Texas botanists often talk about the big four native grasses of the plains, and therefore of Texas. These four are little bluestem, big bluestem, indian grass, and switchgrass. All are bunch grasses and tend to grow tall. Tall enough so that the early settlers wrote that the grasses were up above the stirrups as they rode horses through the fields.
In our area, there are no large stands of any of these grasses, which makes it more of an interesting challenge to identify what we do have on our own acres here in BWR. Two books we have found useful in our search are Grasses of the Texas Hill Country by Brian Loflin & Shirley Loflin and Grasses of South Texas by James H. Everitt etal.[1] Gould’s book is also a good source.
We continue on the subject of grasses with, Texas winter grass Nassella leucotricha [2], a cool season perennial native, as it has already flowered and is busy making those barbed and needle sharp seeds that catch in one’s socks.
Now that the seeds are developing the barbed seeds, the grass will be irritating as cattle feed but birds will eat the seeds and can use the grass for nesting. Texas winter grass is the grass that gives us the early green color in the pastures in late winter.
Texas winter grass with its silvery seed heads.
Plains lovegrass Eragrostis intermedia Hitchc. This is a warm season perennial native bunchgrass. See the books for descriptions, economic value and uses. Note that this grass because of its delicate appearance can be used in the landscape with wildflowers and other native grasses.
Sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx) Torr. A warm season perennial native, this grass is a real winner in the cattle and animal forage area and its seeds are eaten by wild turkeys and Bobwhite quail. The dotted skipper and green skipper butterflies use it as a larval host and it is another choice for a wildflower garden.
Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx) Nash. Has not grown much so far this time of the year, but you can spot the colonies now because the growth from last year is brown and still standing.
In our travels, the most extensive stand of little bluestem we have spotted was about two acres not shared with other grasses.
Texas native bunch grasses spread mostly by seed, but some spread by runners (stolons) or even by rhizomes. For the grasses that depend on seed production, it’s appropriate to rotate grazing areas allowing the native grasses to develop seed for reproduction of new plants. It takes a long time for native grasses to come back from near extinction because of the competition from other grasses and, of course, weeds.
Yellow indiangrass Sorgastrum nutans (L.) Nash has large seed heads and presents a very dominant stand. Indiangrass is a large plant, easily reaching 4 feet in height and, with a large seed plume. It is native and perennial reproducing from seeds and rhizomes. Its leaves are broad and very noticeable. Like the little bluestem, it is a warm season grass and the growth from last year hangs around until early summer when it rots and falls to the ground. Here is a small stand of Indian grass, what’s left from last year’s growth.
Springtime is when we all talk about wildflowers---that is, those wildflowers that we can see. But grasses develop flowers as well, because these flowers develop into seed heads just like most other plants. So, the next time you look out on a field of green grass that is getting near the seed stage, just make the observation that these flowers are beautiful too, in spite of their minute size and general lack of color.
Shortspike windmillgrass Chloris subdolichostachya. It is a warm season native perennial reproducing by seeds and tillers. As it rates only poor to fair for grazing cattle and wildlife the only attribute it seems to have going for it is its interesting windmill aspect with 5-11 horizontal “branches” that are fastened closely together at the top of the stem and form a whorl.
Rescuegrass Bromus catharticus
Rescuegrass is an annual cool season introduced pasture plant that received its moniker because, according to the Loflins, it has many times come to the rescue of ranchers following drought or hard winters. This is what it looks like in our field on the 9th of April.
It is a lovely green now and will turn to straw yellow when it’s ripe. It is relatively good forage for livestock and fair for wildlife. It also provides seeds, forage and nesting material for birds and small mammals.
Virginia wildrye Elemus virginicus A 2’ to 4’ cool season native perennial grass, blooms as early as March and makes seed April through June. It provides good livestock forage, fair wildlife forage and forage for birds and small mammals. It reproduces by seeds and tillers.
Bermudagrass Cynodon dactylon A 4”-12” warm season perennial, it was introduced from Africa probably via Bermuda. Looking down on its 3-6 splayed, digitate spikes, it looks like the track a bird’s foot would make. It is a common lawn and pasture grass that is excellent for cattle but poor for wildlife. However it should be noted that it is sometimes susceptible to a fungal growth producing tryptophan rendering it toxic to livestock. It provides seeds, nesting and denning for birds and small mammals. Butterfly aficionados will be delighted to learn that it is host to fiery skipper, umber skipper, Julia’s skipper, obscure skipper, gemmed satyr, Carolina satyr, southern skipperling, sachem and whirlabout butterfly larvae. It reproduces year round from seeds, tillers, stolons and rhizomes. In gardens, it is a pest.
Common sandbur Cenchrus spinifex A warm season native perennial that has no redeeming qualities and has made itself a pesky weed throughout Texas.
Showy chloris Cloris virgata A warm season annual native that varies in size up to 3’ is also called feather fingergrass and feathertop rhodesgrass. Its 2” seedheads above blue-green stems and leaves make it a showy plant for the garden as long it is prevented from becoming weedy. Cattle find it edible and birds and small mammals consume its seeds.
Silky bluestem Dichanthium sericeum Silky bluestem is a 20”-40” warm season perennial introduced as a forage grass from Australia where it is known as Queensland bluegrass. It flowers May through September and is identified in the field by blue-green leaves and branches topped with straw colored spikelets that have long awns (heavy hair-like projections) that are covered with fine silky white hairs. Its foliage is food for some butterfly caterpillars.
Silver bluestem Bothriochloa laguroides ssp. Torreyana Silver bluestem is a 18”-48” warm season native perennial bunchgrass usually growing from tillers. It is only fair forage for livestock and poor for wildlife. However, it produces seed and forage for birds and small mammals. The Loflins cite that warblers and other migratory birds perch on the seedheads and pick out seeds while American Indians used the stems as toothpicks. Also called silver beardgrass, they are easily seen in the field after their into 4”-8” silvery cotton-like seedheads mature.
Sightings
Sightings are what we have observed that are a little out of the ordinary and may be of wide interest. We have a few this month and would like to hear of your sightings.First, there is the Hummingbird moth. This is a moth, not a bird, that probes flowers. Just as a hummingbird would, it flies and darts around probing flowers for nectar.. There are several species, but this one we photographed was a Commom clearwing Hemaris thysbe.
We spotted three False gromwell Omosmodium bejariense wildflowers;[3] one on the property edge of Siemmsen’s land, the other two on the roadside of the Miller property, up by the big majestic oak.
This plant is not common in our area.
The Antelope horn milkweed Asclepias asperula is making a good showing this year all along Bridlewood Ranches Drive.
It has an unusual flower head so it should be easy to spot. It’s obvious that the cattle do not like it, nor do the deer. But the butterflies find it a valuable food source and egg laying site. So, please don’t mow them until they have gone to seed and all the seed has been dispersed by the wind.
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| Interesting article on this plant. Click here Antelope |
The tiny 3”-5” bright pink Golden-eye phlox Phlox Roemeriana is still to be seen in some places along Hugo Road and on the right side going into BWR not far from the entrance.
Hugo Road is a good place to look for wildflowers as their only enemies on this county road are an occasional yard mower and the county mowers later in the season. County mowers are instructed not to mow down the bluebonnets, but that protection doesn’t extend to most all the other wildflowers.
Eastern bluebird Sialia sialis. After building over 200 bluebird houses, Robert finally has a resident pair in one of his boxes.
Herbertia Adolphia drumondii a lovely, small, three-petaled blue/purple flower of the iris family is now gracing some of our fields in BWR. Don’t miss getting a close look at its delicate beauty.
It won’t be found in Everitt’s Hill Country book, but is present in Geyata Ajilvsgi’s book Wildflowers of Texas. Perhaps this is because, as Ms. Ajilvsgi says,” Herbertia is endemic to the southern portion of Texas and is usually abundant where found, forming large areas of almost solid blue”. These can be seen in the fields along Bridlewood Ranches Drive.
Cattle egret Bubulcus Ibis One last sighting. This afternoon ( 4-12-18) on our way back home, we saw two cattle egrets on the Vinson’s property standing on the ground by the two horses.
R & D Tusch
[1] Both of these books are available at the Wimberley Village Library.
[2] Also known as speargrass and Texas needlegrass.
[3] A good wildflower book for this area is Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country by Marshall Enquist.
