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Native Plant Society of Texas

Prairie Rose Chapter

PLANT ID WALK CLEBURNE STATE PARK MONDAY, OCTOBER 24

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PLANT ID WALK

CLEBURNE STATE PARK

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 10 a.m.

5800 Park RD. 21, Cleburne

We had to cancel so many of our outdoor activities this year, we’ve added a short walk at Cleburne State Park.  This is a great park and we’re going to concentrate on plants that live in or near water, both native and invasive.  Most of our walks take place in prairieland, so this is a great opportunity to learn and identify different species.  Jaycee Fernandez will be guiding us.

Our normal meeting day would be October 28, but since it’s Halloween and the park offers special events during that weekend, we’ve moved our day up a week.  We hope you can join us.

If you don’t have a Park pass, don’t worry, Prairie Rose will be picking up the $6 day pass fee.  You can spend all day there if you like: bring a picnic lunch and hike around some of their trails.  This is a great fishing lake, so feel free to throw your fishing poles in the car.  State Parks are free to fish and you do NOT have to have a fishing license.

Please meet at the office about 9:45am so we can get a head count and check in.

Cleburne State Park is reached through Hwy. 67 about 6 miles south of Cleburne.  There are signs.  Turn on to Park Road 21 and follow it to the park.

We’ll send additional information later this month in our reminder notice.

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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