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Sun Mar 3 18:23:17 CET 2024
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Fri Feb 9 09:34:19 CET 2024
Many thanks to all naters providing advice !
After weeks of reflexions, it will be more fun to tackle places little explored.
Hopefully, I could accompany local naters in promising places. After all, this is much like I do at home in France for 3 years, looking for old meadows and woods facing north or south , see https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flore-de-reyrieux?tab=about .
1 Arrival at Dallas, or another big airport (Houston etc)?
visit bot. Garden https://www.wildflower.org/visit/gardens in Austin
and / or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Arboretum_and_Botanical_Garden in Dallas
Also San Antonio Botanical Garden
6 Edwards Plateau (recommended by Joshua) Devils River State Natural Area - Del Norte Unit has great botany but is very remote and requires around 30 km of driving on well-maintained dirt roads then around 8 km of driving on rough dirt roads that repetitively cross rocky dry arroyos. 4 wheel drive is unnecessary but a high-clearance vehicle is strongly advised. The park is only open Friday through Monday.
M.W. : For rare plants in Edwards Plateau, try Devil's River State Natural Area and Seminole Canyon State Park in Val Verde County. Val Verde County has both West Texas and Edwards Plateau plants.
I wonder if I should not fly first to El Paso ...
El Paso, because the limestone mountain ranges are nearby: Apache (little explored), Delaware (little explored), Diablo (N. of Van Horn; explored in South), Glass (E. of Davis; a bit of masqued obs.), Del Norte,(S. of Davis, between Alpine & Marathon; lots of masqued obs.), Guadalupe( lots of obs.); Santiago Mountains (South of Marathon by 385, little explored)
And then I'll drive southeast to Davis and Chisos mountains.
I saw this nice article about a former ranch in Guadalupe mountains :
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/gumo_frijoleranch_smithfamily.htm?utm_source=article&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=experience_more&utm_content=small
Texas Beyond History is nice site, e.g. these articles:
https://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/trans-p/nature/images/dock.html
https://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/trans-p/peoples/foragers.html
And this camping site's site looks nice near Apache mountains:
https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US/land/texas-apache-park-and-trail-xryh09rx?adults=1&children=0
I just bought my plane ticket to El Paso for April 4 ; I'll stay in Texas until April 19 ( then I'll visit Connecticut ) . The plan is that 3 of my 4 children (over 30 ) will join me in Alpine after a week alone, and we'll spend 1 week together in Texas.
I 'm still working on my schedule ; at the moment it is :
El Paso
Guadalupe Mountains National Park (1 hour 40 minutes by car; arrive in the evening)
Alpine & Davis Montains
Davis Mountains Preserve : try to see Prunus muarrayana :
-- in the canyon on the east slope of Mt. Ord.
-- near head of Big Aguja Canyon, Fowlkes' Ranch
Candelaria
After Alpine & Davis Montains, we 'l go to remote Candelaria.
It started with a remark from a botanist that the Candelaria region is little explored (see here in forum:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/preparing-a-botanical-trip-to-texas-trans-pecos-end-of-march-or-april/47683/1). Indeed, it is on the banks of the Rio Grande, at the end of a road which was only paved in 1985. There would still be 70 inhabitants (?), but properties are for sale! This is the route I'm thinking of taking: https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/the-road-to-nowhere/ .
Another more recent article on this road + the restaurant at the end (in Presidio): https://becausefoodiswhatido.com/2017/10/12/the-road-to-nowhere-took-us-to-the-oasis/ .
Edwards Plateau
Austin
Cultural and travel notes on Texas that I gather (besides organisation and naturalist stuff)
Flora of North America ( many families not treated)
Texas Native Plant Database
Plant species of conservation concern
Texas Ecosystem Analytical Mapper, TEAM Map of Ecosystems (best viewed on Chrome) . In fact, it is very detailed, but the road and city map is absent. So I prefer this PDF map : http://www.texasthestateofwater.org/screening/html/maps.htm (Vegetation Types)
Nice map on mountains ranges:
https://www.peakbagger.com/map/BigMap.aspx?miny=28.966452&maxy=32.716999&minx=-106.672316&maxx=-101.339&t=R&d=1356
Trans Pecos Wildlife District of TPWD : maps of counties with Wildlife Biologists https://tpwd.texas.gov/landwater/land/habitats/trans_pecos/regulatory/
inaturalist maps of plants by counties:
Brewster County (including Big Bend Nat' Park) : 61.331 observations of plants https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=30.66593889999999&nelng=-102.3208982&place_id=any&subview=map&swlat=28.97154699999999&swlng=-103.80068&view=species&iconic_taxa=Plantae
Culberson County 14.897 observations of plants (mainly Guadalupe Nat' Park) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=32.000664&nelng=-104.024521&place_id=any&subview=map&swlat=30.6636261&swlng=-104.918691&iconic_taxa=Plantae
Presidio County (including Big Bend Ranch State Park) 18.027 observations of plants https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?iconic_taxa=Plantae&nelat=30.6292579&nelng=-103.792703&place_id=any&subview=map&swlat=29.2591057&swlng=-104.980564
The best map of Candelaria on CalTopo . CalTopo was created to facilitate relief :) Better maps than Google, OSM, Bing.
QUESTION : best site for past meteo in US ( rain , etc ) ? Scott writes: The single best source of historic (and current) weather data is WeatherUnderground. Their interactive map will help you locate personal weather stations with both live measurements and historical data going back as far as each station has been online. Here is the map: https://www.wunderground.com/wundermap?lat=30.357&lon=-103.661. (Note that more stations appear as you zoom/pan the map, each is clickable for detailed records). Some stations record more measurements (e.g. humidity, solar insolation, snow fall, etc. than others). It is my go-to source for all weather data.
QUESTION I'd like to visit an organic farm , and a ranch respectful of environment .
Scott writes: There are a large number of farms and ranches in the Rio Grande valley near El Paso. It is now past pomegranate harvest season, but a great place to visit for free is the WonderFruit pomegranate farm (https://www.facebook.com/wonderfruitelp/). You should be able to locate other agricultural tour possibilities in the area. I suggest you call or write to the El Paso Visitor Bureau (https://visitelpaso.com/) and tell them what your interests are.
???
That I already grow:
Acacia farnesiana
Agave lechuguilla
Chilopsis linearis
Cylindropuntia imbricata
Dermatophyllum secundiflora = Sophora secundiflora
Erythrostemon gilliesii https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1065391
Juglans major https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/143782-Juglans-major
Juglans microcarpa https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/164249
Parkinsonia aculeata
Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum
Rhus microphylla https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/167827
Salvia regla
Senegalia greggii
Cercocarpus montanus
That I may grow:
Fouquieria splendens
Trees from Benny Simpson's book "Field Guide to Texas Trees", that I want to see:
Acacia sp
Acer grandidentatum
Amelanchier utahensis, , Guadalupe Nat. Park
Arbutus texana
Cercocarpus sp
Chilopsis
Diospyros texana
Ehretia anacua
Fraxinus greggi ; Blue Creek Canyon in Big Bend N.P.
Fraxinus cuspidata ; Obs. inat' in Texas : present in Chisos ( Chisos Basin Campground), Davis (roads 1832 & 118), Guadalupe (Palm Springs Canyon).
Fraxinus papillosa; Chinati Mont.
Fraxinus texensis; Balcones Escarpment
Fraxinus velutina ; north side of mountains > 750 m
Juniperus deppeana (Alligator J.) > 1350 m
Juniperus erythrocarpa
Juniperus flaccida
Juniperus pinchotii
Juniperus scopulorum
Leucaena retusa
Morus muicrophylla
Ostrya chisosensis : Chisos e,demic ! https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/343204-Ostrya-chisosensis
Ostrya knowltonii , south fork of McKrittick Canyon in Guadalupe Mountains
Pinus edulis https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=18&subview=map&taxon_id=57902
Pinus cembroides https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=18&subview=map&taxon_id=57903 ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_cembroides
Pinus remota , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_remota
Pinus strobiformis https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=18&subview=map&taxon_id=143791
Pistacia mexicana https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=18&subview=map&taxon_id=284484
Quest for Prunus murrayana : The new challenge I set myself ! unobserved plant on inaturalist !
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/quest-for-prunus-murrayana-in-west-texas/48808
Other plants:
Acleisanthes longiflora
Agastache sp
Agave sp
Aloysia sp
Anisacanthus sp
Anulocaulis sp
Atriplex canescens
Brickellia californica
Buddleja marrubiifolia
Caesalpinia mexicana
Chilopsis linearis
Choisya dumosa
Cordia parvifolia
Cordia sp
Dalea sp
Dasylirion sp
Ephedra sp
Ericameria sp
Erythrina sp
Euphorbia antisyphilitica
Fendlera rupicola
Fraxinus velutina
Guaiacum angustifolia
Hesperaloe sp
Hibiscus sp
Juniperus sp
Krameria erecta
Krameria lanceolata
Leucophyllum sp
Lippia sp
Penstemon sp
Petrophytum caespitosum nice Rosaceae that I have a chance of seeing at Guadalupe Nat. Park
Plumbago scandens
Poliomintha sp
Quercus muhlenbergii
Quercus turbinella and other xerophyl
Quincula lobata
Rhus sp
Scutellaria sp
Scuttelaria wrightii
Senegalia sp
Senna wizlizeni
Tetraneuris acaulis
Ungnadia speciosa
Vauquelina corymbosa var. heterodon
Vauquelinia californica
Yucca sp
Where to buy seeds of uncommon plants ?
Refering to the Vegetation Types of Texas map (see above) , which types are the most likely to host rare or in limit of distribution plants ?
Comments
Jean-Marc, This looks good so far. Keep me posted. ---- Clif
For seeds of uncommon plants in Texas, you could contact my friend Michael Eason. He doesn't use INaturalist, but he is on Facebook: Texas Flora.
He is the associate director of conservation and collections of San Antonio Botanical Garden. Wildflower Center Seed Bank of Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is another option.
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