Nature: Trails and Trials

[Grammar Rules]

Name this plant division: Does anyone know the name of this annual wildflower? 3763

[siamcat]

It looks like a buttercup to me. I'm just guessing, but that's what it reminds me of.

[Grammar Rules]

It might be a related flower. These are tiny flowers, about the size of a penny, growing on clustered stalks from one to two 1/2 feet tall.

[siamcat]

Probably the Texas Buttercup....Not kidding it's considered a weed by some and can poison lifestock.

http://essmextension.tamu.edu/plants/plant/buttercup/

[Grammar Rules]

Good article, thanks. It says they need a lot of water, and these are growing in very dry ground. Also,the leaves on these are single, not lobed or bisected. The article says there are five varieties, so these must be the pointy leaf, dry ground kind. ::)

[Grammar Rules]

4699
Does anyone know the name if this wildflower? Single, tall stalk with pointy leaves, no thorns.

[Ludwig]

Looks like a variety of thistle.

[corgifan]

4699
Does anyone know the name if this wildflower? Single, tall stalk with pointy leaves, no thorns. You're looking at
Centaurea americana, commonly known as a basket-flower.

[Grammar Rules]

Oh, cool. Thanks! Before it blooms, the bud looks like a little basket. That makes sense.

[corgifan]

Name this plant division: Does anyone know the name of this annual wildflower? 3763
Possibly a CINQUEFOIL, but I can't see the center of the bloom well enough.

[kantwin]

If they look like this, a friend of mine in Kempner said they are allium, a member of the onion family. Do they smell like onion?

[Grammar Rules]

No, but I'm glad to know what those are called. They also grow wild on my place, along with the "beggars lice" shown in your photo and in my dogs' fur from now until, oh, about December.

Corgifan is right about the lavender flowers; they're "basket flower" and sometimes called "star thistle" because the flowers look a bit like thistle. http://easywildflowers.com/quality/cen.ame.htm

[Grammar Rules]

Here's a native flowering tree. After an exhaustive ;) Internet search of 20 minutes, I found the name. Anyone else know?

I'm not much of a gardener, but I'm learning the natives and transplanting some. They're more 4703likely to survive neglect.

[Grammar Rules]

And then I couldn't delete the other one. Thanks, iPad.

[Sped1]

The little tree is a Retama (Palo Verde) I believe. I have a couple in my backyard. You have to watch the thorns.

[Grammar Rules]

Dong ding! Correct! I could have just asked.:))

[Grammar Rules]

That Retama I photographed lost almost all its blooms. Then we had a few days of rain and moderate temps, and it's blooming again.

OK, here's another puzzle, this time from the animal kingdom.

What on earth will kill and eat a skunk? I didn't take a picture because it's disgusting. Also, I sped up the buggy and called the dogs to keep them from rolling in it. I'm not sure they would have, but their judgment has been poor in that area.

There are two bodark balls with missing chunks, so something was eating them. They're also called hedge apples, horse apples, bois d'arc apples, or Osage orange. Anyway, almost nothing will eat the tough green fruit. Next to the bodark balls lies a fresh skunk carcass, mostly skeleton.

My guess is that some feral hogs were feasting on the bodark balls when the nearsighted skunk came along and blundered into them, sprayed, and was killed by the hogs. This happened five or six days ago, and I think the pigs or some other scavengers ate the skunk. Nature, red in tooth and claw.

[sojourner truth]

Chupacabra......

[Grammar Rules]

The old goat-sucker! I should have known!:))

[mac]

That Retama I photographed lost almost all its blooms. Then we had a few days of rain and moderate temps, and it's blooming again.

OK, here's another puzzle, this time from the animal kingdom.

What on earth will kill and eat a skunk? I didn't take a picture because it's disgusting. Also, I sped up the buggy and called the dogs to keep them from rolling in it. I'm not sure they would have, but their judgment has been poor in that area.

There are two bodark balls with missing chunks, so something was eating them. They're also called hedge apples, horse apples, bois d'arc apples, or Osage orange. Anyway, almost nothing will eat the tough green fruit. Next to the bodark balls lies a fresh skunk carcass, mostly skeleton.

My guess is that some feral hogs were feasting on the bodark balls when the nearsighted skunk came along and blundered into them, sprayed, and was killed by the hogs. This happened five or six days ago, and I think the pigs or some other scavengers ate the skunk. Nature, red in tooth and claw.

the most common name amoung kids 60 or 70 years ago up in coleman county was "milk ball tree". you're right about feral hogs eating them.......crows and ravens will fuss with them too. they're very plentiful as fence rows on 35 up in Oklahoma and Kansas.....actually, all the way up to Minnesota but especially so in southern Kansas and northern Minnesota.......those milk balls are so sour they'll turn your lips inside out.......but if you have an open wound, a little bit of that stuff will draw it tight even better than alum.......mac

[CenTexDave]

Here's a native flowering tree. After an exhaustive ;) Internet search of 20 minutes, I found the name. Anyone else know?

I'm not much of a gardener, but I'm learning the natives and transplanting some. They're more 4703likely to survive neglect.

It's called a weed. :)

[Mestral]

That Retama I photographed lost almost all its blooms. Then we had a few days of rain and moderate temps, and it's blooming again.

OK, here's another puzzle, this time from the animal kingdom.

What on earth will kill and eat a skunk? I didn't take a picture because it's disgusting. Also, I sped up the buggy and called the dogs to keep them from rolling in it. I'm not sure they would have, but their judgment has been poor in that area.

There are two bodark balls with missing chunks, so something was eating them. They're also called hedge apples, horse apples, bois d'arc apples, or Osage orange. Anyway, almost nothing will eat the tough green fruit. Next to the bodark balls lies a fresh skunk carcass, mostly skeleton.

My guess is that some feral hogs were feasting on the bodark balls when the nearsighted skunk came along and blundered into them, sprayed, and was killed by the hogs. This happened five or six days ago, and I think the pigs or some other scavengers ate the skunk. Nature, red in tooth and claw.I know of a couple of animals that will kill and eat a skunk. Alligator comes to mind.
Not sure even a feral hog would mess with them, but I don't know.
But good news. It is likely the skunks committed suicide, as I believe the fruit of the Hedge Apple is poisonous to them.

Dogs roll on kill to mask their own smell, so their smell doesn't alert others to their presence.

[Mestral]

I know of a couple of animals that will kill and eat a skunk. Alligator comes to mind.
Not sure even a feral hog would mess with them, but I don't know.
But good news. It is likely the skunks committed suicide, as I believe the fruit of the Hedge Apple is poisonous to them.

Dogs roll on kill to mask their own smell, so their smell doesn't alert others to their presence.Well, I just did some research, and neither ascorbic acid nor sodium ascorbate is found in Hedge Apple. Must be the only fruit in the world not to have either one, but that means it is not poisonous to skunk.

So, maybe the hogs did do them in.

Kinda surprises me, as we had skunks on the farm, and hogs, and they didn't seem to bother one another.
But that was domestic swine.

[mac]

Well, I just did some research, and neither ascorbic acid nor sodium ascorbate is found in Hedge Apple. Must be the only fruit in the world not to have either one, but that means it is not poisonous to skunk.

So, maybe the hogs did do them in.

Kinda surprises me, as we had skunks on the farm, and hogs, and they didn't seem to bother one another.
But that was domestic swine.

not very likely that a hog would attack a skunk, or cat, or dog, or monkey, or a calf, or anything like that.....hell, they won't even attack an armadillo 'less it's messin' with a shoat. they're not really into attackin' things.....it's more likely that the skunk was had by a feral dog.....but even so, the odor should've been all around you.....so, guess it might''ve been killed somewhere else and brought to where you found it.......mac

[Grammar Rules]

Redneck CSI in Cedarwhackerville :))

I think the skunk died where it lay. There was a strong Eau de Pew in the vicinity for a couple of days before I ran across what was left of it.

I know feral hogs will eat bodark apples. It's possible the skunk met with a rattler and that neither the hogs nor the bodark apples had anything to do with it. Buzzards will eat dead skunk.

[Grammar Rules]

Here's all that's left at the crime scene. :crying
4788

[Mestral]

Redneck CSI in Cedarwhackerville :))

I think the skunk died where it lay. There was a strong Eau de Pew in the vicinity for a couple of days before I ran across what was left of it.

I know feral hogs will eat bodark apples. It's possible the skunk met with a rattler and that neither the hogs nor the bodark apples had anything to do with it. Buzzards will eat dead skunk.You are right, of course. Neither rattler nor buzzard are deterred by the skunk's weapon.

[Grammar Rules]

Today's mystery wild plant is this one: go ahead and give it your guesses. Hint, more common in west tx than here.

4835

[sojourner truth]

Had to laugh... At the lake my wife told me to "run out here and look dear... There's a Jackalope"...

Say what? We must have been here in Texas too long...

[Grammar Rules]

Oh you guys are no fun. Does no one know what that plant is?

[CenTexDave]

Waiting for you to tell us. :):)

[Grammar Rules]

I wouldn't expect a Buckeye to know, but native Texans should. And the rest of you have been here long enough to be naturalized. But in the interest of disseminating Texan knowledge, here you go. It's informally called devil's claw. The dried pods hook onto the hooves of grazing animals.

4836

[mac]

I wouldn't expect a Buckeye to know, but native Texans should. And the rest of you have been here long enough to be naturalized. But in the interest of disseminating Texan knowledge, here you go. It's informally called devil's claw. The dried pods hook onto the hooves of grazing animals.

4836

no they don't. nothing at all hooks onto the hooves of grazing animals......mac

[Grammar Rules]

Ankles?

[mac]

Ankles?
'
hocks......withers.......tails.....any and everything 'cept a hoof.....mac

[Night Owl]

I wouldn't expect a Buckeye to know, but native Texans should. And the rest of you have been here long enough to be naturalized. But in the interest of disseminating Texan knowledge, here you go. It's informally called devil's claw. The dried pods hook onto the hooves of grazing animals.

4836
Never seen em except when they lached onto me. And yes they will attach on to most anything.

[CenTexDave]

Never noticed them. Guess they know better than to latch onto a transplanted Buckeye. :)

[Grammar Rules]

Dave, they were very common in this area when I as a kid. We had a fishing and hunting cabin on the family land where I live now, and we couldn't walk across a pasture without one of these grabbing onto our jeans. And mac, they are two-pronged, and they do go around the animal's hoof or withers or catch in long fur or fabric. I didn't mean that they actually penetrated the hoof.

For whatever reason, maybe herbicides, we don't see them much any more.

People used to make things out of them. I've seen horses and riders, cattle and reindeer. Well, my my...I just did a search and found this, so the very creative have moved on in complexity. :-)

4838

[CenTexDave]

Plant'em all along our side of the Rio Grande. :)

[Ludwig]

Plant'em all along our side of the Rio Grande. :)

Heck no. Seed the other side of the river with them as well as cholla cactus.

[mac]

Dave, they were very common in this area when I as a kid. We had a fishing and hunting cabin on the family land where I live now, and we couldn't walk across a pasture without one of these grabbing onto our jeans. And mac, they are two-pronged, and they do go around the animal's hoof or withers or catch in long fur or fabric. I didn't mean that they actually penetrated the hoof.

For whatever reason, maybe herbicides, we don't see them much any more.

People used to make things out of them. I've seen horses and riders, cattle and reindeer. Well, my my...I just did a search and found this, so the very creative have moved on in complexity. :-)

4838

long fur?

fabric?

what the heck kind of live stock do you have out there?

never saw one of their, what you call pods, that would go around a hoof.....mac

[Grammar Rules]

4839

Here is perhaps an angle that will allow you to see how an animal's lower extremity, with or without long or wooly hair, whether terminating in hoof or paw, or that of a human wearing tennis shoes and socks and/or jeans can become hooked by the sharp prongs. I've had the experience of being the involuntary strewer of the seeds, since that's how the plant spreads.

[Grammar Rules]

Presently, since you asked, the only livestock are cattle belonging to the tenant. Two bulls, forty or fifty cows, and twenty or so calves. Feral hogs, coyotes, bobcats, and all the usual wild animals also live here.

[mac]

4839

Here is perhaps an angle that will allow you to see how an animal's lower extremity, with or without long or wooly hair, whether terminating in hoof or paw, or that of a human wearing tennis shoes and socks and/or jeans can become hooked by the sharp prongs. I've had the experience of being the involuntary strewer of the seeds, since that's how the plant spreads.

yeow, I've been guilty of that my own self,,,even more so back when I was runnin' 2 English setters.....mac

[Night Owl]

4839

Here is perhaps an angle that will allow you to see how an animal's lower extremity, with or without long or wooly hair, whether terminating in hoof or paw, or that of a human wearing tennis shoes and socks and/or jeans can become hooked by the sharp prongs. I've had the experience of being the involuntary strewer of the seeds, since that's how the plant spreads.
The one in the bottom center is a horny toad.:)) I haven't seen one in decades. I think the fire ants cleaned them out. Where was the uproar about that?

[Grammar Rules]

I know, and I loved me some horny toads back when they were plentiful. I'm sure you put them to sleep by stroking their bellies when you were a kid, too.

Dave, don't. Just don't. :))

I saw one in a yard in Waco 25 years ago, but none since. The lizards out here in Cedarwhackerville are a kind of horned lizard, but they are the slim models with longer tails. Bigger, too.

Stephen Jay Gould, the famous biologist and science author, wrote that 97% of all species that ever lived are extinct. Stuff happens in nature; we don't cause all of it. Freaking fire ants are a scourge.

[Night Owl]

Yes it is a shame. It was fun rubbing their bellies and watching there eyes slowly close. Ah, kids don't know what they are missing.:)

I had one bite my finger and I thought I was gonna die until I realized it didn't hurt. Lol

[Night Owl]

I had one as a pet for about two years. It lived under the front porch and every morning it would wait until I came out and it would follow me around all day. When I went back in the house it would go back under the porch and it would come back out when I went back outside. When we moved into town Dad wouldnt let me bring it with us. That was a sad day. Almost like losing a puppy, almost. Being outside in those days was a lot more fun than watching TV.

[CenTexDave]

I last saw a horny toad about 10 years ago in my yard. Nothing much since. Seems the feral cats in the woods on the hillside behind my house cleaned out the lizard populations.

[mac]

I last saw a horny toad about 10 years ago in my yard. Nothing much since. Seems the feral cats in the woods on the hillside behind my house cleaned out the lizard populations.

[Night Owl]

I last saw a horny toad about 10 years ago in my yard. Nothing much since. Seems the feral cats in the woods on the hillside behind my house cleaned out the lizard populations.
Why did you have a mirror in your yard?:))

[Grammar Rules]

Who knows what this one is? 4869

[Ludwig]

That there's a flar.

[Grammar Rules]

Right you are. What kind of plant? (it's a wild variety)

[Ludwig]

A green un.

[Night Owl]

Nope, flower is yeller.

[kantwin]

That there's a flar.
That's pretty much what I tell my mom and sister when they ask that.

[Grammar Rules]

Hooter, as a native Texan you are obliged to be a smartass. However, I'm disappointed you don't recognize this. Hint: it grows on a vine with large, dark green leaves.

[kantwin]

Right you are. What kind of plant? (it's a wild variety)
Looks like a plant that's growing flowers.
OK, you didn't like that answer?
How 'bout this -
It's a flowering plant.
Better?

[Grammar Rules]

If no one figures it out, I'll tell you tomorrow. Try to bear the suspense.

[sojourner truth]

Maybe it's some of that stuff GR rolls up in Bugler papers and smoke every now and again.:))

[Night Owl]

Buffalo Gourd would be my guess. I am a boy and didn't pay much attention to flowers.

[mac]

Buffalo Gourd would be my guess. I am a bay and didn't pay much attention to flowers.

hmm, my mare's a bay too.......mac

[Night Owl]

I guess I need to proff read.:)) Fixed now.

[Ludwig]

The one that keeps coming up in my mind is Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium semperviren). The flowers are close, but usually don't have the fringed edge and the foliage does not match.

[Night Owl]

What foliage.

[Grammar Rules]

Hooter wins!!!

Ding, ding, ding!

[CenTexDave]

Congrats Owl. You win the grand prize - a night with LauraA!!!!!!!!!:)

[Grammar Rules]

Oh lord. Pandering now, are ye Dave? And involuntary at that?

No, I'll bring Hooter a gourd or two when they are ready. Might even throw in a bodark ball and a devils claw.

[Mestral]

That there's a flar.

That's pretty much what I tell my mom and sister when they ask that.
Just ask them what kind of a bug is this:
4872
:)

[CenTexDave]

Obviously that's a centipede.