I'm Savanna, and this is my field trip to the Wildflower center. This is the Wetland Pond, and Auditorium Garden, #4 on the map!

You must pay to get in! 

Woodland Trail

Clearing observations
In the clearing the forest floor is missing small, low plants. The ground cover is only the dead leaves. There is not a lot of light, and it is cooler than the rest of the trail. There are dead trees, and branches in the clearing. The dead branches, and trees are left there to preserve the ecosystem, as they decompose the contribute nutrients back to the soil, and they attract animals and plants that will feed of the decomposing matter.

Interesting Plants

1. Youpon (Ilex vomitoria) Holly Family I first noticed the abundance of the plant on the Woodland trail. They seemed to be everywhere, growing in the shade, with small clustery leaves. The stem was woody, but was smooth, and seemed to grow in the most random way. The leaves were waxy, and small. Overall the plant was medium sized, reaching slightly over 51/2 feet.

2. Post Oak (Quercus stellata) Beech Family I noticed this tree because of the amount of ball moss that was growing on the middle brances. The tree was very tall, and the trunk had a very large girth(I could not wrap my arms around even half the trunk). The bark on the trunk was very rough, and thick. The branches were splayed, the leaves where medium sized. I was unable to see the texture of the leaves because there where no branches near my height. The tree was above the canopy of the trees that where surrounding it.

3. Eatern Gamma Grass (Tripsacum dactyloides) Grass Family This grass was in a clearing, across from a bushes of flowers. I noticed it because of the bright green color, and also the bushiness of the grass. The blades were thin, but long. There were large amounts of blades. The plant was small, not over 3 feet tall. The dead grass from the past growing seasons lays flat at the base of the plant. The grass is a monocot.

4. Cedar Sage (Salvia roemeriana) Mint family I noticed this plant due to it's almost dead looking condition. It was over 5 feet tall, and had rough looking bark, and it was peeling. Most of the leaves were off the plant, so I cannot detail them. The entire tree was knarled looking, and almost sad.


Clockwise from top left: Youpon, Post Oak, Eastern Gamma Grass, Cedar Sage

Animal Behavior

In the display Garden (map #11) there where several different kinds of animals interacting with the plants. There were hummingbirds that were feeding on the honeysuckle vines, and interacting with one another over territory. The gardens also were full of butterflies, that where feeding off the flowers. There where several different types of butterflies. There were also lots of people that were taking pictures of the flowers, taking notes of the differnt types of flowers, or simply admiring the spring blooms.

Erma Lowe Hill Country Stream

This one was difficult to find. previously #11 on the map, it is now in front of the display garden area, next to the crossroads. The stream was shallow, and most of the plants where low, to ground cover. The main adaptations where to take advantage of the water supply, and also to gaim as much sunlight as possible, so the leaves where spread out more than on some of the other plants that we saw that day. The stream was shady, and cooler, and the humidity was slightly more nesr the water.

Gallery Exhibits

Due to time constraint (and a wedding that was being hosted in the gallery building), I am unable to fully elaborate on any of the exhibts that where currently on display. (Here is a good reason to visit the center!)

Woodland Trail Animals

Silk worms making home sweet home in the base of an Oak tree

Woodland Trail

Savanna Trail

The savanna tail (#1 on map) was a mixture of grasses, and mainly gymnosperm trees. Most of the angiosperms were monocts in the grass family. A savanna is a savanna due to the mixture of tall grasses and trees, with a low open canopy. The savanna are dependent on rain, fire and grazing. The soil is also important to the mixture. People set fires to promote grass growth to use as food for animals, or to use the animals for hunting.


Cedar Elm Classroom

Restoration Research Trail

This trail was the most interesting because you could see how the different techniques affected the land, and even how big of a differnence what season the technique applied can make. Mowing is one technique that is used to simulate the natural grazing that would occur with livestock or wild animals on the land. The grazing frequency determines the height of the grass, the more frequent the mowing the shorter the grass. Fire is also used, the fire burns the lower branches on the mature trees, and kills the smaller trees. This opens up the canopy which allows more low plants to grow. Also there are net areas that contain grasshoppers that allow the researchers to study the effects of the grasshopper in a controlled area with a controlled number. The bottom left picture is the same method, but the left side was during the fall, and the right side was during the winter.

The restored savanna was lacking many of the insects that were on the savanna trail, also the plants in the restored savanna where less diverse due to the mangement techniques that are applied (I think). The landscape was pretty much the same, I really did not notice a differnce, I am sure that a trained eye would be able to tell the difference.
Here are pictures of the different methods used on the resoration trail, the pictures.

Scavenger Hunt

The following pictures are from the scavenger hunt portion of the field trip *note* The photo caption format does not allow me italics, Equisetum, should be in italics.

Clockwise from top left: Equisetum; a fern; a flower; and lichens on a branch

Clockwise from top left: A monocot; a dicot; a gymnosperm; and a succulent

And finally, a water plant, well ok several.

And an additional note, all the pictures that where taken in the gift shop of the seeds did not come out in developing, so sadly I have no seed pictures.