Habitats of the Llano Estacado
Sanddunes
Photoessay – Shinoak-Covered Sanddunes (June, 2009)
Nathan Taylor’s family farms cotton west of Lamesa. In 2009 Nathan was 15 years old. He is homeschooled, and before or after lessons, or while he is working on the farm (hoeing or driving the tractor) he explores his homestead. His family’s house sits in the middle of shinoak covered sanddunes. His photography records the changing seasons, and through the year he discovered a number of organisms (both plants and animals) that had not been recorded in western Dawson County before his observations. In November 2009 he was elected Vice-President of the Llano Estacado Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists.
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Annual buckwheat does not normally bloom in the spring, but it does sometimes overwinter as rosettes after significant fall rainfall.
A red harvester ant pulled a nama blossom along the ground. Why is a seed specialist messing with a flower?
Ant lion pits are usually found under dense shrubs where the wind and rain does not destroy them.
Climbing milkweeds often have hordes of bright yellow aphids on them in the spring.
Balsam apple blossoms are small and often hidden as the vine twines in shrubs. They turn into bright red fruit in the fall.
The big leaf milkweed (Asclepias latifolia) will bloom off and on from May until late summer with sufficient rainfall.
The big leaf milkweed plant is easily spotted in the landscape.
A black widow lucked out and got a giant juicy meal in a passing caterpillar. What the caterpillar will become is another question.
Black widows prefer to hide their eggs in well-protected places, and rodent burrows are excellent locations.
Blister beetles gathered on a spent evening primrose blossom. The beetles will sometimes gather in large groups (possibly in a mating lek.)
Blue curls is a common spring wildflower, but Nathan’s species on his property was the widespread species, not the one that prefers deep sandy soil (found in the Monahans dunes).
Bluestem grass bloom buds can form in early June if there has been good spring rainfall.
Boat-backed beetles are found in most habitats. This name is a personal one for the species by Burr Williams, executive director of Sibley, who does not remember why he gave it that name!
Which are the stamens and pistils of the bristlegrass blossoms – is the red the anthers, and the purple the pistil, or is it the other way around?
Brown headed cowbirds are parasitical on other birds. The females lay their eggs in other birds nests. The males will gather in groups around a female, and lots of strange sounds are heard as they vie for her attention.
The identification of this red bug on a shinoak leaf is a mystery.
An unidentified dark blue and red bug climbed on the pods of a spectacle pod.
An immature leaf-footed bug crawled on a prickly pear.
Corypantha cactus were hidden in fallen shinoak leaves.
A pair of beautiful red and black moths visited a James’ rushpea.
People that like to go barefoot dislike Caltrop...
...because it is another species that has “stickerburrs.”
Notice the club shape on the end of the pistil of this Calylophus. This is the characteristic that seperates this group of evening primroses from the Oenethera genus.
Climbing snapdragon blossoms are beautiful, and the seedpod that follows is an architectural marvel.
Cory ephedra is endemic to west Texas sandy soils. This is the male blossom.
The Cory Ephedra plant looks like a strange grass. The species was named after an early woman botanist that visited west Texas in the early 1900s.
From the side, a dark centered ground cherry is a pale blossom that hangs down under the leaves of the plant,
But when viewed face on, the dark center is quite striking. It produces a tiny edible fruit, kin to the tomatillo of green salsa fame.
European bindweed is a horrible pest in farms on the northern Llano Estacado, for it is difficult to eradicate, even with herbicides, and it can smother growing crops.
A white evening primrose faded to pink on a cloudy and dewy morning.
Evolvus nuttalinus is an uncommon annual. It looks nothing like the rest of its kin, the morning glories.
An Indian blanket’s ray flowers fade with age.
Gaura blossoms wilt with age, and turn red (the blooms are white.)
A tiny grasshopper nymph rested on an unripe abronia (snd verbena) seedhead.
The adult great plains skink can be up to a foot long, and it can bite hard and give a handler a severe pinch.
The immature great plains skink starts out black, with a blue tail. This one is maturing and its tail has turned the adult color.
The immature great plains skink has an interesting face pattern of spots.
A hognosed snake emerged from this hole...
...and when approached by Nathan, it flattened its head to look like a small rattlesnake.
There are up to a dozen species of sphinx moths whose caterpillars are known as hornworms.
A baby hognose snake was smaller than an adult horned lizard.
Horned lizards are fierce looking in profile. A few grains of sand can be seen in its mouth. Had it just licked up an ant?
White horsemint in closeup reveals the intricate form of its blossom.
An ichneumon wasp rested on a kochia plant. Kochia is an exotic weed that can form dense patches.
Is this the endemic (to West Texas sanddune habitat) sedge?
A sandsage had a pupa case of a ladybug, and
Several ladybug larvae crawling on it.
The most common species of lambs quarter has this type of leaf, but...
...several other species of lambs quarters can be found in Nathan’s sanddune property, and Sibley staff is not sure of the species identification of this one, or...
...this one.
Lesser earless lizards are common on Nathan’s property.
Nathan photographed the lesser earless’ vent, so the paired swellings below the vent can be seen. This is a male, because of the swellings from its hemipenes, the two pronged male reproductive organ. The size of the swelling indicates that was caught during mating season.
Nathan found a species of mallow that the Sibley staff is unable to identify.
Mentzelia (buena mujer) blossoms are intricate and beautiful.
Mollugo verticillata is a spring annual that can sometimes carpet the sanddune habitat. It is yet another species called chickweed.
A stemmed mushroom had moisture on its cap. Was this exudations from the mushroom?
Nathan discovered Baccharis pterinoides at his homeplace. Sibley staff could not identify it, and after it was published in Sibley’s “El Despoblado” newsletter, staff of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas identified it, and requested for Nathan to take several specimens.
The bloom of the baccharis shows that it is a member of the daisy (composite) family, as doe...s
...its seeds.
Nama blossoms are the size of a person’s little finger finger nail.
New growth of shinoak is soft and light colored.
Nighthawks nest on the ground, and fly in the evening hours, catching flying insects. Their wings make a loud sound during a dive, so folks call them bullbats.
Trompillo (purple nightshade) berries, when green, were used as rennet in making asadero cheese.
Two tiny beetles clambered among the blossoms of old plainsman. It is another daisy, but it has no ray flowers (petals).
Oxalis (sheep sour, or sorrel) is a common perennial in clay soils, but can be found in the compacted soils in sand dune country.
Sometimes the leaves of oxalis are red (from stress, or when first emerging.) It is a great addition to salads, imparting a sharp tart taste.
When a white horsemint is completely turned out, the white sepals can turn pink.
Portulaca has tiny blossoms the size of a person’s little finger fingernail.
The seed structures of portulaca are bizarre little tubes.
A tiny preying mantis had just emerged from its overwintering egg case.
Other egg cases still held the baby mantids.
Rain lilies form seedpods that pop open within a week of their appearance.
The flowers of red-flowered milkweed are beautiful, but strange and waxy.
The plant of the red-flowered milkweed grows up to two feet tall and three feet across.
Most Indian blankets in West Texas have some yellow on their ray flowers.
Sand lovegrass has light and air panicles (bloom and seed structures.)
Has anyone but Nathan ever seen the blossoms of a sandbur? You can see the tiny anthers!
A small scarab was found in the dunes. So far, Sibley staff have not been able to identify it.
Has anyone but Nathan ever seen the hairs on the stamens of spiderwort?
Spotted whiptails have large scales on top of the head.
From the side, a spotted whiptail looks a little mean!
The blue blotches indicate it is a breeding male.
The spots are easily seen on its side (if you have it in your hand.)
Oenethera rhombifolia (one of several evening primrose species on Nathan’s property) has interesting bloom buds.
A Swainson’s hawk sat in a cottonfield, nonchalantly preening as Nathan went by on his tractor.
The tall 4-o-clock can be quite striking when backlit by low angled sunlight.
The exotic weed, musk thistle, has big purple blossoms. It can grow 8 feet tall.
Couch’s spadefoot toads have very variable coloration patterns.
Is this a Paronychia (whitlow wort) when it is growing lushly after a rain?
Sibley staff think this might be a third species of Chaetopappa (a genus of white daisies) on Nathan’s property, but are not sure.
Croton texensis has the normal three lobed seeds of all Euphorbias...
...and the same form of flower.
Sibley staff are undecided about the identification of this grass.
Windmill grass seed turns black.
Yellow rainlily blossoms are the size of a person’s thumbnail.
Inside, an observer can see the arrangement of all lilies’ reproductive organs.
Some of the yuccas on Nathan property have bright red bloomstalks as they are shooting up.
Some of the buds retain the red color.
The round shape of the blossom indicates that it is Yucca campestris, the species of yucca found in sanddune habitat.