Prairie Rose Chapter

Saturday May 21, 2022 Special Event/Meeting

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Our temperature Saturday will be the best in a long time, so it’s the perfect chance to walk around Chuck Snakard and Dorothy Pringle’s ranch for 1-2 hours. 

MAY 2022 EVENT/MEETING

SATURDAY, MAY 21, 9 A.M.
SNAKARD RANCH
5176 CR 2013

Our May meeting is a fun walk/tour activity.  Please join us as we walk around this fabulous ranch and identify plants.  Whether you’re new to native plants or a veteran, there is always something interesting to see and learn.  It’s a great opportunity to bring friends and relatives out as well. 

This fabulous 341-acre ranch has been permanently protected by the Texas Land Conservancy with a conservation easement for the past 20 years. It has been managed by a number of methods including prescribed burns. This is a great opportunity to walk around land in the Lampasas Cut Plain. Chuck and Dorothy have graciously said that anyone may stay longer than our planned tour. 

Aaron Lincoln, will be leading our activities on the ranch and helping us to identify what we’re seeing.  Be sure to bring a hat, sunscreen, bug spray and good shoes.

Directions:  From Hwy. 67 turn on to CR 2013.  This is at the top of what we locals call Chalk Mountain (even though it really isn’t).  You’ll turn where you see the sign to Rough Creek Lodge.  The Snakard ranch gate is directly across the main entrance to Rough Creek Lodge.  Follow the road up to the house where we’ll meet before we tour.

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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