Honors 2360.01 Spring 2017

This dainty and bright little flower practically made my day. Thelesperma is a genus belonging to the Asteraceae family. I was walking through campus on a relatively cloudy day with my eyes glued to the ground. As I cut through the grass, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a spot of yellow – the thelesperma. This small little flower caught my attention because of its brightness against a largely green backdrop. It was like a miniature sun or a drop of sunlight had fallen to brighten my cloudy day. Although my particular observation was of a single flower, this genus tends to grow in large colonies. They usually bloom from mid-spring to early summer, and their native habitat is largely along dry, sandy soil. My specific observation was an outlier to some of the conditions its genus would normally subscribe to but I choose to believe that it sprouted there for the sole purpose of catching my attention.

Source: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=thfi

Observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5445073

I was attracted to the Blanket flower because of its vibrant color; the bright yellow and fire truck red that decorated the petals made the flower stand out against the grass background. Blanket flowers usually grow to be 10-12 inches in height and are considered “low maintenance” flowers that can be grown in the home or in home gardens. With a solitary flower head, the petals on these flowers are alternately arranged, varying the shape and style of the flower. They belong to the Gaillardia genus of the sunflower family, hence the bright coloration. St. Edward’s specifically, one can find an abundance of these flowers along the South Congress Ave entrance to the campus. Despite their home here on the hilltop, these flowers actually inspired the school colors of Texas State University (maroon and old gold). Out of all of my observations, I think this was the most beautiful. It is hard to ignore these flowers.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaillardia

Observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5445071

Apiaceae is a family of parsley, carrot, and celery. The main identifying factor of this family is the inflorescence, the way all of the leaves/clusters of flowers are arranged on a single stem. It almost looks like a complicated entanglement of roots above ground. This inflorescence often combine to create umbels, which are short clusters of flower stalks that grow on a single stem making them look like an open umbrella. The particular species found on campus is part of the carrot family. Its technical name is Chaerophyllum bulbosum. Although no one would think to eat it now, this species was often turned into soup during the 19^th century. This edible root was cultivated in parts of Europe, but has long since been forgotten by the United States. After having learned about it, it is fascinating to see such a plant spring up on our campus. I had the great fortune of meeting the plant in the courtyard between JBWS and JBWN. I don’t think I’ll ever look at it the same way again.

Source: http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/api.htm

Observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5434112

The White-winged Dove (known in some communities as the zenaida asiatica) is a summer resident here at St. Edward’s University. This delicate bird tends to keep a consistent migration pattern, traveling south towards Mexico in the fall and nesting in southwestern states during spring and summer. Making homes along streams, river woods, groves, brush lands, and a few deserts, these creatures tend to gravitate toward semi-open habitats that can provide them sufficient resources. My encounter with the white-winged dove was mainly a result of their crowing calls. At first, I found it difficult to locate the bird because of how well it blended into the trees. Their calls were the only clues I had to follow, daring me to find them using my ears rather than my eyes. Once I located one, I scrambled to photograph it as it fed on the flowers and fruit of the trees, its normal diet. They are an abundant and adaptive species that has greatly fascinated me.

Source: http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/white-winged-dove

Observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5434085

Brambles are a very common bush or vine with very thorny and/or tangled, prickly stems. They usually carry small fruits on their branches – most notably, dewberries, blackberries, or raspberries. They belong to the Rubus genus, a genus with an incredible amount of variations. Although the most common rubus genus (Rubus fruticosus) is usually found in abundance on the British Isles, in the United States the common rubus genus is the Rubus idaeus, or the raspberry bramble. They are able to grow in a variety of locations and climates – some members of this genus can thrive in rocky, open areas while others prefer dense forests with plenty of shade. The specific bramble that I captured had not yet sprouted any fruit and was, therefore, unable to be identified as specifically as one would have hoped. However, I have no doubt that we will soon see what this bush has in store because I definitely plan on checking in on it every now and again as a result of my initial observation.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus

Observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5433889

After an adventure out to Big Bend both amazing and exhausting, I was finally headed back toward Austin. I was tired and exciting to sleep on a real bed and take a real shower once again. The drive back, all 6 hours of it, seemed an impossibly long time, especially since on the way there we had all the splendor of Big Bend awaiting us and the way back had no such appeal. In order to cure some carsickness and end-of-vacation blues, we took a detour on a small country road called the Willow City Loop just before Fredericksburg.

The Loop seemed more or less like a long driveway connecting one ranch to the next to the next. Cows and goats ambled lazily alongside the road and more than once we had to swerve to narrowly avoid hitting an aptly-named roadrunner. But what had really brought us along this detour was the wildflowers. Undisturbed on this quiet ranch road, vibrant purples, red and yellow beamed at us from all sides. Of all of these, my favorite by far was the Indian Paintbrush with its bright red color and small trumpet-shaped leaves. I was familiar with most of the other wildflowers, but these were a new sight for me. We stopped at the apex of a hill and all got out to stretch our travel-weary legs, only to find a multitude of crimson paintbrushes spread out before us. It was sad to see our trip come to an end, but the paintbrushes were a gentle reminder that wild beauty is never far if you know where to look and how to slow down to appreciate it.

iNaturalist Link: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5977530

As my Easter trip to Big Bend started to come to a close, a few of us who weren’t too exhausted from our other endeavors went for one last hike. A much shorter hike of only about 2.5 miles, it went through a fairly flat plain and then climbed up a steep outcropping toward the very end, where the trail finished in a formation called “Balanced Rock” An impossibly large boulder sat perched between two upright boulders, angled in such a way that it seemed certain the boulder would fall at any moment.

As we walked the first, flat part of the hike, we noticed bright pink flowers all over. Upon closer inspection, these magenta blossoms were attached to small, very spiky cacti. Upon research once I got home, I found out that these were Strawberry Hedgehog Cacti, so names for their small, spiky shape that reminds one of a hedgehog. As it turns out, we were lucky to catch these gorgeous blossoms as each plant only flowers for about 5 days a year between the months of  February and April. In our final hike before the long drive home, these vibrant cacti were an excellent find before heading back to the more familiar environment of Austin.

Source: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/hedgehog-cactus-information-43972.html

iNaturalist Link:http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5977461

One plant that we saw over and over again while in Big Bend National Park was the prickly pear. I’d seen prickly pears as part of landscaping all around Austin, so I was familiar with the sight of them, but this was the first time I’d seen them in the wild. In their desert habitat, they are all the more stunning. If you’ve walked for any significant amount of time in the desert, you’ll know your eyes seem to adjust to the flat beige color of nearly everything in the landscape. The hard-packed dirt under foot, the shrubs, the rocks, the occasional green agave. Because of this, the variety and brightness of color in the prickly-pear is all the more stunning.

Bright yellow flower against the harsh spikes of the cactus make for the perfect metaphor for the surrounding desert. Stark, shocking beauty in tandem with danger. While the sight of a prickly pear cactus is hardly shocking given its wide use as a centerpiece around Austin, seeing in its original context gave me a new appreciation for this vibrant cactus.

iNaturalist Link: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5977434

One plant that we saw absolutely everywhere in Big Bend National Park was the Beaked Yucca. Nearly as common as cacti, these little fan-shaped trees were dotted all across the open desert plains as well as the mountain ridges in Big Bend. At first I wondered if they might be some sort of baby palm trees since their leaves were spread in a similar fashion and looked roughly the same color and shape. While some Yucca can grow into trees 12-15 feet in height, much like palm trees, the yucca is much more native to the area. This has given it its alternate name: Big Bend Yucca.

Not to be confused with the yuca root used in Latin american cuisine, the yucca is a sturdy plant that can handle the extremes of the desert habitat of Big Bend and the surrounding Chihuahua and Coahuila regions in Mexico. It does well on the rocky slopes  of the area, withstanding the intense heat and ecological pressures of such an unforgiving environment. Comfortable in its native home, the beaked yucca was a common sight throughout our hikes in Big Bend.

Source: http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=1627

iNaturalist Link: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5977411

After a long hike, we had arrived at Cattail Falls, what would have been a very tall and impressive waterfall were it not for the fact that there was really only a trickle of water to be seen. We were more or less alone when we reached the falls because the trail to them had been removed from trail guides to lessen traffic and protect the fragile ecosystem of the falls. While looking for some noteworthy nature to photograph for this blog, I figured it would be appropriate that I should note that there were, in fact, plenty of cattails surrounding Cattail Falls. Sturdy plants that grow best in shallow water like that in the pool at the base of the falls, there were enough cattails around for it to be considered characteristic of the falls.

In retrospect, I’m glad I took a photo of the cattails because it led me to learn something new about their role in fragile environments like the Falls. I’m unsure why the Falls were considered so fragile that it needed to be taken off the maps, and at first I wondered if it was because cattails were easily damaged by pollution. What I found, on the contrary, is that cattails are good absorbers of pollutants like arsenic and are sometimes planted in fragile ecosystems for this exact purpose. While this was not the case at the falls, I found it interesting that this fragile ecosystem had a built in way to absorb harmful pollutants in the cattails from which it gets its name.

Source: https://cleantechnica.com/2009/05/16/cattail-army-deployed-to-fight-water-pollution/

iNaturalist Link: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5977765