The origin of the common name for the Twist-leaf Yucca is fairly obvious. The leaves twist as they age. This yucca, also known as Texas Yucca, is endemic to the Edwards plateau and Texas Hill Country:
These two photographs were taken along the Shady Creek Trail at Eisenhower Park on Monday, September 16, 2013.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
One of the things I found very interesting, but not at all surprising, on my walk at Eisenhower Park yesterday (Wednesday, February 6, 2013) was the number of flowers that are beginning to bloom. We have had a very mild, if all too dry, winter so far this year in South Texas.
Temperatures have been running seven to ten degrees (F) above normal. A heavy rain fell south and east of Bexar County early yesterday morning, but we missed it completely here. The last significant rainfall in the county was about a month ago. Of course, this being South Texas, the weather could change drastically in a heartbeat. Our average last freeze is March 1st and the record latest freeze is April 3 set in 1987. It's not time to pack up the jackets and plant freeze sensitive plants just yet.
Most, if not all, of these flowers are blooming right on schedule, or just a bit early. However, I think the mild weather has perhaps increased their abundance a bit:
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- Photos 1 and 2 are a little bit of a challenge to identify. The little white and little yellow asters are to flower identification what sparrows (the little brown birds) are to bird identification. I am reasonably certain these two flowers are Fleabane in the Genus Erigeron, but they could be any of several of the numerous species in that genus. I made the mistake of not including their leaves in the photos. Leaves can be critical in differentiating species. I probably should stop while I'm ahead, but I'm going to venture on and say these are probably Spreading Fleabane (Erigeron divergens Torr. & Gray), primarily because this species is one of the earliest to bloom. If I am wrong, I am certain one of my friends who knows much more about plant taxonomy than I do will correct me.
- Photos 3, 4, 5 and 6 are much easier to identify. I had come around a bend in the trail and saw the Redbud branch sticking out from among the ashe juniper and was stopped in my tracks by the unanticipated beauty. I probably even uttered an audible, "Wow!" This Redbud tree is just beginning to flower. It is a bit early, but not by much. In addition to the flower buds, another definitive identifier for this tree are the seed pods still on the branches that can be seen in the sixth photo. There are two varieties of Redbud that grow in this area, the Eastern and the Texas, but without the leaves, I can't tell which this one is.
- Photos 7, 8 and 9 have to be Catclaw Acacia. That is the only plant I have ever seen with this type of thorns. The young blossoms are also typical of an acacia.
- Photo 10 is a Golden-eye Phlox. This plant with a single flower was blooming all by its lonesome, even though this is typically a flower that blooms in abundance in the late winter and into spring. Sometimes they even hang around into the early fall.
- Photos 11 through 17 are Wind-flower (Anemone berlandieri Pritz.). This is another common winter blooming wildflower in Bexar County. As can be seen in the photos, they range in color from white through red to deep purple.
- Photo 18 is Agarita (Mahonia trifoliolata (Maric.) Fedde). These winter blossoms will mature through the spring and produce red-orange berries in the summer that make delicious jelly. Of course, harvesting the berries from this shrub with very sharp prickly leaves can be a challenge, but well worth the effort.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Eisenhower Park, Cedar Flats > Yucca Trails
Today's photos:
Today's walk was through the southern, lower elevation half of Eisenhower Park. This park was the second in the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department system to be designated as a Natural Area. Friedrich Wilderness Park was the first with that designation.
Eisenhower Park is located in north central Bexar County within the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. The park also occupies a unique and critical topographic location in that its rain runoff drains into three of Bexar County's five major watersheds. Rain water runoff that drains from the southeastern and southern boundary of the park, which is the major amount of runoff from the park, enters the Olmos Creek / San Antonio River watershed. This is the northern most direct source of that watershed.
Runoff that drains to the east from the northeast corner of the park enters the Salado Creek watershed. Runoff draining to the west from the northwest corner and western boundary enters the Leon Creek watershed. Of course, both the Salado Creek and Leon Creek are tributaries of the San Antonio River with confluences in south Bexar County, so all of the runoff eventually ends up in the San Antonio River.
The long range development plan of the Parks and Recreation Department includes the extension northward of the current Salado Creek and Leon Creek Greenway trails to have them converge at a common location in Eisenhower Park. The completion of that plan is a long way off in the future, but is something to look forward to having in place.
Today's photos are a brief glimpse of all the images that I have from this walk. There will be two more upcoming posts with more specific topics.
- If I had to select one photo that illustrates the vegetation of the Edwards Plateau ecoregion, it would probably be the first one in this series. Growing low to the ground in the foreground are several Twisted-leaf Yucca plants. This species of yucca is only found as a native plant on the Edwards Plateau. Behind the twisted-leaf yucca are several Sotol, another plant characteristic of the region. And behind the sotol is an Ashe Juniper sapling. To the right of the ashe juniper is the sapling of a deciduous hardwood, but I'm not certain which species it is.
- The second, third and fourth photos are a Shiny Flea Beetle (Asphaera lustrans). This is another creature where I wonder how it got its common name. It is obviously a shiny beetle, but it has nothing at all to do with fleas.
- The fifth photo is a snail shell. Based on personal observation, I know this is one of the very common snails in Bexar County and it has a beautiful shell, but that is about the limit on my knowledge of snails. It looks like a Striped Rabdotus (Rabdotus alternatus), but don't quote me on that.
- The sixth, seventh and eighth photos are of an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus). I have seen cottontails in Eisenhower Park before, but they have all been back in the brush. This one sprang across the trail right in front of me, stopped right as it entered the undergrowth and looked back at me for a minute or two before hopping off down the hill as if it had somewhere it needed to be.
- The ninth and tenth photos are of the ubiquitous Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). I was thinking this was going to end up being a walk without a bird sighting, but this mockingbird was apparently waiting for me next to the parking lot wen I returned to my car. When a creature poses for a photo, I can't easily pass up the opportunity.
If all goes according to plan, tomorrow's post will be "A Bloomin' South Texas Winter."
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The butterflies weren't anywhere near as numerous at Eisenhower Park yesterday as they had been at Pearsall Park a week ago on Monday, October 15. I had to be more observant to photograph them. There was, however, a variety, from the brilliant orange of the Gulf Fritillary to the well camouflaged Rawson's Metalmark. Orange Sulphurs, Common Mestras and others appeared along the trail:
Monday, October 22, 2012
Eisenhower Park, Yucca Trail > Cedar Flats Trail
Today's photos:
The weather and the mid-autumn angle of light were perfect for a nature walk today. With the rain we have had this year, the grasses are even more lush than I had anticipated. The last two photos in this series are of Sideoats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torr.), the official state grass of Texas.
This is part one of a two part series.
