Wildlife Usage of the Plants of the Lost Pines Complex. Melanie Nash-Loop WFSC 636 Wildlife Habitat Management

Transcription

1 Wildlife Usage of the Plants of the Lost Pines Complex Melanie Nash-Loop WFSC 636 Wildlife Management 1

2 Trees Loblolly Pine China Berry Cedar Elm Chinese Tallow Eastern Cottonwood Eastern Red Cedar American Sycamore Post Oak Blackjack Oak Live Oak Mesquite Flowering Dogwood Forbs & Shrubs Farkleberry Bracken Fern Virginia Creeper Yaupon Holly Possum Haw Mustang Grape Plants Pinus taeda Melia azedarach Ulmus crassifolia Triadica Loureiro Populus deltoides Juniperus virginiana Platanus occidentalis Quercus stellata Quercus marilandica Quercus fusiformis Prosopis glandulosa Cornus florida Vaccinium arboreum Pteridium aquilinum Parthenocissus quinquefolia Ilex vomitoria Ilex decidua Vitis mustangensis Page

3 Pinus taeda Loblolly Pine Height: feet Diameter: 2-3 feet Needles: evergreen Bark: blackish-gray; deeply furrowed exposing inner layers. Cones: 3-5 inches From deep, poorly drained flood plains to welldrained slopes of rolling, hilly uplands. Forms pure stands, often on abandoned farmland. Loblolly Pine is native in 15 southeastern states. Among the fastest-growing southern pines, it is extensively cultivated in forest plantations for pulpwood and lumber. One of the meanings of the word loblolly is "mud puddle," where these pines often grow. Seeds consumed by birds and small mammals. Nesting site and cover for small mammals. Loblolly Pine 3

4 Melia azedarach Chinaberry Invasive Height: 40 feet Diameter: 1 foot Leaves: 8-18 inches Bark: dark brown/reddish-brown Flowers: 3/4 inches Fruit: 5/8 inches; poisonous Dry soils near dwellings, in open areas and clearings; sometimes within forests. Chinaberry Chinaberry grows rapidly but is short-lived. It forms dense thickets that overtake native habitats, and its seed dispersal by birds means that it keeps spreading into new territory. The stones, inside the toxic fruits, can be made into beads. Negatively impacts wildlife dependent on native vegetation for forage, nesting, and cover. Caution Poisonous Do not eat or ingest any part of this species. 4

5 Ulmus crassifolia Cedar Elm Height: feet Canopy diameter: feet Leaves: rough-textured Bark: scaly Can withstand heavy, poorly drained clay soils and soils that are moderately compacted. It is the most widespread native Texas elm and the only one that flowers and sets seed in the fall. It is a tough, adaptable shade tree with excellent drought tolerance and beautiful golden yellow fall color. Its leaves are small and rough, and glossy green in the spring. Attracts insects which, along with seeds, are consumed by birds. Provides nesting sites, browse, and seeds for small mammals. Cedar Elm 5

6 Invasive Height: 60 feet Diameter: 3 feet Leaves: heart-shaped Triadica sebifera Chinese Tallow Sandy soils along coast and streams, and near towns. Chinese Tallow This invasive tree has been planted for its poplar-like leaves that turn red and yellow in autumn and for its odd white waxy seeds. Unfortunately, it has been squeezing out native plants, and is difficult to eradicate once established. A rapidly growing hardy weed tree that often forms thickets, it is considered a noxious plant in the South. The common name refers to the Chinese custom of making candles by boiling the fruit to remove the wax from the seed coats. An oil is extracted from the seeds. Nectar for insects, especially bees. Fruit consumed by birds. Caution The sap is poisonous wash hands after coming in contact with it. 6

7 Populus deltoides Eastern Cottonwood Height: 100 feet Diameter: 3-4 feet Leaves: 3-7 inches Bark: yellowish-green and smooth; becoming light gray, thick, rough, and deeply furrowed. Flowers: inches brownish Fruit: 3/8 inches Bordering streams and in wet soils in valleys; in pure stands or often with willows. Pioneers on new sandbars and bare flood plains. One of the largest eastern hardwoods, it is planted as a shade tree and for shelterbelts. Although short-lived, it is one of the fastestgrowing native trees; on favorable sites trees average five feet in growth annually (up to 13 feet the first year). Twigs and young branches eaten by browsers. Hollow trees are ideal den sites. Eastern Cottonwood 7

8 Juniperus virginiana Eastern Red Cedar Height: feet Diameter: 1-2 feet Leaves:1/16-3/8 inches, evergreen Bark: reddish-brown; thin, fibrous Cones: 1/4-3/8 inches, berrylike. Pollen cones on separate trees. From dry uplands, especially limestone, to flood plains and swamps; also abandoned fields and fence rows; often in scattered pure stands. Eastern Red Cedar Resistant to extremes of drought, heat, and cold, it was first observed at Roanoke Island, Virginia in It was prized by the colonists for building furniture, rail fences, and log cabins. Cedar oil for medicine and perfumes is obtained from the wood and leaves. Twigs, foliage and fruit consumed by browsers. Provides nesting site to birds. In winter, their dense foliage serves as protective shelter. Caution Poisonous Do not eat or ingest any part of this species. 8

9 Platanus occidentalis American Sycamore Height: feet Diameter: 2-4 feet Leaves: 4-8 inches Bark: smooth, whitish and mottled; peeling off in large thin flakes, exposing patches of brown, green, and gray; base of large trunks dark brown, deeply furrowed into broad scaly ridges. Flowers: tiny; greenish; in 1-2 ball-like drooping clusters; male and female clusters on separate twigs. Fruit: 1 inch Wet soils of stream banks, flood plains, and edges of lakes and swamps; dominant in mixed forests. The wood is used for furniture parts, millwork, flooring, and specialty products such as butcher blocks, as well as pulpwood, particleboard, and fiberboard. The hollow trunks of old, giant trees were homes for chimney swifts in earlier times. Seeds eaten by birds and squirrels. Hollow trunks serve as shelter. American Sycamore 9

10 Quercus stellata Post Oak Height: feet Diameter: 1-2 feet Leaves: inches Bark: light gray; fissured into scaly ridges. Acorns: inches Sandy, gravelly, and rocky ridges, also moist loamy soils of flood plains along streams; sometimes in pure stands. The wood is marketed as White Oak and used for railroad cross-ties, posts, and construction timbers. Post Oak Acorns and seedlings desirable for browsers. Leaves consumed by insects which are then food for wildlife. Leaf litter and trunk cavities used by small mammals for nesting and cover. 10

11 Quercus marilandica Blackjack Oak Height: more than 50 feet Canopy diameter: feet Leaves: club-shaped, distinctive, large, threelobed. Acorn: 0.75 inches Sand or gravelly clay that is only slightly acidic. It inhabits similar sites as Post Oak and is often considered an indicator of sandy, barren soils. It is drought tolerant, has dark green leaves and pleasing brown fall color, but it is very slow growing and intolerant of poorly draining or compacted soils. Acorns feed birds and mammals. Provides cover and nesting sites for birds and mammals. Blackjack Oak Fall Coloring 11

12 Quercus fusiformis Live Oak Height: feet Canopy diameter: feet Leaves: 1-3 inches Acorns: inches It grows on well-drained soils from alkaline to slightly acid, although it is rare in the heavy clay of the true Blackland Prairies. Escarpment Live Oak can be thought of as a smaller version of Live Oak (Q. virginiana). It is thicket-forming, spreading from root sprouts to form "mottes." Susceptible to the oak wilt fungus. Live Oak Acorns feed birds and mammals. Provides cover and nesting sites for birds and mammals. 12

13 Prosopis glandulosa Mesquite Height: 20 feet Diameter: 1 feet Leaves: 3-8 inches Bark: dark brown; rough, thick, becoming sheddy. Flowers: 0.25 inches wide Fruit: inches long, narrow pod slightly flattened, sweetish pulp; maturing in summer. Sandy plains and sandhills and along valleys and washes; in short grass, desert grasslands, and deserts. The seeds are disseminated by livestock that graze on the sweet pods, and the shrubs have invaded grasslands. The deep taproots, often larger than the trunks, are grubbed up for firewood. Southwestern Indians prepared meal and cakes from the pods. Nectar for insects, especially bees. Fruit consumed by various wildlife and livestock. Mesquite 13

14 Cornus florida Flowering Dogwood Height: 30 feet Diameter: 8 inches Leaves: inches long Bark: dark reddish-brown Flowers: 3/16 inches wide Fruit: 3/8-5/8 inches Both moist and dry soils of valleys and uplands in understory of hardwood forests; also in old fields and along roadsides. Flowering Dogwood It has showy early spring flowers, red fruit, and scarlet autumn foliage. The hard wood is extremely shock-resistant and useful for making weaving-shuttles. It is also made into spools, small pulleys, mallet heads, and jeweler's blocks. Indians used the aromatic bark and roots as a remedy for malaria and extracted a red dye from the roots. Fruit consumed by wildlife. 14

15 Vaccinium arboreum Farkleberry Height: up to 30 feet Width: canopy to 40 feet Flower: which or pinkish Fruit: small black berries (inedible) Found on acid, sandy, well-drained soils in fields, clearings, open mixed forests, dry hillsides and wet bottomlands The bark is generally smooth. It is frequently found in mixed to pure stands in abandoned fields where it is a colonizer. It is a tough durable tree fast-growing, drought tolerant and an important food source for birds. Fruit consumed by wildlife. Farkleberry Bark 15

16 Pteridium aquilinum Bracken Fern Coarse plant with slender, woody, branching, underground rhizomes that allow it to form large colonies. Its triangular, single fronds are erect-ascending and three times compound. Found in the eastern third of Texas and the high mountains. The plant colonies are usually found on hillsides at the edge of woodlands and thickets in partial shade. Like other ferns, bracken reproduces by spores produced on the back of the fronds. Bracken Fern Shelter for small mammals. 16

17 Parthenocissus quinquefolia Virginia Creeper Height: 3-40 feet Leaves: five leaflets, coarsely toothed. Mauve, red and purple fall foliage. Flowers: small, greenish, in clusters, Fruit: 0.25 inches, bluish A vigorous grower, it tolerates most soils and climatic conditions. Virginia Creeper can be used as a climbing vine or ground cover, its leaves carpeting any surface in luxuriant green before turning brilliant colors in the fall. Its tendrils end in adhesive-like tips, giving this vine the ability to cement itself to walls and therefore need no support; so it doesn t damage buildings the way some vines do. It is one of the earliest vines to color in the fall. Fruit consumed by birds throughout winter. Caution Poisonous Do not eat or ingest any part of this species. Virginia Creeper 17

18 Ilex vomitoria Yaupon Holly Height: 20 feet Diameter: 6 inches Leaves: small, evergreen Bark: red-brown; thin, finely scaly. Flowers: 3/16 inches white petals; male and female on separate plants. Fruit: 0.25 inches in diameter; berrylike; Moist soils, especially along coasts and in valleys, sometimes in sandhills. Yaupon Holly The ornamental twigs with shiny evergreen leaves and numerous red berries are favorite Christmas decoration. Yaupon Holly is sometimes grown for ornament and trimmed into hedges. The leaves contain caffeine, and American Indians used them to prepare a tea to induce vomiting and as a laxative. Fruit consumed by mammals and birds; flowers attract insects. Provides nesting site for birds. Caution Poisonous - Do not eat or ingest any part of this species. 18

19 Ilex decidua Possum Haw Height: feet Leaves: remain dark green through autumn, finally turning yellow. Flowers: inconspicuous Fruit: red berries on female trees Moist soils along streams and in swamps. Possum Haw is conspicuous in winter, with its many, small, red berries along leafless, slender, gray twigs. Opossums, raccoons, other mammals, songbirds, and gamebirds eat the fruit of this and related species. Fruit consumed by birds and other mammals; flowers attract insects. Provide nesting sites for birds. Caution Poisonous - Do not eat or ingest any part of this species Possum Haw 19

20 Vitis mustangensis Mustang Grape Leaves: in two forms: unlobed/shallowly lobed; deeply lobed, with the latter less common and on rapidly growing shoots Fruit: up to 0.75 inches Mustang grape favors disturbed ground, fence rows, woodland edges and sandy slopes. Mustang Grape A common and easily recognized grape with a white, velvety surface on the lower side of the leaves. A vine climbing over shrubs and into trees and often shading their leaves. This is a high-climbing vine which tolerates great heat and drought. The lower surface of its leaves is very white and densely hairy, a noticeable ornamental feature. Insects are attracted to flowers and leaves. Mammals and birds consume fruit; mammals also consume foliage and stems. 20

21 Sources Information and Images Adapted From: Audubon Online Guides USDA Plants Database plants.usda.gov Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center A&M Texas Native Plant Database essmextension.tamu.edu/plantsdev Flickr Creative Commons Images Texas Parks & Wildlife Department 21