Texas Almanac, 1949-1950 Page: 191
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TEXAS PLANT LIFE.
grasses indicates the potentiality. Wild
grasses are produced in considerable volume
as commercial hay in the coastal region, and
there is a native prairie grass cut for hay in
the northern portion of the Blacklands.
Arid-Land and Desert Vegetatlon.-Beceause
of the mountain ranges rainfall in the Trans-
Pecos is spotted, varying from fifteen to
eighteen inches annually in the more favored
mountain location to five or seven inches in
the Diablo Basin. There are some good grass-
lands on the Stockton Plateau and in the
Marfa-Fort Davis area. Some other areas are
characterized by desert soils and vegetation.
The yucca, ocotillo, lechuguilla, guayule,
maguey, creosote bush and a variety of cacti
are found.
An interesting Texas plant of possible fu-
ture commercial value is the shrub, guayule
(Parthenium argentatum), found in the Big
Bend area of the Trans-Pecos. It is a rubber-
producing plant, indigenous to a wide area of
Mexico. Small quantities of rubber have been
produced from the Big Bend native guayule.
Another interesting shrub of the Big Bend is
the candelilla (Euphorbia antisyphilitica),
from which there has been production at
times of candelilla wax, used in some proc-
esses of polish, paint and insulation material
manufacture.
Cacti.
Several hundred species of cacti are indige-
nous to Texas, covering a wide range from
the western edge of the East Texas Pine Belt
to the western boundaries. Region of most
prolific growth is along the Mexican border
and in the Trans-Pecos, though cacti are
found generally throughout West Texas. on
the Staked Plains and throughout the Middle
Western Texas sections in considerable num-
bers.
Cacti in Texas may generally be classified
relative to size and form as follows: (a) Col-
umnar, one to six feet in height; (b) colum-
nar, branching at the base of clusters, less
than one foot high; (c) globose, one to three
feet in diameter; (d) globose. one to twelve
or more inches in diameter: (e) Opuntias
(commonly designated as "prickly pears") of
tall, medium and low or decumbent forms,
and (f) climbing or clambering forms. shrubs
and small tree types.
Texas' cacti have a wide range in size and
color of blossoms. The blooming period, ac-
'cording to the species, ranges from early
spring to late fall. From minute blossoms of
less than one-quarter inch in diameter to
giant ones, often measuring up to seven or
more inches in diameter, these unusual flow-
ers represent all colors of the spectrum.
Blossoms of some species have a life of less
than three hours, while some retain their
beauty for from one to five consecutive days
and for even longer periods.
Miscellaneous Tree Areas.-There is a wide
growth in relatively undefined tree areas
throughout Texas. Across the Coastal Plain
along streams there are corridors of hard-
woods, including a variety of oaks, ash and
hickory, which attain considerable size and
are cut and sawed. The pecan, the state tree
of Texas, is found only along streams, but in
a fairly well-defined belt along the upper
and middle courses of the Trinity, Brazos.
Colorado, Guadalupe, Nueces and tributaries.
There is a unique Cypress Belt (in addition
to the cypress found in East Texas) along the
spring-fed streams of the Edwards Plateau in
Gillespie, Johnson, Kerr, Bandera, Medina
and other counties of that vicinity.
Notable among the tree regions of Texas is
the Big Thicket, a not very definitely bounded
area in the southern part of the East Texas
forest region. It centers in northern Hardin
and southern Polk and Tyler Counties with
a total area of about 2.000,000 acres. Prevail-
ing timbers are water oak, tupelo, black gum,willow, magnolia and cypress. The palmetto,
water lily. hyacinth and rare orchids are
found. The wild grape, wandering Jew and
many other types of vines form a Jungle al-
most impossible to penetrate. Hence its isola-
tion. The Alabama-Coushatta Indian reserva-
tion is in the northern part of the Big
Thicket. (See p. 136.)
One of the oddities of Texas tree growth is
the Southern pine area centered in eastern
Bastrop County, lying isolated about eighty
miles west of the main pine belt, and known
as the Lost Pines. Most of this area is now
Included in the Bastrop State Park. Another
limited but interesting plant-life group is the
growth of palms near the mouth of the Rio
Grande. From this group possibly the Rio
Grande received its original name of Rio de
las Palmas from the Garay expedition in 1519.
Western Pine, Oak.
In the highlands of the Trans-Pecos area
especially the Guadalupe, Davis and Chisos
Mountains, Douglas fir, pinion pine. Rocky
Mountain white pine, one or two species of
maple and some varieties of the western oak
are found. In the Chisos Mountains are some
rare species of juniper not known to exist
elsewhere. These green mountain areas are
islands in another respect also, contrasting
strangely with the desert vegetation that lies
about them.
Another plant-life island is the palmetto bog
near Ottine, Gonzales County, where a num-
ber of subtropical plants have been found
far north of their natural regions of growth.
The area is named from the palmetto found
here. Such exotic plants as wild orchid grow
here. The area has been incorporated in the
Palmetto State Park.
TEXAS WILD FLOWERS
More than 4,000 different species of wild
flowers have been listed by scientists in their
explorations of Texas plant life. Some of
these grow exclusively in this state, where
variety of soils, open spaces and a high per-
centage of sunshine hours encourages bril-
liance and variety of flowering plants. This
listing includes many with inconspicuous
flowers, such as sedges, rushes and grasses.
the latter family containing about 500 species.
Among the plants with showy flowers, the
largest family is that of the composites, rep-
resenting nearly 1,000 species. This family
includes the daisies, asters, goldenrods and
sunflowers. The pea family is the second
largest group with showy flowers and has
about 300 representatives. Some species, or
others closely related, are widely scattered
over the state, but most plants are limited in
their distribution by certain soil and moisture
conditions.
The most noteworthy of Texas wild flowers
is the legally adopted state flower (by act of
Legislature, March 7, 1901), the bluebonnet
(Lupinus texensis), also known as buffalo
clover, wolf flower and el conejo (the rabbit),
an annual which grows on the limestone hill-
sides in North Central, Central and Southwest
Texas. (See p. 149.) It blooms in erect clus-
ters of blue, bonnet-shaped flowers splotched
with red or white on the upper petals. A
slightly different species, Lupinus subcarno-
sus, grows on the sandy areas of Central
Texas. It is also considered as the state flower
since the distinction between the two was not
considered at time of the adoption of the
resolution by the Legislature.
Among the flowers that are likely to attract
the attention of the highway traveler is the
Texas mountain laurel, also known as mescal
bean, and frijolita (Sophora secundiflora), a
shrub with a blue flower of the autumn sea-
son which is found on the limestone hills of
Central and Southwestern Texas. The wild
verbena (Verbena blpinnatifida) is found
from spring until fall over large areas, also
the pink evening primrose or buttercup (Hart-
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Texas Almanac, 1949-1950, book, 1949; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117167/m1/193/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.