Tank. It has never gone completely dry. It has one spring and a 500 acre watershed to feed it. Photograph taken by J. David.

Obviously this tank has been dry long enough for cracks to develop and grass to grow. Photograph taken by J. David.

Because of the recent rains, one may want to declare this current drought over. This is not true. Conservation practices one may have developed due to the drought should become part of one’s life. Water is the single most important issue facing all of us.

Going to Seed: Acorns

Reproduction is important in plants just as it is in animals. In both, when the mature generation is aging, a new generation needs to be growing up to take its place. In many plants, such as wildflowers, trees and shrubs, seeds are produced from fertilized flowers, and they carry the spark of life that will become the new generation, and they are often packaged with the food that will give them a good start.

The seeds of oaks trees are acorns. The acorn is defined in the book, "Plant Identification Terminology" by James G. Harris and Melinda Woolf Harris as," The hard, dry, indehiscent (which means that they do not open at maturity along definite lines) fruit of oaks, with a single large seed and a cup-like base".

According to an excellent book about the use of plants by animals of the U.S., "American Wildlife and Plants, A Guide to Wildlife Food Habits" by Alexander C. Martin, H. S. Zim and A. L. Nelson, "Oak trees are of major importance to both man and wildlife, and acorns are at a position at, or very near the top of the wildlife food list. Acorns provide a good and abundantly available staple - the staff of life for many wildlife species. The acorns of the white oak species are more palatable to wildlife just as they were preferred by the Indians and early settlers." The red oaks are much higher in tannins which makes their acorns bitter.

I don't know where this illustration of different seeds types "Common Types of Fruits and Seeds" came from, but we have used it for years with students and at workshops. The acorn is in the upper left-hand corner. (If you know the origin of this illustration , please let me know so I can give the author and/or artist credit.)

Bur Oak has very large acorns (Quercus macrocarpa) ["macro" = large "carpo" = Greek for fruit] and the Bur Oak tree's acorns are the largest we have at the ranch. This one is over an inch wide and if you count the cup which is deep and fringed with course hairs in the measure it is almost 2 inches wide . The leaves of the Bur Oak can be up to a foot long. The leaves in this picture were 6 to 9 inches long.

The Bur Oak acorns on the left are huge compared to the much smaller Spanish Oak (Quercus buckleyi) acorns on the right (note the quarter in the middle of the large acorns for size comparison). The white oak family to which the Bur oak belongs are sweet. Red oak acorns are high in tannins which give them a bitter taste. Native Americans made flour and tasty dishes with white oak acorns. Animals love them too.

Bur Oak Acorns are very popular with animals. These acorns have been partially eaten, probably by squirrels. J David planted Bur acorns in pots by the Greenhouse, and covered them so no acorn loving critters couldn't reach them. He underestimated the cunning of squirrels, and was dismayed when he returned to find that eight of the containers showed evidence of tampering. Two of them still had an acorn and in the others the acorns were missing.

These beautiful dark brown acorns are on a Plateau Live Oak tree (Quercus fusiformis) and are up to an inch long. The large number of Plateau Live Oak trees in this area mean that their acorns are important food for turkeys, deer, jays, titmice and woodpeckers. It is also the host plant for the caterpillars of skippers, hairstreak and admiral butterflies.

Live Oaks can get to be very large. This one, along Miller Creek has a sign that says "Largest Oak Known in Blanco County". I have no idea whether it is a Plateau Live Oak which is the common oak here at the ranch, or if it is the Coastal Live Oak (Quercus virigiana). It is huge and I think very, very old.

These acorns were on the ground under a large Lacey Oak (Quercuw laceyi) tree. We have a grove of these beautiful oaks along Miller Creek. I didn't find any of the smaller trees with acorns on them, so I was unable to get a photograph of acorns in their cups on a tree.

The old Lacey Oak trees in the grove are beautiful, with light gray bark, and graceful arching branches.

The leaves of the Lacey Oak have a thin coat of a waxy substance on their surface that reduces water loss during dry spells, and also gives the tree a bluish tint which has earned this oak the common name "Blue Oak".

There are many animals that love acorns and some actually hide them away for later in the year when food is less plentiful. Squirrels and other small mammals bury them, and then forget where they put them. Thus they plant a new crop of oaks, and some of the new plants will replace the old ones that are dying. The young sprouts are also food for other animals.

I found out from Scott Grote, who manages the deer and hunts, that the acorn crop this year is large enough that the White-tail deer aren't as interested in our corn feeders as they are in years when the acorn crop is smaller.

There are many cycles in nature, warm and cold, wet and dry. It would seem that a dry year like this past 12 months would produce a small crop of acorns. However when you consider that we had an unusually wet spring in 2007, the extra water probably gave the oaks the health they needed to make it through a dry year. When looking at the health of trees you look at what has happened in the last 2 or 3 years, not just the recent seasons.

Enjoy the fall. Leaves are changing color. Lots of plants produce their fruit in the fall. The air is often cool. It is one of my favorite times of the year.

Of course, I would love to see some rain!

I'm an April Fool for Spring Wildflowers!

Spring Brings Endless Entertainment to Wildflower Enthusiasts

In the past I have found that even when there is only a "minor wildflower show" there are still a huge variety of species represented. I remember one of our wildflower walks (usually held in the first week of May) when it was a dry year. One of our participants asked, "So where are the wildflowers?", and I answered, "Just wait and see". We saw around 100 species in our 4 hour field-day. In fact, we have a large percentage of our May list blooming each year, what varies is the number of individuals of each species that are blooming. In wet years there are lots of individuals of each species, and in dry years, fewer individuals of each species in bloom. So the determined enthusiast sees lots of wildflowers even in dry years.

Following are the wildflowers that I've taken pictures from this past couple of weeks (in alphabetical order):

Buckeye, yellow (Aesculus pavia var. flavescens)
Buckeyes are multi-trunked shrubs 5' to 10' tall. There are 2 varieties, a red one, and a yellow one, that are divided by range. Both have palmately compound leaves with 5 leaflets, that are attached to the stem opposite another leaf. We are in an area that has both varieties, and we have yellow ones and others that are intermediate between the two. The red variety are found on the eastern edge of the Hill Country, and scattered throughout East Texas counties, and the yellow variety is in the south-western Hill Country. The individual flowers are 1 1/2" long. Large brown seeds with a white "eye" are in a pod in late summer that remains after the leaves are gone. The flowers, leaves and seeds are all poisonous to animals.


Buckeye (Acsculus pavia), red & yellow intermediate form.

Damianita (Chrysactina mexicana) is found in the eastern and south-west portion of the Edwards Plateau and throughout the Trans-pecos region of west Texas. It grows here in dry areas of limestone and caliche. It is a short spreading shrub 8 to 16 inches tall. Flowers are typical of its family, Asteraceae (daisy), and have disk flowers in the center surrounded by ray flowers. The leaves are dark green, linear and very aromatic. You can smell them by rubbing them gently between your fingers and sniffing your fingers.

Death Camus (Zigadenus Nuttalllii) is in the Lily family, grow from dark brown bulbs, and are found on prairies and open hillside on limestone soils. The upright flowering stalk is 1 to 2 feet tall and is surrounded at the bottom by arched linear leaves. The flower-head is usually 3 to 5 inches long and individaul flowers are 3/8 to 1/2 inch wide. The plant is poisonous to all livestock species, but is not often eaten becuase it is not tasty to them.

Green Dragon (Arisaema Dracontium) is 1 to 2 feet tall with one compound leaf on a long stem. The flower stalk is 4 to 10 inches tall topped by a light a light green spathe (c0vering) from which emerges a pale tapering spadix that has tiny male flowers above the slightly larger female flowers on the spadix. I have looked for years in hopes of seeing a Green Dragon blooming, and finally this year saw one and got some pictures.

Knotwood Leaf Flower (Phyllanthus polygonoides) is a tiny plant that you won't find pictured in a flower book. At the bottom of the picture I have my ring which is 3/4" wide so you can tell how small it is. The flowers are white and when the seeds develop (one where each flower was) they look like tiny green stars with a bump in the middle. A friend of mine who is a botanist taught me some of these "itty-bitty" plants.

Live Oak (Quercus fusiformis) has leaves and catkins in the spring, which are the oak tree's flowers. There are both green ones which are female flowers, and yellow-brown ones that are male flowers that are covered with pollen which falls and cover sidewalks and cars a with brownish-yellow dust in the spring. Plants that make lots of pollen which is spread by wind are generally not showy, but because of the abundant amounts of pollen they produce, people are often allergic to them.

Texas Madrone (Atbutus xalapensis) is in the Heath Family. It is a tree with smooth red bark, white small flowers in the spring, and red berries in the fall. Once a year the dark red bark peels away and the new bark underneath is a pale pink, or white. Leaves are thick, evergreen and glossy. The flowers are urn shaped with the opening at the bottom. It is an uncommon tree and is rarely found in dense concentrations. Here at Selah they are scattered in canyons and on hillsides. The lake was named Madrone Lake for the tree that is on a rise just above the spillway to the dam. The tree specialist didn't think it would survive there, but it is still alive. J. David has had success planting Madrones around the lake.

Pink Mimosa (Mimosa borealis) is a small bush with sharp claw-like thorns on it. Leaves are around an inch long and have 2 to 4 little branches of pinnately compound leaves (that means that the leaflets are arranged along a midline like a feather). The freshest flowers are pink globes with white tips, and the more mature ones are white. Fruit is a pea type pod with 2 to 7 seeds that is 1 to 2 inches long.

Prairie Verbena (Verbena bipinnatifida) with White-lined Sphinx Moth sipping nectar from a flower. The White-lined Sphinx moth is active during the day. In this photo, you can see its proboscis extend into one of the individual flowers to reach its nectar. (Click on the photo to see a larger copy).

In this photo of the back of the White-lined Sphinx moth, you can clearly see the markings on its back and wings, including a peach-pink area on its hind-wing. I couldn't see any details when I was there taking pictures, because they buzz around so rapidly that they are only a blur to your eyes.

Prairie Paintbrush (Castilleja purpurea) is a native of Central Texas, and extend to the north-central counties near the Red River. There are three color varieties, orange, yellow and pink or purple. Orange is the common color here, though we have an occasional deep pink one. The bight colors of the paintbrush are due to the colored bracts which are modified leaves that are around the actual flower.

Texas Paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa) likes the sandy soils that are found in the Llano Uplift region. The Texas Department of Transportation has planted them along the highways throughout the rest of the Hill Country.

Stemless Evening Primrose (Oenothera triloba) is a low plant whose flowers open in the evening near dark. They are around 2 inches wide.

Straggler Daisy (Calyptocarpus vialis) is low growing and is common throughout our area. It is another of the "itty bitty" flowers, and you can see my ring (3/4" diameter) in the background for size. It is in the daisy family that has disk flowers in the middle and ray flowers around the central disk.

The wildflower photographs in this blog are not a complete inventory of the blooming flowers that I have seen recently, and I'm sure that there are many that are blooming that I haven't seen yet. Also, because we are in a relatively high area (between 1350' and 1900' above sea level) there are wildflowers I've seen along the highway that are not blooming here yet.

I hope you all enjoy seeing pictures and reading about some of my favorite early wildflowers. I surely hope we get some more rain to nourish more wildflowers for this spring. If you live in the Texas Hill Country, there is one outstanding book for identification of wildflowers by Marshall Enquist, called Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country which was published in 1987, ISBN 0-918013-0-1. GOOD NEWS: The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center now has copies of a new printing of this wonderful field guide, for $17.95. My copies are dog-eared, dirty and show signs of having gotten wet a time or two, because they are in constant use in the spring. I'm terrible at remembering scientific names, so I'm always looking them up, along with the interesting facts about each one.

Wildlowers offer a cheap, engaging activity!

Photographs were all taken by Margaret Bamberger and are copyrighted, so if you would like to use any of them, please get permission from me. (If you send a comment I get them on my e-mail. Let me know if you are OK with my publishing your request). All of these pictures were taken in the last 2 weeks with my Canon XTi.