I stopped at a small park next to the Church.
The name of town is called Art.
Michael Eason told me about this plant. I tried to find it last year but couldn't find it.
I decided to try again today and I found two plants. These plants are only 3 inches tall, very hard to find.
It's next to an unfenced private property, with many free range livestock.
All the cows mooing made me very nervous.
The second picture is UV flora, aka Bee Vision
Thank you Eric @knightericm !
Grow on lawn, two large post oak trees
KOH (2nd picture), burgundy red.
bruise blue
I found 5 on one Prunus tree, only took 4 pictures.
Looks like also a single chick in the best
Chew marks made by a snail or slug.
First time sighting
My friend Randal invited me to join them for a walk with members of Texas Master Naturalist and The Nature Conservancy
Observation is of the small buds/fruits on long, thin stems
From a hike at the Slaughter Creek / Maxwell Trail for the 2024 City Nature Challenge
Drove to Milam County to observe. Made several stops along a dusty gravel road with plenty of traffic including large trucks.
See my 2022 CNC entry in same area: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/115651745
From a scenic drive in the Paint Creek region between Manor and McDade for the 2024 City Nature Challenge
From a late afternoon hike one drizzly afternoon in late April - for the 2024 City Nature Challenge
From a late afternoon hike one drizzly afternoon in late April - for the 2024 City Nature Challenge
BioBlitzed the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge for the 2024 City Nature Challenge!
Leaves with reticulate venation, flowering stalk is 11cm long.
I'm including an observation of this low, fleshy, pale green (to pinkish) Sedum since it has been long established as a waif on the roadside of Salton Drive. I'm still not sure which species it might be, but probably a non-native species.
Medina River Greenway
There are many differences between Vachellia farnesiana (Huisache) and Vachellia schaffneri var. bravoensis (Huisachillo) other than the obvious differences in fruit, although noticing these differences requires some attention to detail.
The most reliable way to distinguish these two taxa besides the fruit is examination of the leaves. V. farnesiana has a petiolar gland that is partway down the petiole from the most basal pair of pinnae, meaning there is a noticeable gap between the lowest pair of pinnae and the gland on the petiole. And the petiolar gland tends to be small, not prominent (raised), and doesn't really stand out in coloration. By comparison, V. schaffneri var. bravoensis has the petiolar gland immediately adjacent to the most basal pair of pinnae (no gap present), the gland is usually also slightly larger, prominent, and is more noticeable due to its red coloration. These traits are visible in the first photo of this observation.
V. schaffneri var. bravoensis also tends to be smaller to much smaller than V. farnesiana at full maturity, the inflorescences tend to be somewhat more yellow (yellowish-orange rather than orange), the twigs tend to have a minor zigzag habit, the nodes tend to be more swollen/enlarged, the leaves tend to have less pairs of pinnae on average and the pinnae sometimes are slightly recurved (bent backwards), the paired spines are slightly different and often noticably sharper to the touch, and the flowers have a slightly different scent than V. farnesiana - more complex and even more pleasant than V. farnesiana. Hopefully you noticed all the "tends to" and "often" in this description rather than speaking in absolutes. It is more reliable to identify these taxa based on the petiolar gland characteristics than all the aforementioned traits put together.
Fell out of a tree this morning and squawked excessively. Stopped a bit, then started up again and flew off. Suspect fledgling?
Neighbor says this is a sharp-shinned hawk.