The Quest for the Murray Plum

David Bamberger writes:

In 1992 I read an article in the Native Plant Society of Texas Newsletter written by Benny Simpson of the Texas A&M University Experiment Station in Dallas about an endangered plant named the Murray Plum. He stated that it would do no good to find and protect the few known plants, but rather what was needed was for someone to gather together as many plants as possible from the different mountain ranges and plant them together in a great thicket. This was because no one had ever seen this plant produce fertile fruit and no one knew what pollinated them. This plant, Prunus Murrayana, was thought to be native on steep rocky slopes of canyons in the Davis, Glass and Del Norte Mountains of the Trans Pecos.

I wanted to be helpful and at that time in my life was in need of a challenge and what later became the quest for the Murray Plum began; an adventure that went on for ten years. I contacted Dr. Barton Warnock, he was the most well known botanist of the Trans Pecos in Alpine, Texas, and Dr. Mike Powell, then head of the biology department at Sul Ross State University, who was in charge of the college herbarium. Their guidance led me to areas in all three mountain ranges.

In 1994 when Margaret came into my life she was eager to help and the quest widened. We were joined by Jim Rhoades, my tree aggie, and my son, David K. Bamberger. We camped out, we slept in the bed of my truck, in motels and in B&B’s. We met and worked our way onto ranches that were off limits to anyone interested in endangered species, particularly federal and state employees, but also other conservation organizations as well. This was because of the very conservative landowner’s fear of government taking land due to the Endangered Species Act. We spent years and many trips in our search for the Murray Plum. It was a great time in our lives and we recorded much of it in a song that eventually had 25 verses! Margaret played the piano while I led the singing. I think every guest here at Selah had to sing or at least listen to “The Quest for the Murray Plum” in its entirety!

Eventually we brought to Selah over 100 Murray Plums and planted three great thickets. Before Dr. Simpson died, I asked him how many plants did he mean when he said plant them together in a great thicket. He answered 25! We could have cut our quest off 4 years earlier had I been perceptive enough to ask that question at the start.

As very little was known about this “species” and in the interest of science, we sent 4 samples of the plum to the Smithsonian. We inquired at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas and at the University of Texas. As the years went by, our biggest colony of 79 plum grew, but only a few ever bloomed and not profusely. In 1997 we suffered a major setback when a disgruntled hunter cut all 79 plants off at ground level! Through careful nurturing, most survived and this brings me closer to this week’s posting. All of this adventure is recorded with journals and photographs which I would be glad to share with anyone who would be interested in reading about it.

By 2009, most plants in our largest thicket had grown to 10 plus feet. On April 1st, we witnessed a spectacular sight. Thousands of beautiful white blooms with light pink centers had exploded creating beauty and scents which were attracting many species of butterflies, bees and moths. These photographs were taken by Colleen Gardner and Amanda Fulton. I hope you enjoy them.

But there is more to the story. If not for a major turn of events, this year’s explosion of blooms could have answered the original question of what the pollinator was, and would sexual reproduction take place.

The event that brought our project to a close was a paper written by Marshall Enquist, the author of the best field guide on native flowers, Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country. In the mid 1990’s, Marshall invited us to go with him out Interstate 10 near Sonora and onto some back state highways toward Menard, Texas where he had discovered some shrubby plums – Murray Plums? Marshall produced a paper which was accepted by the scientific community which proved the Murray Plum to be a hybrid and thus sterile!

All of the following photographs were taken while the butterflies, and honey bee spent time on the blooms of the Murray Plum. So who’s to say which is the pollinator?

The monarch (Danaus Plexippus) seems to me to be the most popular of the butterflies. Perhaps this is because of their migration through the hill country and a desired plant, antelope horn, which we have in abundance.
Photo by Colleen Gardner.

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus Philenor) is slightly rare on the ranch, but maybe the Murray Plum bloom will help increase the population here!
Photo by Amanda Fulton.

All the males of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papillio Glaucus) are this color while females can be like this or of a darker color.
Photo by Amanda Fulton.

Unknown "skipper" butterfly (family Hesperiidae).
Photo by Amanda Fulton.

Unknown honey bee species. Our bees are suffering from the drought and corresponding lack of flowers and blooms. I’m sure the bees appreciate the Murray Plum which began these many blooms when needed the most.
Photo by Amanda Fulton.

Is Spring Here Already?

Signs of Spring

Yesterday, Sunday morning, I noticed a distinct buzzing sound. This happens every year, and it usually happens in Februrary before I expect it. The buzzing is thousands of bees collecting nectar and pollen from an Arizona Ash that is blooming in our yard just east of the patio. The bees are hungry and they flock to early blooming trees and plants. Colleen is our bee keeper and she is thrilled when nectar plants offer food to the honey bee colonies, which are a domesticated European bee. Some of the bees that gather around a blooming tree are native bees.

Bees are collecting nectar and pollen from the blooming ash tree.

I decided that if the bees are on the ash there must be other signs of spring, so I got my camera, and headed out to see what might be stirring about, or showing signs of bursting out. First I noticed some red flowers on our Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) vine. It is a native plant found in East Texas, but it is recognized as a very successful plant in gardens, and can be found in nurseries that carry native plants. Hummingbirds love the flowers. In the fall it has bright red berries that last well into the winter months.

Coral Honeysuckle is a wonderful garden plant and hummingbirds love it!

One of the very first spring wildflowers that show up in our yard is a Wind-Flower, (Anemone heterophylla). It can have white petal-like sepals, or they can be pink, lavender, light blue or deep blue.

Blue Wind-Flowers are less common than white one.

White Wind-Flowers are the most common variety, and are common in lawns in the spring.

White Honeysuckle, (Lonicera albiflora)is a native to Central Texas. It is mainly a shrub, but has stems that arch out and act like a vine, sometimes wraping around things.

Clusters of white flowers of the White Honeysuckle are sweet smelling.

Agarita bushes (Berberis trifoliolata) have stiff thick pointed evergreen leaves. The sweet smell of their small yellow flowers is one of the first heralds of spring.

Small yellow flowers of the Agarita bush smell wonderful.

American Golfinches are around here most of the winter. They love thistle seeds and black oil sunflower seeds that I put out in feeders. In the spring, Lesser Goldfinches arrive at the feeders too. The male American Goldfinch have bright yellow on their backs, and a black cap on the crown of their heads. American Goldfinches leave Texas in the spring to nest further north. Lesser Goldfinch males are black from their heads down their backs, with white markings in their wings, and they nest in this area. The females and immature birds of both species have greenish-grey or greenish tan on their backs and heads. All have black wings with a white pattern.

The bird on the right is a male Lesser Goldfinch. Their tummy is bright yellow, though it looks white in this photograph. The other 2 birds are female or immature finches.

Butterflies were abundant on my large Rosemary plants that are blooming. Two beautiful, large butterflies I saw were the Pipevine Swallowtail and Gulf Fritallary. There were others, some very small, but the two that are in pictures below were the stars of the day.

Pipevine Swallowtails are velvety black with a beautiful iridescent blue on the hind wings which I didn't catch in this picture. Their wings are from 2.75 to 4 inches across. Larvae live on pipe vines.

The Gulf Fritallary is a beautiful orange on the back side of its wings, with black dots and lines, and small white dots surrounded by black near the edge of its fore-wing. Underside of wings are beautiful silver spots on a brownish orange background. There wings are from 2.5 to 3 inches across. Larvae eat passion vines.

We are having warm days now, but I'm sure we'll have some more cold spells. Some of the early bloomers may be set back by cold, but most plants will still leaf out.

I guess the answer to "Is spring here already?" is yes (for now), but it may get pushed back by cold Arctic air. Last year we had an ice storm in March if I remember correctly.

Have a wonderful spring, and watch this blog for weekly updates on what's happening here at the Bamberger Ranch Preserve and around the Hill Country.