Thank you to our awesome host, biologist Lee Williamson with TPWD, and everyone who attended the first ever Wildflower Walk at the SnK Wildlife Reserve on April 12, 2024. We enjoyed having you all, as always. Spring was in full swing and there were so many brightly colored plants and critters to catch our attention, we could’ve spent all day walking around chatting about the different things we saw. We really hope to make this a yearly event, weather and plants permitting of course. We’re planning to host a fall event over native grass identification as well, if you’re interested in attending please email Selena at skschin@yahoo.com and we’ll keep you posted as details become available.
Argemone albiflora, White prickly poppy
Blanketflower seed head
Callirhoe papaver, Woodland Poppy Mallow Seedpod
Checkered White butterfly on Nuttalanthus texanus, Texas Toadflax
Common Buckeye caterpillar and moth
Cooperia pedunculata, Hill Country Rain Lily, Prairie Lily, Rain Lily, Flor De Mayo
Deer Tracks
Delphinium carolinianum, Carolina larkspur
Forest Tent Caterpillar
Gaillardia aestivalis, lanceleaf blanketflower and Castilleja indivisa, Texas Paintbrush
Grass-like Mantis
Gray hairstreak butterfly on Monarda punctata, Spotted Bee Balm
Gray treefrog
Herbertia lahue, Prairie Nymph
Phaeoura quernaria caterpillar
Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar
Pocket Gopher
Prickly pear in bloom
Rumex pseudonatronatus,_field dock or Finnish dock
Salt Marsh caterpillars and moth
Salvia coccinea, blood sage, scarlet sage, Texas sage, or tropical sage
White-lined Sphinx Moth caterpillar
Wyethia angustifolia, Mule’s ears
Cirsium texanum Texas thistle
“Thistles are part of the genus Cirsium which is characterized by pretty stout erect stems that can get quite tall, with showy puff flowers and spiny leaves. Many species of thistle can be really troublesome invasive species. Species like Canada thistle and bull thistle that are not native to the USA can spread quite vigorously. Not this thistle, though. This is Texas thistle, a plant that, if anything, reduces native species. So, we can tell this thistle apart from other species by looking at the involucre, which is the collection of specialized leaves that support the flower cluster. This involucre is on the small side, round, and most importantly has distinct sticky silver streaks going down the side of these specialized leaves. That readily identifies this plant as Texas thistle. So, I don’t need to tell you all that this plant is highly attractive to pollinators, if you have ever seen this on your property, you probably saw insects either on the flower or near it. These plants produce a lot of nectar. But like many of the plants we are going to see today, the structure of this flower makes it so only certain kinds of pollinators can actually harvest the nectar from it. In this case, it is going to be flying insects. The flower of this plant can be easily accessed by flying insects, but is almost inaccessible to insects that mostly crawl, specifically ants. Ants like nectar too, but they tend to get stuck in the sticky white paste of the flower and perish. Doing research for this plant day I actually found a bunch of photos of fire ants getting stuck in large numbers on the involucres. So, this plant is like nature’s sticky trap for ants.
Plant tends to occur in grasslands and savannahs, not super sandy soils. It tends to flower throughout the spring and summer.
This flower will also produce a lot of seeds that are consumed by birds and rodents. It can also serve as a host plant for some species of butterfly larva.”
-from the notes of biologist Lee Williamson
Pyrrhopappus pauciflorus Texas dandelion / smallflower desert chicory
“This composite flower consists entirely of ray flowers. From there, you would be forgiven for thinking this plant is a species of dandelion, mostly because whether or not it is a dandelion is really more of a philosophical question than anything. The flower head is anatomically incredibly similar to that of the common dandelion, complete with tiny toothed lobes covering the edges of the ray flowers. They even disperse their seeds in the same way via wind dispersion. These plants, however, are actually a different genus and species than the common dandelion. This plant is different in that it does not have a fleshy stem, it can have multiple stems, and it grows leaves on the stem. This flower tends to open up come morning, and be closed again by midday.
Plant is listed in field guides as being a good food source for livestock, deer, and Rio Grande turkeys.”
-from the notes of biologist Lee Williamson
Gaillardia aestivalis lanceleaf blanketflower
“This plant, however, is in the Gallardia or blanketflower genus. This genus tends to have ray florets that are bicolored and flare out from their base with deep lobes at the end. The exact reason for the blanketflower name is unclear. It may refer to brightly colored blankets that were made by Native Americans, or its tendency to blanket the ground with bunches of colorful flowers. This plant species is usually called lanceleaf blanketflower and is often confused with brown eyed Susan or firewheel. This plant can be distinguished from those species by its deeply lobed ray florets and somewhat crispy appearance. It’s not having a bad day it just looks like that.
Throughout most of its range, this plant is more of a summer bloomer, seeing this many mature individuals this early in the season speaks to the short winter we had. This plant ranges throughout much of the southern united states and is pretty common in open well-drained sandy areas.”
-from the notes of biologist Lee Williamson
Castilleja indivisa Texas Paintbrush
“A very common wildflower along roadsides across the eastern half of Texas. Generally does well in well-drained soils with lots of sunlight. While, this plant is very common. It is a pretty unique species. For one, it actually gets its distinct appearance, not from its flowers, but from its leaves. This plant gets its distinct red color from the bracts that surround the flower. In fact, if you take a closer look, you’ll see the flower is mostly just a reproductive structure with the petals being barely visible. Now, this red coloration can actually limit the amount of energy this plant is able to get via photosynthesis. But it is able to make up this because it is also a hemiparasite, which means it photosynthesizes but it gets a large portion of its nutrients from other plants. It parasitizes other plants with its roots, the roots of this plant will grow until they make contact with the roots of another plant, at which point they will penetrate the roots of the other plant and begin siphoning away nutrients. This plant also has a unique relationship with pollinators, this is partly because of its color. As you may have noticed, there aren’t many red flowers around here, there are red-ish flowers, but not many that are distinctly red like this one. As it turns out, red is one of the most difficult colors for insect pollinators to see, so plants that rely on insect pollinators don’t really benefit from having red color. Now this plant is not completely invisible to insect pollinators but it sticks out far less than many other flowers around here. Furthermore, because the flower itself lacks petals, there really isn’t a convenient perch for insect pollinators either. Some insect pollinators like hoverflies and bumblebees can deal with this, but according to the USFWS, there is one pollinator in particular that this species is especially adapted for. The hummingbird.
The foliage of this plant can be toxic to birds or mammals because it has high concentrations of selenium, which over time can cause muscle and nerve damage. The NRCS actually lists this plant as being dangerous for livestock because it has enough selenium that it can cause damage over time, but not so much that livestock won’t consume it if there’s not enough forage.”
-from the notes of biologist Lee Williamson
Dalea compacta compact prairie clover
“This plant is a legume. Which is another giant family of plants. Not as big as the aster family, but very big. This family includes woody plants like huisache and mesquite, small flowers like this prairie clover, and even vines and parasitic plants. Generally speaking, legumes are going to have compound or double compound leaves. And they will always have some form of stipule, which is a little spike-like growth arising from the base of the leaf. So, if you see a plant with leaves on its leaves, and little spikes at the base of each leaf. You probably have a legume. Legumes are unique in that they are the only group of plants that can take nitrogen from the air and put it in the ground in a form that is usable for other plants. This is a big reason why mesquite and huisache is so successful on overgrazed fields, as the soil becomes depleted of nutrients from grazing these plants get a big advantage. It also makes legumes useful for recovering depleted fields.
The genus of this plant is Dalea. The prairie clover genus, which tends to have these corncob-like structures that hold dozens of tiny flowers. This structure is called the spike and it will grow longer as the growing seasons goes on. I believe this species is compacta because it has a pretty short stock and small flower, but leaves that are relatively long. Also compacta is the most common dalea species around here according to iNaturalist. Its close relative, Dalea purpurea is more common up north.
This species is, without a doubt, a super plant for wildlife and ecosystems. As a pollinator plant, there are many species of insect pollinator that will visit this plant, including several species of bees that are adapted to specifically feed off of this plant. The foliage is rich in protein and very digestible. This means it does the opposite of what mesquite and huisache does once an area starts to get grazed heavily. In those situations, this plant is one of the first to go. So, if you see this plant around, you know that you are grazing responsibly. Even in areas with low grazing pressure, it can be difficult to establish this plant because wildlife will target it so heavily.
This species usually occurs on soils with a higher clay content. They tend to really come on strong in the summer so it’s still a little early in the season for them.”
-from the notes of biologist Lee Williamson
While hunting for petrified wood in the gravel pit, a bird that was acting erratic caught my attention and I could tell it was trying very hard to lead me away from the area. With it being spring I figured she had to have a nest near by. We don’t see many Pauraque where we’re at near DFW but I’m familiar with their unique call from all the times I’ve heard them on the SnK. Their nesting habits on the other hand were something I had absolutely no knowledge of. Not wanting to accidentally step on anything I was very careful where I put my feet, I came across 2 halves of an eggshell and fresh bird poop on the ground so I suspected I was close. I’m still shocked I found them, the 2 chicks were sitting perfectly still and their camouflage allowed them to blend in perfectly with the fallen leaves. After quickly showing mom what I’d found, we got out of there as not to stress them out too much. What an awesome find! -Tiffnie Schindler Gonzales
