Nature Newsletter No. 7--Springs, Sinks And Caves

Rain produces interesting effects. From rain comes springs, sinks and caves, all due to the action of water.  This newsletter will focus on these three effects, all observable in our area.

Hays County has about a dozen springs that have a significant flow.  Most flow year round, but some go dry during periods of drought.  When you think of a spring, think about its source of water, a rather large pool of water contained in the underground karst formation, mostly limestone.  The recharge of this pool of water is, of course, rain.  Someone has probably made the calculation about the capacity of this pool of water that feeds the springs, but we can assume that it is very large, like trillions of gallons.  Of our 35 inches of rain per year, maybe a inch or less of these 35 inches make it into the pool. Pumping, evaporation, runoff, and plant usage take the rest.  So, protecting the areas (the recharge zone) where rain can enter the pool is important.

The San Marcos Spring(s) are plural because the water that flows into Spring Lake comes from many springs in the immediate area, most of which are on the bottom of Spring Lake.  The area around the springs was a gathering place for humans for thousands of years.  We came close to destroying the beauty of it during the last century with all the entertainment focused in the area. The blind salamander, and other rare and unusual plant and animal life are found in the water.  Downstream of the lake one can see Texas Wild Rice, only found here in the river.  The major protector of the river and its water source is the San Marcos River Foundation.

Jacob’s Well is located northwest of the center of Wimberley in the Woodcreek area.  It now is owned by Hays County along with a substantial holding of surrounding land that is designated as a Natural Area.  Before Hays County began to organize and control the usage, the usage by swimmers was high, but now the access is more difficult and the recreational use of the water has been reduced to a manageable level.  Jacob’s Well is a circular hole about 10 feet in diameter and some 120 feet deep.  Many years ago, it was a favorite place to dive into the depths, but there were fatalities and that usage has been stopped.  Sometimes when you visit the well, the flow is so strong up and out of the hole that a person would have difficulty swimming down into it.  On a recent visit, the water flow was very much reduced, probably due to our current lack of rain.

Note: It’s an easy walk back to the well until you come to a steep set of stairs toward the end where I waited for R to check out the rest of the route.  There is a hand rail on the stairs and I had my cane which made a pretty good walking stick, but from there on the trail was over rock which fell away to the right with a steep drop to the creek.  I had seen the well before when its access was much easier from the other side and decided to pass on it.

In addition, it’s worth mentioning that the county has added a bird viewing blind and in the prairie area they are planting native grasses.  We were there soon after they opened at 8 am on a Sunday and had the main trail  pretty much to ourselves until we neared the parking lot on the way back.

Also in the Wimberley area is the Blue Hole.  This is a large pool of water with good spring flow.  It is considered to be a tributary of Cypress Creek that flows through the center of Wimberley.   The flow of this spring is strong at about 50 gallons per second.  The Blue Hole needs this strong spring flow as it is heavily used in the summer months as a place to swim.  Get there early in the day if you want to get into the park. Its access is limited.

Two other springs need recognition, one close by, the other on remote property and a good flowing example of a spring.  The one close to us is Purgatory Springs, considered to be the source of Purgatory Creek.  Purgatory Creek is dry most of the year, but the water from Purgatory Springs can be seen at the intersection of Hugo Road and Purgatory Road.  Most of the springs are on the ranch across Purgatory Road on the ranch, near the windmill that you see from the intersection.  Some other small flows come from the ranches east of this intersection, like on the Stoepler Ranch, the gate that you pass on Hugo Road between the   intersections of Summer Mountain Dr. and Purgatory Rd.   The pond as one nears Purgatory is a good place to catch sight of ducks during their season of migration.  During the severe drought of 2011, the pond was nearly dry.

The other spring of the area is Bank Spring, also known as Little Arkansas Spring.  It gushes from the high bank alongside the Blanco River at about 30 gallons per second during periods of adequate rainfall, but seems to be very dependent on local rainfall .  This spring is located in a remote area so it is hard to get in to view it.

In the Dripping Springs and Driftwood area there are several noteworthy springs.  They are Walnut Springs, Dead Man’s Hole, Ben McCullough Spring, Rooster Springs, and Capt Springs.  We have not explored any of these.

Sinking Streams, Sink Holes and Caves   Sinking streams are places where flowing water disappears into the ground.  Of course the most noteworthy sinking stream in the nation is the Humboldt where the Humboldt River flows out onto this broad plain and then just disappears. That is in northwest Nevada. In Texas, we have two flowing sinking rivers for sure; one is the Frio River and the other is the Nueces River.  Both are known to disappear in gravelly beds only to reappear miles downstream at a much lower flow rate.  Here in Hays County, we are not aware of any sinks on flowing streams, but the number of sinks on dry creeks is about 600.  These are sites where, during heavy rain runoffs, the runoff water disappears into a sink hole.  This is the water that feeds the pool of water that provides flow to many of the springs.  As you recall, there was a link to a running water sink hole that was shown in the last newsletter.   These sinks need to be protected because developers have a tendency to fill them with concrete to make the land more useable for development.  Sink Creek, in Hays County, suggests it’s a creek that sinks but we have not verified or determined that.  Below is a link to a sink hole in Round Rock that exposed a cave this year in February.  The event was apparently triggered by a water main leak that eroded the ceiling of the cavern which then allowed the road to collapse into the hole. 

Use Ctrl , then click to activate the link.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sinkhole+in+round+rock&&view=detail&mid=7D78294EB5D12D2711E57D78294EB5D12D2711E5&&FORM=VRDGAR

Another related underground cavity made the news in Louisiana when an oil drilling rig was putting down a hole in an area known to have underground salt deposits.  These underground salt deposits (there are many in the Gulf Coast area) are often cavernous, that is they are not solid salt, but have large volumes of open space.  The oil rig was drilling a hole in a brackish lake when the drill bit broke through into the roof of the salt dome that was a salt mine. In a matter of a few hours, the lake drained itself into the salt mine, and eleven barges went down the hole, now enlarged from drill size to many feet across.  After flow from the  lake filled the entire cavity, water from the gulf filled the lake and then nine of the two barges refloated  back up through the hole. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlrGkeOzsI

Texas is a cave-rich state. The area of the state where most of the caves are found is in a band along the bottom of the state from the Balcones Fault all the way to El Paso. This belt where caves are found extends beyond the western edge of Texas as evidenced by Carlsbad Cavern.

We have 260 caves in Texas.  These caves are all of a size whereby they have been entered and surveyed.  Most of them we, as the public, will probably never know about.  Cavers have learned that the only way to preserve the beauty of the limestone features of a cave is to keep it secret.  In fact, the person who explored the big cave that was named Natural Bridge Cavern said that the only way to preserve an accessible cave is to commercialize it.  Thus, we have maybe 10 or so commercialized caves in Texas.  The big cave names are Natural Bridge, Sonora, Wonder, Devil’s, No-Name and a few others.   Before we get too far along, we need to remind the reader that cave explorers are called Speleologists or Spelunkers for short.  They call themselves cavers.

All of this karst, springs and cave investigation reminded me of the geology courses I took at what was then NHCC at the south campus when we lived in Humble.  Inks Lake and Longhorn Cavern were stops on a class trip in that course.  So,I planned a trip for us to revisit that cave.  We left BWR at 8 am on August 9 and arrived at the old CCC- built (Civilian Conservation Corps) State Park at 9:30 in plenty of time for the 10 am tour.  The cave is not the most stunning in the state, but it is the longest and the only one formed by the action of a river of water that  dropped into a sink and flowed underground for the last mile before joining the Colorado River.  Its mild acidity and erosive action carved the cave rooms and corridors.

The tour took 1½ hours and we covered 1¼ miles.  Not surprisingly, it took the CCC workers six years back in the thirties to clean the debris left by the ancient river out of the cavern.  Working with low-powered head lamps and hand tools they built wonderful state and national parks all over the United  States.

  

The cave was beautiful and I’m glad I went now as the walk over the uneven stone was a bit challenging even with my cane.  However it was well worth the effort and it was lovely and cool in the cave!

Observations and Sightings

On 8-07 around 6:30 pm one of those brief downpours came through and one of its outer edges occurred right over the middle of our house.  The sun was shining in the front yard and only a few drops could be seen while in the backyard it was a torrent.  This went on for several minutes before the rain stopped and we saw no rainbow.  R looked up the weather and it was showing North/South vertical showers.  We had never seen this curtain effect before in such a dramatic divided situation.

The Painted buntings have left us and the Purple finches have arrived.  There are probably no more than a dozen very small Eastern Pipestrelle bats in Longhorn Cavern and we saw about four clinging to the rock.  They are non-social and do not hang together, literally and they fly in and out on their own.

David F. captured an image of a Gray Fox that paid his place a visit.  A beautiful wild animal to say the least.

Books

Texas Caves by Blair Pittman (1999) available at the Wimberley Village Library.  This book was very interesting, but I was looking for a book with information closer to home.

I found Karst of the Urban Corridor on the website of the Texas Speleological Survey and ordered it, an 8 1/2 X 11 one hundred and eleven page paperback with 5 pages devoted to Hays County.

R & D TUSCH

Nature Newsletter No. 6-----Water

“Water, water everywhere and not any drop to drink”. Who said that? It was poet Coleridge who wrote that line in 1798 in his work titled “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”.

Water is so important to Texas that we too may be singing that refrain. In this newsletter, we will explore the background of water supply in Texas and then get into how to use water sparingly.

Texas has nine major aquifers as shown on this map by the Texas Water Development Board. These aquifers can range from a few hundred feet below the surface to a thousand or so.

The blue zone in the Panhandle area is the Ogallala Aquifer. It is considered to have a finite supply of water because its origin is water from the Rocky Mountains and the recharge rate is so slow as to be nothing in our time frame. We spoke with a pumpkin farmer in the area near Clovis, New Mexico who had pumped from the Ogallala for years to irrigate his crops, but had to quit farming because the water level in the aquifer had dropped below the level of his wells. Travelling through this area shows that there are many farms pumping water almost constantly to irrigate crops. This aquifer holds a very large amount of water and the demand on it is principally agricultural.

Near home, we have two aquifers that provide water to individuals and cities--- the Trinity and the Edwards. The map shows the Trinity as dark green and the Edwards in dark blue. The Edwards Aquifer is nearer to the surface than the Trinity, and in the realistic view, is “owned” by the cities that sit on top of it and especially by the city of San Antonio. Private wells drilled in our area must be driven on through the Edwards and into the Trinity. Drillers are required to sleeve the well in the zone of the Edwards to prevent water seepage from the Edwards to the Trinity and prevent unintentional pumping from the Edwards. Water in the Edwards can be viewed as local water, that is, the aquifer is recharged by local rains which find their way into the karst formations[1] of limestone caves, sinks, ravines and underground streams through eroded holes in the earth. A photographer caught this dramatic video when he filmed a large stream of runoff water on the San Marcos River Foundation (SMRF) ranch. The runoff water is shown disappearing completely down a hole in the limestone terrain on its way to the aquifer. To see a video of this please click on the hotlink to the SMRF website and scroll down to the Cave Recharging Video. Click on the picture which will produce the video. If you are interested in areas of concern like Pumping Permits please see that article as well. This is a very hot item in Wimberley, Kyle and Buda. In fact Buda and Kyle are getting so concerned about their future water supply they are considering piping water from wells in the Carrizo aquifer to the east of us. There is little doubt that our underground water supply is diminishing.

Another area of concern is building anything on or near the karst formation areas. The Craddock Road Extension was recently turned down by the San Marcos City Council because of research presented by Diane Wassenich of the San Marcos River Foundation. These areas must be kept free for rains to recharge the aquifer. We also talked to a young woman in Wimberley not long ago who was very familiar with seeing developers building homes in her area of Woodcreek. She watched as they poured concrete down natural openings to karst formations before building the house foundations. So not only are there roads, driveways and foundations, there are also concrete plugs to hinder the falling rains from flowing to the aquifer.
Some of our lots here in BWR are sitting on cave karst formations according to some of the locals who have done work around here. They were telling us this back when we were building our house but we never really quizzed them as to where they were located. Have any of you seen any small sinks or caves on your property?

The four big springs of Texas (San Marcos, Comal, San Leon and Balmorrea) are holding their own because they are locally recharged and pumping has been limited so far. The Balmorrea spring is especially interesting.
Its water originates in the Davis Mountains and surfaces at Balmorrea where there is a huge concrete pool of crystal clear water. It’s great for swimming in midsummer because of the cool water, unlike the warm water of San Marcos springs. Other historically great springs, such as the Comanche Spring in Fort Stockton are dry and have been dry for years. If you visit the site of the Comanche Spring in Fort Stockton, you will find a large (and empty) concrete structure that was once full of fresh running water that provided local recreation for the area. The Comanche Spring no longer exists because of the extensive pumping from the Ogallala formation to irrigate farm lands in the area.

Gunnar Brune’s book titled Springs of Texas (Vol. 1) is a compilation of the historical flows of all the springs in most of the counties. It shows that spring flow is diminishing in all areas. In fact 25 % of the 281 known significant and historical springs were dry by 1975.

Quick quiz: How many natural lakes do we have in Texas? Unlike states in the Great Lakes area, we have only two that are considered natural. On the other hand, we have many dams on local streams and rivers constructed principally for flood control and water storage. Managing the water levels behind the dam is always a challenge. If the dam is full of water, it has no capability to hold back the flow and stem the flooding downstream. If the water level is purposely lowered, the availability of water for cities is greatly reduced---and people who have built homes on the shore begin to complain about property values. Remember Lake Austin a few years ago? Although we have almost two hundred significantly sized water impoundments (significant meaning larger than stock tanks) we only have two lakes, and in my mind, one is questionable as to its “naturalness”. One is Green Lake to the south of us and Caddo Lake near the upper border with Louisiana. Caddo Lake could easily be judged not natural because it appears to have formed in more recent centuries from blockage of the channel with fallen trees and brush.

Another concern with water level management is how to regulate the flow of fresh water to those downstream stakeholders, like farmers, like the many small towns, like the ecosystem where the fresh water meets the salt water of the Gulf. The demands on river water are probably greatest on the Colorado River where there are several dams above Austin. The downstream effect of Austin’s usage can be quite evident in the summer months when you cross the river at the bridge in Fayetteville. The water here is usually stagnant, green and opaque.

Some of our rivers have other limitations. The Brazos for example, at low flows in the dry season has a salt content problem. The salt comes from the Salt Fork in the panhandle area. Houston was once talking about storing water from the Brazos in an area to the west of Simonton, but that plan seems to have been set aside, maybe because of the salt levels.

All the facts on water availability and usage in Texas suggest we use water sparingly, even if our supply seems unlimited. That drives us in the direction of low water usage plantings, enjoying native grass that is sometimes brown from lack of water, low flow faucets, etc. Rainwater collection is helpful as well and it may well avoid state regulation of a well in some future time.

Books/Newspapers

Joe Urbach, Hays County Master Gardener instructor, revealed in his July 8 column in the San Marcos Record the dark side of the Hummingbird moth we loved to watch sipping nectar from our larkspurs. Turns out this nefarious moth is the parent of the well disguised tomato worm! He went on to describe that with a $10 black-light flashlight the worms can be easily discovered and dispatched in the tomato patch after dark.

Sightings

One night as we were having dinner a large bird with spread wings just skimmed the window, descended and then circled around to come to rest on the head of a birdbath statue. It was a Poe-ish moment, but the Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) was a lot bigger than a raven. It spent awhile looking around but its intended victim had apparently disappeared so it went on its way.

Our living to the west in Bandera County provides some experience with Axis deer. Axis deer are an imported species to provide hunting on the big game ranches. Texas Parks and Wildlife view the Axis deer as strong competitors of the native White Tailed deer because of their browsing habits. One day we looked out the back and there was one of these in the back yard. You can easily identify this animal because of the white spots on its sides. At first glance you might think this is a white tail fawn, but this animal has permanent white spots into maturity. There is no hunting protection for the Axis deer. We are told the meat tastes better than the White Tail.

The Lotebush (Ziziphus obtusifolia) by our front door is now festooned with tiny yellow flowers that the bees love and a garland of Snake-Apple vine (Ibervillea Lindheimeri). The only other plant we knew existed was on the fence line along Hugo Road. We haven’t seen it in years, maybe it got the heave ho during fence rebuilding. If you see one please let us know. The possums and the raccoons apparently like the fruit because at just the right time of ripeness, they all disappear from the vine.

We make an unofficial bird count at midyear and year end. Our midyear list this year totals about 30 birds. It is posted in Natures Gallery (the top menu tab of the BWR website).

Speaking of birds, we have a CD of the bird calls of this area. Should any want a copy of this, just let us know and we will get a copy to you.
R & D Tusch

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[1] http://www.texasspeleologicalsurvey.org Press Ctrl and click on the link. Check out Texas karst and Karst totals by County and see that Hays has 925.

Nature Newsletter No. 5-----Trees

Texas soil type and water availability vary widely across the state. Water varies a lot due to hit-or-miss rainfall and the depth of groundwater. Soil pH is acidic in the east and alkaline in the west. This range of conditions results in a wide diversity of tree life. Pines dominate in the east, and many types of oaks do well in the central area. In the far west trees can only be found in canyon bottoms or near water washes. Here in Hays County, our dominant tree is the Live Oak. Live oaks can do fairly well on our thin soils with its high alkalinity. Some of the other oaks can survive here but need lots of care to get established. Travel only as far as San Marcos where the ground water is much nearer the surface than it is here in the Ranch area and you will find a much wider range of tree species. This area and on to the east of I-35 also has dirt which is rather scarce here.
Oaks are worth spending some time reviewing because of their wide range of species. At the last survey of literature, we find there are 31 different oaks that can call Texas home. Apparently, oaks can make hybrids rather easily.
We all know a Texas Red Oak when we see it, but how about a Monterey or Mexican Oak, Quercus polymorpha. Can you spot one of those? These trees are not native to our specific area, but are native at higher elevations in the Big Bend area. That means if you want one of these fine oaks, you need to buy it at the nursery and plant it. Beyond the hedge of rosemary beloved by the bees, here is one we planted 7 years ago from a small seedling.

It’s the tree on the right, at about 8 feet tall. It was planted as a one year old with a trunk about the size of a pencil. What is unique about this oak is that it retains many of its leaves through most of the winter. That is a red oak to the left.
Another good looking oak is the Lacey Blue Oak, Quercus laceyi. When mature, the leaves actually have a bluish cast to the green. We planted two this last fall, but they need almost daily watering to stay alive in this heat and lack of rain. They do well naturally in counties to the west of here. These trees apparently like calcareous soils, and even though they are said to be drought tolerant, they do need more water than we would think a drought tolerant plant would need.
These thirty one species of oaks provide endless opportunities to study the variations. For example, in Ward County, near Monahans ---there is an oak identified as a separate species. It’s the Havard Shin Oak, Quercus havardii , that can grow to 25’ under ideal conditions. There in the sand dunes, it produces 6’ high thickets with normal to large acorns. Its sand stabilizing roots can descend 90 feet in search of water. The name Havard comes from the person credited with first identifying this tree, Valery Havard, a French a botanist and surgeon with the U.S. Medical Corps.
The Bur Oak, Quercus macrocarpa, is a fine tree, not very common here, but seen in bottom lands where there is a bit more ground water and open sky. Bur Oaks grow slowly and don’t adapt well in a forested competition with other trees. The acorns are large and since this is a tree of the white oak family, the acorns have a much lower tannin level. You can even make acorn bread with them after leaching the tannin from the acorn. Bur oaks are so valuable that I would plant the acorns rather than eat them.
There are two oak trees that one might consider to be the commonly called red oak. These two species of red oak typify the oak’s ability to hybridize. One is the Texas Oak, Quercus buckleyi, a tree that grows to about 50 feet and the other is the Shumard Oak, Quercus shumardii. This tree has leaves very similar to the Texas Oak, but the tree grows to greater heights, perhaps even 100 feet. The leaves are so similar that it takes an expert to detect the difference.
Plateau Live oaks, Quercus fusiformis, are our dominant tree species. Once considered by botanists to be a varietal form of the more familiar Old South and East Texas Quercus virginiana it now has been assigned a classification of its own due to the fact that it thrives in our dry, limestone soil.
The Cedar Elm, Ulmus crassifolia, is another good tree for this area. However, it prefers more moisture, so you will find this tree in the gullies where it gets more water than on the hilltop. A good stand of these trees runs consistently through the gully that parallels Hugo Road. From a distance, these trees can be spotted easily in the late fall because their leaves turn yellow then brown before dropping from the tree. These trees can tolerate dry conditions, but they sure do prefer the areas of more water. Below is a photo of a cedar elm planted from seed about 10 years ago.

Trees provide wood for many uses. The settlers used the wood from the cedar elm for tools such as mallets because the wood is so hard and dense. My sawyer contacts will tell you that cedar elm dulls a saw blade faster than oak or mesquite.
Surprisingly, the general area once had a lot of black walnut trees. These valuable trees went the way of the black bear and the bison with an aggressive hunt for them. The New Braunfels area once had many large black walnut trees along the river bottoms. The Germans were good at woodworking and literally cleared the area of walnut trees to make Biedermeier style furniture. You can see some of this furniture and the tools that were used over 100 years ago by visiting this museum on the north side of New Braunfels.

The museum featured on the card is at the rear of the property. Up close to the road is a collection of restored buildings from the area creating a small village. Both are worth the time to visit.
The mill where we buy wood tells us that there are still some very large walnut trees in the San Marcos area, along the San Marcos River where they can get the water they need.
Although our area has essentially no pecan trees, they are common to the east of I-35 where they actually have dirt in which to grow. Pecan trees grow to a very large diameter and last for many years, producing crops of pecans for wildlife and people. Pecan wood is valuable as a furniture wood. Sawmills rarely will cut a live tree for wood as blow-downs provide plenty of material to be sawed into useable wood. In fact, some pecan trees are so large and heavy, the saw mill is transported to the tree and reassembled to bandsaw it along its length.
Just as winter is the time to peruse seed catalogues and plan spring gardens, summer with its scorching heat is the time to plan for adding trees and shrubs to the landscape in the late fall and early winter.
Sightings
This little American green tree frog, Hyla cinera, is a common backyard species that is popular as a pet. We noticed this one on an outdoor chair in the breezeway, but overnight it found a more comfortable spot on a potted amaryllis.

We have noticed a doe now and then during the day near the house and R was sure she was either pregnant or had a fawn secreted somewhere nearby. He went to remove the loosely coiled fence he’d put around the flowering yuccas last week and there was a small fawn lying in the sun just inside the fence. R came to the house to get me and we both wondered how to get her outside the fence and out of the sun. She stirred, saw us, jumped up and threw herself against the fence trying to get away. Lordy, lordy, what a todo! We talked quietly to her and she calmed down a bit. Then she found and wormed her way through the narrow opening that she’d entered. We left her peering at us from behind a tree. She obviously wasn’t going to tell Mom that she’d wandered away from the safe, shady spot she’d been left. Now if she could just find it.
A pair of Summer Tanagers, Piranga ruba and a juvenile showed up the other day. I saw the female first; a greenish–yellow back with gold below. Later the bright red male appeared; the size of a cardinal with a heavy beak but missing the crest and black mask. The juvenile male came to a tragic end against a kitchen window and we found him later on the back porch. He had a red head and splotched red breast.
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyus americanus, is one of my favorite birds. And I’m always glad to hear him chortling in the treetops when he returns from winter quarters. The word is that their numbers are diminishing throughout much of their range in the U.S. If you see one consider yourself lucky as they are secretive and stick to the tops of large trees.
The Common Poorwill, Phalaenoptilus nuttallii is another bird that is usually heard but not seen. The smallest of our nightjars, its song is also shorter ( poor-will-ip, the ip only heard close up) than its relatives, the Chuck-wills–widow and the Whip-poor-will. We hear him calling from a leafy spot where he lies hidden in the woods.
Follow up bird note: Our bluebirds have fledged and the backyard is lit up with additional flashes of bright blue.
Check out the following great local site for excellent pictures of birds, butterflies and new trails. The Hays Master Naturalist website has it all in their June newsletter. See it at: haysmn.org.

The bathing birds. All the birds come to the bird baths for drinks, but three species we’ve noticed go a step further. The Cardinals, Painted buntings and Lesser gold finches plow into the water with purpose and splash around with abandon.

From right to left: a male Painted Bunting on the rim of the birdbath, under him in the water is the olive-colored female, also in the water is a titmouse flailing around and above it on the rim is a male Lesser goldfinch. The little brown bird to his left on the inside of the rim is too indistinct for me to identify.
The following two insects were observed on a hall window in the morning obviously taking a break from their positions in the cicada chorus.

Homoptera cicadidae has locally emerged from his underground root feeding to procreate and die. The males are singing their high-pitched song to attract females. This courtship went on all day.
Books
I was alerted to an interesting book on trees by a March article in the Smithsonian Magazine titled “Do Trees Talk to Each Other?” by Richard Grant. Grant’s article is in essence an interview of a German forest manager, Peter Wohlleben, who lives with his wife in a cabin near Hummel. His book The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate has become a best seller in Germany and 11 other countries including the U.S. and Canada. Other scientists are becoming more involved in this study; for and against the idea. For those interested, Mr. Wohlleben’s book is available at the Wimberley Village Library.
R & D Tusch

Nature Newsletter No. 4—Wildflowers

April showers bring May flowers, so our May flowers are a bit on the short side due to scant rains so far this spring. Nevertheless, this newsletter is devoted to the wildflowers that are not commonly in the news. The reader probably does not need to hear more about Bluebonnets except that they are biennial and need to be planted in the summer the same time that the plants snap their seeds from the pod. If planted late in the fall, the seeds should be scarified, but if planted in the late spring, the hard outer coat will be taken care of by the harsh summer weather and ready to germinate in the late fall on schedule. You can always tell if there will be bluebonnets next year by looking for the small plants in the late fall and winter. No plants at that time, the show next spring will not be good.
Some wildflowers are valued for their beauty, some are viewed as pests and invasive but still may be attractive in the field. This newsletter will cover both.
We’ll start with Yellow Stonecrop-Sedum nuttallianum, a plant we don’t remember seeing around here before but evident this year. The plant is a very small, fleshy, succulent herb that settles itself beautifully on and around stones in our rocky soil. You probably have some on your property. If not, it can easily be seen on the right side of the road as you enter BWR in front of the Verato’s property. Coincidently I saw some plants for sale at the H-E-B in Wimberley.

A few years back the fields were full of Prairie verbena- Verbena bipinnatifida, but since then for some reason we just have scanty patches of it.

In this same family, we feel lucky to have a few examples of Texas Vervain- Verbena halei, shown below.
We’re all familiar with the prickly pear cactus and with all the flowers being produced, It looks like a good year for making jelly. However, there seem to be fewer Lace Cactus- Echinocercus reichenbachii or they’re blooming in short spurts, the hot pink visible one day and gone the next. Today (5-5-18) we saw around a half a dozen across from the Shuler’s, where the cows have a trail to the west. Below is a nice double bloomer.

Queen’s Delight- Stillingia texana is an interesting plant and as far as we know this is only one of a few on our property. It’s quite handsome with its yellow “candles” which are just now coming into bloom.

Marshall Enquist describes Three-Seeded Mercury- Aclaypha Lindheimeri as “being found in weedy habitats” which may be the reason it feels so at home here. I used it recently in a flower arrangement and its curved shape, color and lasting ability were very impressive.

One of the many yellow spring flowers Slender-Leaf Hymenoxys- Hymenoxys linearifolia is a sturdy little annual plant with yellow daisy-like leaves. There are many of them along the roadsides in BWR this year.


According to author Enquist, children are easily fascinated by the Sensitive Briar-Schrankia sp). They enjoy touching the leaves and watching them immediately fold up. This perennial with interesting round pink flowers has a sprawling habit and produces seed pods.


We have four Twisted Leaf Yuccas- Yucca Rupicola along the driveway and they made it to the bloom stage this year because of the wire cage. Cattle and deer like the flower buds. We want the seeds.

These twisted leaf yuccas are rather common, but the flower stalks are not so common as the wildlife and cattle eat them without hesitation.
We’ll end the wildflower section of the newsletter with three thistle types, two are aggressive aliens introduced from Europe and the third is our own Texas native.
Musk Thistle-Carduus nutans is a large plant, 2-6’ with 2 ¼ to 3 ½” pink flowers. This plant was introduced from Europe many years ago for its use in gardens. The best way to identify these thistles is by inspecting the flower head. Here’s the musk thistle flower.
Note the prickly leaves bracketing the flower.
It can be a tough plant to chop down when it is mature, but do chop it down (before it goes to seed).
Malta Star Thistle-Centaurea melitensis is another thistle from Europe and this one is a really bad guy, as it is very prickly and aggressive. Note here that the base of the flower head is all spines.
We chopped a few out of our land this week. Do you remember a few years back when there were so many that it was impossible to eradicate them all? Such is the case with wild plants. They flourish one year and then disappear for a few years—you think they are gone and then here they are again. The seeds can lay dormant in the ground for years. As we were told by one of the people at King’s Feed, since the flood customers are reporting plants they’ve never seen before in the area.
The Texas Thistle-Cirsium texanum is native and not very aggressive. Additionally, it provides seeds for the birds. It exists throughout the hill country. The seeds are especially savored by the goldfinches and the other day we saw a Lesser goldfinch clutching a stem blowing frantically in the wind picking at the seeds that were left as the rest of the seed head disintegrated and swirled around him.

It’s well worth it to get to know the difference between these thistles. Chop out the alien ones and save the Texas thistle for the birds.
Sightings
Sightings this month are that the painted bunting arrived May 5th, right on time and the quail are talking to each other. It seems like the quail population might be down a bit this year based on the calls heard. We even heard an owl this morning. We saw only one snake so far and it was a small speckled king snake-lampropeltis getula. The range of the speckled king snake is east Texas, so its presence is a bit unusual here in central Texas.
David F. sighted this Western Rat Snake-pantheropic obsoletus which posed nicely for a photo.

Rat snakes are common, but they can be hard to identify because they vary so much in color and in markings. This black snake variety of the Western Rat Snake wasn’t shown in our books but after getting the name from TX snakes I.D.com it was then found easily on the internet. Now I am sure it’s the mottled brown version that I saw at our old place in Medina. The snake was crawling along in front of the double stall garage and it was almost the length of a door! Rat snakes are capable of climbing trees and into the rafters of old barns looking for their prey. They are very beneficial, so take care of them.
Books of Interest
Roemer’s Texas 1845-1847 by Dr. Ferdinand Roemer. Roemer is known as the Father of
Texas Geology. He was also a well known botanist and Catclaw Acacia- Acacia Roemeriana is one of the plants named after him. This is a fascinating look at Texas with emphasis on the German immigrations to New Braunfels and Fredericksburg.
A Life among the Texas Flora Ferdinand Lindheimer’s Letters to George Englemann by Minetta Altgelt Goyne. Lindheimer, known as the Father of Texas Botany, led a very interesting life as he traveled this area of Texas in search of botanical specimens to send to Asa Gray in St. Louis. His home on the banks of the Comal River in New Braunfels has been preserved and may be visited. And, the Sophienburg Museum is a wonderful little gem of early New Braunfels history. Following is a mural seen from the parking lot of the most well known bakery in New Braunfels.


R & D Tusch

Newsletter Number 3 --- Grasses

Grasses are of great importance to the open areas. They provide economic value, aesthetic value and are extremely valuable for erosion control. In Texas, we have at least 560 species of grasses and in just the Hill Country, there are over 280 species. Of these 280 species, 65 have been introduced, mostly intentionally. Many are now viewed as invasive pests because they do not offer intended benefits and tend to push out native species. Perhaps the most common and widespread introduced grass is King Ranch (KR) Bluestem Bothriochola ischaemum (L) Keng. Native to Asia and Central Europe, it was introduced with a cattle grazing purpose on poor soils and droughty conditions. Ranchers liked it because they said “it could grow on a pane of glass”. In Texas it has now become one of our state’s most undesirable weedy grass species.
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 9^th 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.

Interesting article on this plant. Click here Antelope

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

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[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.

Newsletter Number 2--The Understory

Most of BWR land consists of wooded areas and open grassland.  The wooded areas are mainly live oak and ashe juniper with the low areas having a significant cedar elm population. Cedar elms like more water. The oaks and elms provide a canopy under which many small trees and shrubs thrive, not so much that they like the shade, but because there they can escape the grazers.  On the edge of wooded areas  where there is some protection and a bit of sunlight, you can find Texas persimmon, agarita, lime prickly ash, elbow bush, bee brush and several other small shrubs.
The Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana) is a good example of a small tree or shrub that prefers sun but exists where there is cover for protection. The trees are very tall and "leggy" when found under the oaks as they search for sunlight. According to Taylor,[1] it is a very valuable source of food for wildlife. Deer browse the leaves and eat the fruit that is also eaten by songbirds, quail, turkeys and smaller mammals. Birds use the trees to nest and roost while the canopy provides shade and cover for mammals. The flowers attract pollinators, such as bees. Butterfly larvae feed on the plant and the adults use it as a source of nectar.
Another tree you will find in the understory here is the Mexican plum. Prunus mexicana is a member of the Rose family along with cherry and peach trees. Horizontal lines on the trunk are an identifier of this tree.

You might take a look in your woods or protected areas right now as the flowers are evident and do attract bees and butterflies. Wildlife enjoy the fruit and so do we when we make tart and colorful jams and jellies.[2]
Elbow bush (Foresteria angustifolia) is another woody plant you can find in the understory.  We have nicknamed it the ‘tripper upper’ as the 90 degree angled branches interlock with each other making it difficult to walk through a thicket of these plants.  Elbow bush provides deer and cattle browse and fruit for many mammals as well as quail, white-winged doves and songbirds. Bees like the flower nectar.
Agarita (Mahonia trifoliate)is a 3’-8’ shrub with stiff, holly-like leaves, yellow flowers and red berries. Its young leaves are eaten by deer and it provides berries for birds and mammals as well as nectar for bees and butterflies. Humans imbued with patience and determination use the berries to make delicious jellies and wines. In addition, the nest builders find a safe haven behind its prickly leaves and small birds, animals and plants hide in the safe shade below it. See Siemmsen authored newsletter.
Lotebush, (Ziziphus obtusifolia) is a wickedly-spined, stiff shrub and another provider of cover and protection for birds and animals while they dine on its small, black berries.
Frostweed that you see clustered under the live oaks and that spectacularly burst during our freezes this past winter was not one of our favorites until I read that it is a nectar source that attracts bees and butterflies, a redeeming quality. 
The mountain laurel is a bit of a mystery to us.  We know it will grow nearly everywhere it’s planted, but we have seen no naturally occurring specimens in the surrounding areas. We have grown it in the gulf coast gumbo soil, it is abundant in Bandera County, and we have two good examples of this plant at the entrance to Bridlewood, but we have seen no native ones.  Know of any in the wild?
Plants that we’ve introduced that have done well in our shade and part shade are the salvias.  Cedar sage (Salvia roemariana) with its pretty geranium-like leaves and red flowers lights up shady spots and reseeds easily.

Just save the seed heads and scatter.  Tropical sage (Salvia coccinea) grows in part shade and reseeds itself as well.  It is more aggressive, but if you love volunteers it will make you very happy. 
Mealy blue sage (Salvia farinacea) is native in BWR and we have added more.
Heart-Leaf skullcap (Scutellaria ovate var. bracteata) has a deep purple flower and the plants are naturalizing beautifully in the shade of the oaks.

These salvias and the skullcap are all square-stemmed and belong to the mint family.
That ends our short overview of unusual flora to be found in the understory. Now is a good time to look for these plants because many are in bloom and are more easily detected. You will have to walk to find them, as they are hard to identify from the seat of a bulldozer.
Worth mentioning just because it is an interesting little volunteer in the disturbed soil of a garden bed. Henbit (Lamium amolexicaule)[3] is an exquisite herb of the mint family with two-toned green leaves and tiny pink upright, orchid-like flowers. [4]

Each newsletter will feature a listing of unusual sightings of birds and mammals. The authors invite responses from readers who have sighted not-so-common species.
This month, we report that a Say’s phoebe hung around thinking it might make good use of the eastern phoebes nest under the eave. But that was not to happen as the eastern phoebe ran it out of town.
All issues of the newsletter will appear in a blog established solely for the purpose of publishing the newsletter (naturenewsletter.blogspot.com). There you can enlarge the photos for better detail and add your interactive comments to the newsletter.
R & D Tusch

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[1] A Field Guide to Common South Texas Shrubs by Taylor etal
[2] A Field Guide to Texas Trees by Benny J. Simpson
[3] WIldflowers of the Texas Hill Country by Marshall Endquist p. 167
[4] Read about its medicinal and food value qualities at www.naturalmedicinalherbs.net