Favoritos de oceanicwilderness

Here is another cluster of small-flower paw paw trees, growing on the fence line.

There were many clusters inside of private property.

I know these trees are very old from the lichens growing on the tree trunk. (see last picture)

This population was discovered by Bill Carr. The only one that's on the public land.

There are more behind the fence.

I went to check on them today, make sure they are still there.

http://was.tacc.utexas.edu/fileget?coll=TEX-LL&type=T&filename=sp63908491603389247470.att.jpg&scale=1000
These small flower pawpaw are much taller than the ones that I've seen in East Texas, about 6 feet. I didn't see any fruit.

These trees are hard to miss! They don't look like any tree in that area.

Image scanned from a slide taken August 22, 1999. We were doing field work on tortoises and iguanas for the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galapagos National Park Service at the time. Estimate the true locality within a kilometer of this point.

In August, 2023, the Shearwood Creek Fire destroyed almost 5,000 acres in Jasper County. These observations were made on private property that had its uplands planted in longleaf pines when the fire went through. The blooming plants that have come back seem more prolific than they were before.

What a great day trip to Houston! I was led by botanical guru (and City Nature Challenge species dominator!) Andy Newman -- the mission: find as many species as possible. I wish I would have taken some better photos...

This final stop for the day was roadside to see some Rayjacksonia aurea and Chloris texensis in a really unique barren. Lots of other cool plants were spotted here too. Hopefully the invasive grasses don’t completely take these areas over…

Had to get some solo time this weekend, so I went to Lake Brownwood State Park. The park ended up being pretty crowded, but fortunately, I was able to enjoy some nature by myself. Temps were in the triple digits, and it was dry, dry, dry -- the plants needed a drink!

I sure enjoyed my time here as I hiked a few of the trails.

Here are some of my original photos of the Travis County Trillium plant. I first discovered the plant on March 22, 1984 (first two images). I came back to measure the plant on March 24 (3rd - 5th images), and over the next few days invited several botanists and friends to view and photograph the plant. The 6th image (3/25/84) shows Dr. Marshall Johnston documenting the plant. The 7th image shows a young and curious Greg Lasley wondering what all the fuss is about.

3 Adult Polydamas Swallowtails documented over several days often seen together. Ovipositing witnessed on Aristolochia tomentosa and fimbriata. Many eggs located. One eclosing from chrysalis was noted 2 days ago.

Observation in the survey at Lobanillo Swales, a park on the El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail.
It was a high point of the trip to East TX to see these in bloom. A large patch scattered about under the trees near the highway.
For more info on the Swales see:
https://www.nps.gov/elte/learn/photosmultimedia/lobanillo-swales.htm

I thought this was a grey hairstreak at first, but as it was flitting about, the wings seemed to be almost light blue in color, which surprised me. I managed to get a shot of it after it landed, and the patterning seems different from the usual hairstreaks I see around here (though I don’t necessarily pay close attention).

For further details, this was at a nursery nectaring on a planted Buddleia marrubifolia before it took off and landed on the ground.