Native Observations 2015

Sawyer · Mar 22, 2015

Mike, you should have enough bluestem seeds to restore half of Texas. I'm a big fan of Equisetum, too. There's a patch on the White River a couple of miles below Beaver Dam. I like the way the First Natives used them, as a sort of sandpaper.

Jim, you remind me, I found a new spot last year for morels. It will soon be time to check it out. I also saved some spores last year I've kept in cold storage. I want to see if I can germinate them and tissue culture the mycelium.

Rairdog · Mar 22, 2015

Sawyer said:
Mike, you should have enough bluestem seeds to restore half of Texas. I'm a big fan of Equisetum, too. There's a patch on the White River a couple of miles below Beaver Dam. I like the way the First Natives used them, as a sort of sandpaper.

Jim, you remind me, I found a new spot last year for morels. It will soon be time to check it out. I also saved some spores last year I've kept in cold storage. I want to see if I can germinate them and tissue culture the mycelium.

LOL...The river I live on is also the White River. Early on I would google "White River" and end up looking at trout pics from your river. Good luck on the spores.

Sawyer · Mar 22, 2015

Ha! That's funny. I buy my trout permit every year ($5 on top of a $10.50 fishing license), but haven't been trout fishing in years. Maybe this year.

capsidadburn · Mar 22, 2015

Those shrooms remind me that I need to get after my son to get his plug spawn going that I got him. Reishi mushrooms are supposed to be very healthy for older folks like myself. I've got a Live Oak log and a Ceder Elm I think that we will drill holes in and pound in the plugs. My son has taken an interest in mushrooms lately. Just photography but wanted to get him growing something so I got the plugs off amazon for him. Seemed like an easy start, but he seems to know all about saving the spore too.

http://www.reishi.com/what-is-reishi.htm

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-905-reishi%20mushroom.aspx?activeingredientid=905&activeingredientname=reishi%20mushroom

Here is my Daughter's contibution. She got seeds for this "Belle-vue" from Baker Creek a couple seasons back. Related to Hibiscus I think, and not native. Germinated them late last year and wintered on the back porch. She's been clearing a shady spot ready to transplant.

John, I have about five 6 x 9 envelopes full of the Bushy Bluestem Andropogon glomeratus if your interested in one or two of them. I doubt I can use them anytime soon so their available.

Looks like sunny days for a few, should get some planting done.

Mike

capsidadburn · Mar 22, 2015

Sawyer said:
Mike, you should have enough bluestem seeds to restore half of Texas. I'm a big fan of Equisetum, too. There's a patch on the White River a couple of miles below Beaver Dam. I like the way the First Natives used them, as a sort of sandpaper.

Jim, you remind me, I found a new spot last year for morels. It will soon be time to check it out. I also saved some spores last year I've kept in cold storage. I want to see if I can germinate them and tissue culture the mycelium.

Besides the beauty and coolness of the Horsetail, I am always looking at taller plants as Dragonfly perch eye level photo ops! Speaking of, tommorrow I am attending a speaker lecture in Austin on dragonfly's by an author of several of my books. Should be fun!

Mike

Sawyer · Mar 22, 2015

capsidadburn said:
John, I have about five 6 x 9 envelopes full of the Bushy Bluestem Andropogon glomeratus if your interested in one or two of them. I doubt I can use them anytime soon so their available.

I'll take you up on that, Mike, but I don't think I need a whole envelope. I have some Big Bluestem, Andropogon gerardii, seeds I can trade with you. I need to test them for viability first, though, they are at least a couple of years old. I had a well-established plant but it was where I planted a row of lilac bushes and they've crowded it out. I forgot to look last year to see if it is still there. I did notice a couple of plants that may be naturally reseeded. Gotta keep my eyes peeled this year.

capsidadburn said:
Besides the beauty and coolness of the Horsetail, I am always looking at taller plants as Dragonfly perch eye level photo ops! Speaking of, tommorrow I am attending a speaker lecture in Austin on dragonfly's by an author of several of my books. Should be fun!

Mike

That does sound like fun.

capsidadburn · Mar 29, 2015

Well I have had a very busy couple of weeks that have kept me away from here. I will try to catch up some things. Last weekend, since my coffee maker is now dangerously not working, I headed to Starbucks for a quick caffiene injection. I stopped off at the local Brushy Creek afterwards. Took a few pics of Round Rocks namesake and some wildlife. Found a small flower that I am not sure what is, may be common though. I brought one home.

Wagon train ruts on Chisolm Trail. The stream was shallow just east of the Round Rock so the train crossed there.

Originally the town was named Brushy Creek but, due to another town with that name it had to be changed. The local postmaster remembered fondly fishing off the Round Rock as a boy. The water level is a little high here so the stream carved mushroom shape is not quite visable. Great Blue Heron and Snowy Egret share hunting spot.

Found this nice flower that I do not know what is. I expect my newbieness is showing brightly here. edit; Muscari racemosum

Texas Mountain Laurel, Sophora secondiflora

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SOSE3

Recent purchase transplant Blackfoot Daisy Melampodium leucanthum

I'll post some more of this weekends news later today. I have a native plant observation hike this afternoon.

Enjoy whats left of the weekend!

RobbieWT · Mar 29, 2015

Looks like it could be something in the Muscari genus.

capsidadburn · Mar 29, 2015

RobbieWT said:
Looks like it could be something in the Muscari genus.

Looks like you are right! Thanks for the pointer. It's definitely not native.

Sawyer · Mar 30, 2015

Yep, grape hyacinth. One of the earliest-flowering bulbs.

Is the Mountain Laurel ~~Melampodium leucanthum~~ Dermatophyllum secundiflorum? I'm sure we have something around here called mountain laurel, but according to plants.usa.gov, I'm just out of range for Kalmia.

Mike, I know you've already been over there, but for others who haven't, I posted some pictures of some local wildflowers (some just emerging from the earth) over here. This is probably the best shot, Erythronium albidum. Not certain on the species, but I think that's right.

Edit: Shoot, I cut and pasted the wrong name up there. I meant to ask if the mountain laurel was Dermatophyllum secundiflorum. My bad.

Rairdog · Apr 1, 2015

Nice shots Mike. The carved river reminds me a lot of the terrain around here. I would never guess it was TX by looking at the pics. I love old pics of dams and bridges. Here is the old turbine house and dam that is about 600 yrds from the house.

There is another old dam downriver about a mile the they blew up. I will get some pics of it. It's about time to hit the woods and get some native pics myself. I like to follow the progression of blooming plants and trees that lead up to shroom season.

capsidadburn · Apr 1, 2015

Thanks Jim! Love the old dams. I grew up fishing on one in Carthage, Mo. Spring river and can't forget Grand Falls in Joplin on Shoal Creek.

Here's a dam pic on the opposite side of the bridge by the Round Rock. The same water birds were wading below the dam but, I spooked them before I got the shot.

Carthage Mo, Spring river dam
http://www.keziahoriginals.com/gallery66-2/F66-2e.jpg

Grand Falls Shoal Creek, Joplin, Mo
http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/content.php?713-Grand-Falls-Joplin-Missouri

capsidadburn · Apr 8, 2015

From a week back at the UT campus during my sons Science Olympiad regional competition inwhich he did well in all three of his events.

Western Spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis

Interesting art sculpture with me sitting under

I found a bunch of pink bluebonnets which I have tagged for seed collection to grow out next year. I've read that the pink has a low (12%) true germ rate. Also found some red. Texas A & M did a lot of work making red white and blue gardens in the likeness of the state flag as well as their maroon version which is not very stable apparently.

My son capping off his plug spawn inserts with cheese wax. Three logs placed under tarp on ground.

My sons final run position of his Scrambler compitition. I've tried 3 times in the last week to post a video which I have done before, but THP denies me.

Looks like we will be going to the State competition April 24-25 in College Station after we took 3rd place overall out of 11 schools competing.

Trying to get caught up here. I will be doing volunteer work at the Wildflower Research Center Native Plant Sale this Saturday. I hope to come home with a couple plants!

Later Mike

RobbieWT · Apr 8, 2015

Out here it is rare to see any lupine, and when you do they are usually damaged by deer and don't come to flower. Last year I found this lone white Lupinus perennis in a big patch of blue. I believe these are listed as threatened here in Maryland.

capsidadburn · Apr 9, 2015

RobbieWT said:
Out here it is rare to see any lupine, and when you do they are usually damaged by deer and don't come to flower. Last year I found this lone white Lupinus perennis in a big patch of blue. I believe these are listed as threatened here in Maryland.

I know that the Pink and white are thought of as being rare around here. I've got more pics I'll post soon.

Another rarity we saw while on a plant survey last week was this Celestial Nemastylis geminiflora Terrible picture though. Unique because the bloom only lasts one day. We found two this trip. I plan on trying to collect seeds for it as well.
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=NEGE

Rairdog · Apr 9, 2015

Very nice! Can you split and collect the bulbs/rhizomes or is it in a protected area?

capsidadburn · Apr 9, 2015

Rairdog said:
Very nice! Can you split and collect the bulbs/rhizomes or is it in a protected area?

It is protected I believe. It is part of a greenbelt hike and bike trail. It also has caves that are fenced off. I think I will be lucky just to get some seeds!

Sawyer · Apr 9, 2015

Congratulations on your son's success! Are the mushroom logs part of his Science Olympiad efforts or just a side project? What kind of logs is he using?

The N. geminiflora bears more than a passing resemblance to Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium angustifolium. Given they are both of the lily family, I guess that's not terribly surprising.

I know at least one spot here where lupine grows in the wild, but I don't know which species. According to plants.usda.gov, there are none present in Arkansas, native or invasive. (I guess they don't count cultivated.) Speaking of white, though, I have a few plants of pure white deadnettle (Lamium purpureum) growing amongst all the purple ones growing in the garden. It's not really a native, but has become very extensively naturalized.

I find it useful as a self-sowing early spring cover crop.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this Virginia Bluebell (Mertensia virginica) the other day. I thought it perished in one of the drought years, but I guess I was mistaken.

The Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) bloom is seldom seen:

This Ozark Trillium (Trillium viridescens) bloom isn't open yet:

The Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) is stretching, but not putting out flowers yet:

The Large-flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) always look a little sad to me:

This Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) bloom should be open in a few days:

I have more, but since this isn't my thread, I'll stop. All of these plants are in my backyard/garden.

capsidadburn · Apr 9, 2015

Thanks for the great backyard pics John. Mine has a long way to go to get to bloom town. I'm not sure how my son got interested in Mushrooms other than he stared taking phone pics of them. Now he is on some Reddit sub forum for mushrooms and chats up the knowledge there. Hardwoods are preferred. We've got 6 logs total mostly Live Oaks but some unknowns that he dragged home. I've been very happy to see him driven to curiosity, and effort to learn about something other than video games.

Your pics are very nice! I like the sadness of the Bellwort. It is begging for a misty morning photo. I never got to experience Mayapples!

Later!

capsidadburn · Apr 12, 2015

Well I am back from my volunteer work at the Native plant sale yesterday. Came home with 10 small 3x3 squares of new plants. Was mostly looking for low growing items but also got a Standing Cypress and some more native grasses. Got them all out in the ground yesterday. It's foggy out this morning so it's time to go see whats new in the backyard world.

Here's some recent pics;
On most of my Eryngo plants there is evidence of spittlebug or Froghopper. When I was a kid I remember it being called Snake spit and very common in the woods. Only recently did I learn that it is actually a frothy cacoon hideaway for the Frog hopper nymph. They look very similar to leafhoppers common on my pepper plants. I found a new green nymph checking out my flower seedlings so I ended it's time. I have left all of the other spit froth though. I have not seen this in my backyard as I recall.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Froghopper

Found these on my Blackfoot Daisy which has no known pests listed but these sure look like they are up to no good. Anybody recognize?

One of my outdoor overwintered Tepins which is probably 6 years old. It has been moved several times and recently put in this bed.

A Forest Tent caterpillar probably fell out of my white oak along with all it's annoying pollen strings.

Some pics from the rare color Lupine's. and a link to an article. The Dr. Parsons mentioned is the same from the "Parsons Potent Chile Pequin" story that floated on THP several years back. I wanted those Yellow pequin and was told if I had seeds for the red then I would get some yellow too.
http://www.texasbluebonnetsightings.com/red-white-and-blue-texas-bluebonnets/
The yellow color in this pic is my pipe cleaner tag to help me find later if the colors all fade.

More pics later...