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The Big Bend region of Texas has an allure, a pull to the heart, that makes every native plant lover want to revel in its huge desert expanses, green-ribboned river valley and high, cool basin of the Chisos Mountains.
Photos by Daryl Styblo
Eighteen members of the Guadalupe County Chapter took a five-day, 480-mile journey to Big Bend National Park in April, staying at the Chisos Mountain Lodge at an elevation of 4500 feet. Organized by special event committee chair Bob Teweles, the trip was the chapter’s first overnight field trip, a planning feat ten months in the making. With ranger-led hikes, caravans to trailheads and fellowship in the park’s restaurant, chapter members had an outstanding experience and learned much about the various plant communities of the area.
National Park Service Ranger Jennette Jurado, a botanist by training and author of a four-color brochure, “Plants of the Chihuahuan Desert,” led the first hike, 2 miles through the pines and oaks of the Chisos Basin Loop Trail. Members saw Texas Madrone (Arbutus xalapensis) and Feather Dalea (Dalea formosa) in bloom and learned the difference between Weeping Juniper (Juniperus flaccida) and Alligator Juniper (Juniperus deppeana).
An afternoon hike at the Rio Grande Village Nature Trail revealed brilliantly pink blooming Strawberry Pitaya (Echinocereus stramineus) and views of Boquillas, Mexico across the river. Some members visited the Hot Springs and others practiced their plant identification skills at the Dugout Wells oasis.
The four-mile hike the following day to Cattail Falls was a highlight of the trip; an unpublicized trail to a shaded, moist box canyon with seeping springs, deep pools, lush ferns and blooming Longspur Columbines (Aquilegia longissima) and Helliborine orchids (Epipactis gigantea).
According to trip leader Bob Teweles, his most poignant moment occurred when members found a beautiful purple flower that had the expert Jurado reaching for her copy of Barton Warnock’s “Wildflowers of Big Bend Country.” A Thickleaf Penstemon, she diagnosed, her first Penstemon dasyphyllus she’d found in the national park. “One of the most difficult of the beardtongues to locate,” she read from the Warnock text, thrilled by the find beneath the splendor of high mountain cliffs near the foot of The Window.
Members also found blooming Octotilla (Fouquieria splendens), Rainbow Cactus (Echinocereus dasyacanthus) and Brown-Flowered Cactus (Echinocereus russanthus). After picnic lunches, many ventured on to Castolon, Santa Elena Canyon and the Cottonwood Campground to explore other areas of the park.
The fourth day’s schedule allowed for a free morning and an afternoon trip to the native landscapes of the Lajitas Resort, a talk on ethnobotany at Big Bend Ranch State Park by Ranger Dave Long and dinner at the Starlight Theater in Terlingua. At week’s end, members took the all-day drive back to Guadalupe County, many stopping at the native plant garden at the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center in Langtry.
Taking on a major field trip was a big undertaking for the five-year old chapter. Formed in 2008, Guadalupe County Chapter has grown to nearly 50 members. They publicize their monthly meetings and speaker topics, hold two plant sales a year, share an active NICE! program with an adjacent chapter, host full-day seminars, enjoy a summer social and annually donate native plant books to local libraries.
And now, cementing friendships during a long field trip will make the chapter even stronger.
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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: masterson
