pfau_tarleton's Journal

At long last, I've accomplished the Texas Anemone Grand Slam. I finally got a chance to see Anemone edwardsiana in the wild--atop Lover's Leap near Junction. With this observation, I have seen all five (or six) species--and all within one week. At Lover's Leap, A. edwardsiana is sympatric with A. okennonii and A. berlandieri (all three of which were suffering greatly from the dry conditions here). This is the only location I know of where three species occur sympatrically. On the way back home, we stopped at O. H. Ivie Reservoir (Riverside WMA) and found A. okennonii and A. berlandieri in abundance and doing well (more rainfall here). Nowhere else have I seen A. okennonii in such abundance--there were millions of them in full bloom. The day before, I had seen A. caroliniana in Comanche Co. and the prior weekend we had seen A. tuberosa at Hueco Tanks State Park, A. okennonii near Carlsbad, NM, and the putative new species near Seymour, TX.

All five (or six) species--and all within one week! I'm the first member of the human species to have accomplished this feat (my wife missed out by not having seen A. caroliniana this year--but she has seen all the species, just not all within one week).

What an adventure for an Anemonophile!

[Postponed: this event has been postponed--hopefully we can reschedule]

Two unique West Texas properties, owned by The Nature Conservancy, will be the focus of a fall bioblitz! Both locations feature a spring--that precious source of cool water in the desert (but no aquatic collecting will be allowed). TNC is especially interested in us contributing to knowledge of odonate diversity at Diamond Y.

The plan is for Independence Creek to be our home base, with a day excursion to Diamond Y on Saturday (for those that want to). They're not too far apart (as measured in Texas distance).

We can start arriving Friday and spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at IC.

Here's a map showing both locations.

Thanks to @knightericm for making arrangements and TNC staff for welcoming us to these unique properties.

• Diamond Y iNat observations
• Independence Creek iNat observations

Details regarding facilities at Independence Creek will be posted when available.

Penstemon guadalupensis is a relatively uncommon penstemon which I found (one specimen of) at Lake Proctor: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77358627

I'm curious how abundant they are at this location (a Corps park) and the Corps personnel are interested in documenting uncommon plants.

Folks interested in coming out to focus efforts on looking for Penstemon guadalupensis are welcome. We just need to settle on a date in mid-April. I'm not sure if we'd spend the night (it's an option), but that's something we can discuss.

@bosqueaaron, @jcochran706, @annikaml, @gcwarbler, @kimberlietx, @sambiology (tagging some of the more obsessive plant folks--feel free to tag others).

@kylewatter