Prairie Rose Chapter

February Newsletter 2021

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FEBRUARY MEETINGS

BLACKLAND PRAIRIE – THEN AND NOW

BY CAROL CLARK

VIRTUAL MEETING, FEBRUARY 22, 7 P.M.

For anyone who’s heard one of Carol’s previous presentations, you know what a great speaker she is.  We’re happy to welcome her back to talk about the Blackland Prairie.  Blackland Prairie remnants are some of the rarest and most endangered ecosystems on Earth.  This program will explore the kind of interdependent plant and animal communities the settlers found when they first arrived on the Blackland Prairie, and unique challenges they faced due to the unusual soils.  We’ll contrast that historic scene with what is left here now.

Carol Clark is an amateur botany enthusiast, a Monarch Watch Conservation Specialist, a Texas Master Naturalist and longtime member of the Native Plant Society of Texas.  She and her husband own and operate Clark Haven, a wildlife reserve and custom wildflower seed business in Cooke County.  Carol grew up with a nature photographer father and wildlife artist brother, and has spent much of her life looking around in the great outdoors.  Her favorite things to do are leading discovery walks in local natural areas, and finding and photographing interesting plants.

This will be a Zoom meeting, and you must pre-register before the event.  Our last event exceeded our limit of 100 attendees so I apologize that some of you couldn’t attend.  There’s no way to tell if this meeting will have the large number of last-minute registrations, but I’ve added a question of what county the registrants are from in an attempt to let me allow you into the meeting first.  

Several things are recommended.  Sign up as soon as possible.  You’ll receive an automatic Zoom notice with your own personal log-in.  You might want to flag that email so you can easily find it several weeks later.  My request is that you check into the waiting room 10 minutes before the meeting is set to start.  I will begin to let our people into the meeting about 5 minutes before the start time of 7 p.m. when everyone else will be allowed in.  

 

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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: prairierose

About the Region

2026 Fall Symposium Logo

This low-elevations region of Texas extends inland from the barrier islands, about 60 or so miles, and stretches from Brownsville to Louisiana. In total, it covers about 9.5 million acres, with a high point of 150 feet in elevation. More than 1000 species of plants can be found in this region. On the southern end, species more common in Mexico (such as Sabal mexicana) and Central America occur.

The barrier islands provide us with dune systems, and clay flats to the inland side, which have species found in these areas alone. Many plants here, such as Ipomoea pes-caprae (beach morning glory), can be found throughout tropical regions of the globe. I’ve encountered the same species on the beaches of Guam.

Once inland, vast marshes and wet prairies occur. Occasionally, oak (Quercus fusiformis) groves can be found. Common grasses include species of Bothriochloa, Paspalum, and Sporobolus; eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides); and switchgrass (Panicum species). Many rivers and creeks cut through the Gulf Prairies, and along these riparian areas various species of trees, Sabal minor, and other plants adapted to clay soils can be found. Due to overgrazing, farming, and fire suppression, woody species such as mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and huisache (Acacia farnesiana), and invasive species such as chinaberry (Melia azedarach), Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), and Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum) have increased and displaced our native flora.

Source: Wildflowers of Texas by Michael Eason