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| View from the edge of Bull Canyon, Copper Breaks State Park |
Last weekend I took advantage of the warm weather and drove the 3 hours northwest to Copper Breaks State Park, 12 miles south of Quanah, Texas. Red dirt from the Permian has been cut and dissected into closed canyons and mesas. Thick cedars and brush on the interior of the canyon limit your line of sight. You feel so vulnerable to ambush. Of course, that could be me projecting my knowledge of the past onto the present. This canyon is within the Comanche heartland. Cynthia Ann Parker, one of the subjects of the popular book on Comanche history "Empire of the Summer Moon" was recaptured close to the park. Today the park is popular with families and youth groups. I wasn't the only one camping out last weekend.
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| Inside the canyon |
The landscape is treed with juniper and mesquite. Mid-grasses grow well on the uplands, and they are dotted with cacti. Mormon tea (
Ephedra antisyphilitica), pencil cactus (
Cylindropuntia leptocaulis), and agarita (
Mahonia trifolialata) are all more common here than further east. As you might guess from the latin name, mormon tea was once used as a treatment for syphilis. So many native plants have the species epithet "antisyphilitica" or "siphilitica", it makes me wonder about the prevalence of syphilis in North America pre-penicillin. I can think of three native plants off-hand that were used to treat syphilis specifically.
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| "Horse crippler" cactus |
Anyway. I also saw the odd horse crippler cactus (
Echinocactus texensis), so named because it hides semi-submerged in the dirt and is hard to spot. Supposedly, horses step on it. Looks like a deer knew to step around it. I'm a little skeptical as to how many horses have been crippled by this cactus. It makes me think about how in the upper Plains everyone's convinced horses are killing themselves by tripping on prairie dog burrows. Are they really so fragile? Does that really happen?
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| Blooming stretchberry sheltered by cedar |
What I did not see was a ton of flowers. Spring is behind the metroplex in Copper Breaks. While our stretchberry (elbow bush,
Forestiera pubescens) was blooming on Valentine's Day, theirs just started. I did see the standing dead stalks of gayfeather (
Liatris spp.) and a number of composites, but very little new growth had been put on for the season.
Signs of life were mostly mammalian. Coyotes had heavily marked the trails with their scat, delineating the borders of their territory. When one of my neighbors at the campground fired up their grill (or other appliance…), it made a high-pitched keen and the coyotes were close enough to hear it and respond immediately. I also saw a rabbit out at dusk.
While it was early in the season, I did enjoy getting out somewhere nearby that looked so different from home. These little weekend trips help keep me grounded when I get to feeling desk-bound.
If a cactus spine were to get into the pad of a horse's hoof, that could be trouble. No idea how likely that would be...
ReplyDeleteStill, I feel like "horse crippler" is something of an exaggeration. On the other hand, these cacti have been rendered somewhat rare in the majority of their US range because ranchers took the time to dig out each and every one… They probably wouldn't do that just for giggles.
DeleteFWIW, In the southeast there are wingless wasps called "Velvet Ants" that are also known as "Cow Killers", because of there potent sting. I doubt that they've actually killed any cows, but it's a good name. :)
ReplyDeleteVelvet ants look great. I've seen them once, maybe twice, but neither time did I have my camera handy. Too bad. I imagine their apotropaic coloration would be photogenic.
DeleteI have been contemplating the thermo-regulating properties of cacti. Large cacti must hold a lot of water for a long period of time. All this water must act like a solar storage system. Cactus should be absorbing heat during the day and releasing it a night. Maybe instead of running the air conditioning, people in the Southwest should be planting cactus in their yards and even on their roofs.
ReplyDeleteIn Fort Worth, a lot of people use spineless prickly pear and century plants as lawn accents. I can see myself planting a prickly pear hedge someday (spined, for privacy). They get huge! Any micro-climatic effects would be an added bonus.
DeleteI really like your blog. I found it through Prairie Ecologist. Welcome to Ft. Worth.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention, my newer blog is at:
Deletehttps://troymullens.wordpress.com
I need to start blogging again. Your blog has inspired me.
Thank you! And thanks for the welcome!
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