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September 2011 Volume 2, Issue 9 MISSION

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September 2011 Volume 2, Issue 9 MISSION Highland Lakes Steward HIGHLAND LAKES CHAPTER September 2011 Volume 2, Issue 9 MISSION The Texas Master FALLING OUT! by Billy Hutson Naturalist program is a natural resource- Well I suppose that got your attention. (carotene) in our Ashes and Sycamores has based volunteer train- What I want to discuss here is the falling of always been there and is merely uncovered. ing and development program sponsored autumn leaves which should be excellent The same thing happens in bananas as the statewide by Texas this year because of the dry hot weather. AgriLife Extension Of course we will need some rather cool and the Texas Parks fall temperatures close to 40 degrees at and Wildlife Depart- night in Oct. and Nov. to finalize it, but we ment. The mission of the are off to a good start for some pretty col- program is to develop ors this fall/winter. a corps of well- Deciduous trees sense the shortening of informed volunteers the days as fall approaches and realize that who provide educa- tion, outreach, and their photosynthesizing capabilities are service dedicated to coming to a halt because of the lesser the beneficial manage- amount of sun they will have to work with. ment of natural re- When this happens a layer of cells at the sources and natural base of the leaves begins to close off the areas within their communities for the transfer of water to the leaf and the proc- state of Texas ess shuts down and the leaves go dormant green chlorophyll dissipates the yellow for the winter. In most deciduous leaves the shows up and the starches are changed to OFFICERS leaves fall off after a short show of color sugar. The reds and purples (anthocyanin President with the exception of oak leaves that re- pigments) which are potent antioxidents Billy Hutson main on for the winter. found in beets, grapes, apples and our oaks theoatmealcowboy @yahoo.com Evergreens are the exception to this and persimmons are produced in the fall (512)468-1273 rule as their leaves have a tough waxy coat- because of the suns action on the now ing and an antifreeze liquid that enables trapped and unveiled glucose in the leaves. Vice-President Fredi Franki them to survive the winter freezes, loose [email protected] little water and slowly photosynthesize all (830)596-1760 winter with less sunlight if they get enough Secretary water intake to make up for the small water Sherry Bixler losses. They can each survive several years happylandings before they die and are replaced. @moment.net The roots, branches and twigs of the (512) 756-2302 deciduous trees can withstand the freezes Treasurer but the soft leaves cannot so they go dor- Jerry Stacy mant. And when they do the chlorophyll [email protected] (325)247-3038 begins to dissipate unmasking the colors already there and some new ones that are The browns come from the wastes left formed. over in the oak leaves and are tannins. The The yellows (xanthophyll) and oranges (Continued on page 2) September 2011 Highland Lakes Steward Page 2 Geologist, retired to Fredericksburg in 1994 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Wrote a weekly birding column in the Freder- Falling Out! 1 icksburg Standard Radio-Post and the Kerrville Daily Billy Hutson Times since 1997; currently only writing for the Kerr- ville Daily Times October Meeting 2 Fredi Franki Former President of the Native Plant Society of Texas (2001 and 2006) Congratulations! 3 President of the Board of Directors for the More Interesting Reading on Big Bend 4 Friends of the Fredericksburg Nature Center (FFNC Margy Butler & Sharon Drake currently operating nature trails in Lady Bird Johnson City Park, Fredericksburg) Loggerhead Shrikes and Food Caches 6 Sherry Bixler President of the Hill Country Land Trust Frequent speaker in the Hill Country on natural Monarchs and the Drought 7 history subjects to schools, garden clubs, professional Sondra Fox and service organizations Free Trees and the Burnet Kids Day Out 8 Teaches classes on birding and nature at nature Philip Mitchell centers and adult education schools Texas Persimmon 9 Current interest: Promoting historical and natu- Phil Wyde ral preservation in the Texas Hill Country through education, outreach and example. WHoooo Knew? 11 Elaine Barnhill My Backyard Visitor 13 Sammye Childers Photo Gallery 14 Events and AT/Volunteer Opportunities 15 (Continued from page 1) Indians used the tannin in acorns, bark and leaves to tan hides of buffalo, deer and other small mammals. So if there is a good side to our drought, it would be that we may be able to experience an ex- ceptional fall foliage in our hill country this year. Here‟s hoping to see everyone soon after I re- turn and maybe it will be to a brightly colorful fall. OCTOBER MEETING by Fredi Franki Our next chapter meeting is Wednesday, October Save the Date 5, 1:00pm, at the Kingsland Library. The program speaker is Bill Lindemann and his Wednesday, December 7th topic is geology of the Big Bend area. Many of you know Bill, but here are just some of his accomplish- in the evening ments. University of Texas Graduate (BS-60, MA-63) in Our December Meeting geology Worked for 32 years with Exxon as Exploration and Celebration September 2011 Highland Lakes Steward Page 3 CONGRATULATIONS! Photos by Jerry Stone Carol Kowing (r) received her 250 hour pin and 2011 Horned Toad pin. Ben Kowing (np) also received his 2011 Horned Toad pin. Also Pictured (l - r) are Vice-President Fredi Franki and Awards Chairperson Sue Ker- sey. Linda Fleming received her 2010 wood duck pin. Stewardship An ethic that embodies cooperative planning and management of environmental resources with organizations, communities and others to actively engage in the prevention of loss of habitat and facilitate its recovery in the interest of long-term sustainability September 2011 Highland Lakes Steward Page 4 MORE INTERESTING READING ON BIG BEND! Cacti of Texas, A Field Guide, with Emphasis on the Trans-Pecos Species, A. Michael Powell, James F. Weedin, and Shirley A. Powell (2008), Texas Tech University Press Reviewed by Margy Butler This comprehensive field guide for „em!) The distribution maps are excellent. The de- cacti is based on the definitive work scriptive text of vegetative characteristics, flowers and Cacti of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent fruits is clear and comprehensible. Ecology and con- Areas (Powell and Weedin), 2004, and servation are addressed, as well as overharvesting. was published with the expressed pur- The opening Morphology section is very clearly writ- pose of providing simpler, less techni- ten, addressing common misidentification issues as cally detailed treatments of the State‟s species for use well as the biology of cacti. This text is a superb cacti by “educated general readers”. The book is an impor- field guide. tant reference work – detailed, clear identification lan- The book is available online from the Big Bend guage, excellent photo plates, and range maps large Natural History Association or you will also be able to enough to give a very good idea where you might ac- find it, along with other of his published works, when tually find each species. And with all those important we stop in at Front Street Books in Alpine on Monday technical qualities comes text that doesn‟t want to let morning. Dr. Powell has agreed to meet with us at you go. It would be easy just to sit down in the middle Front Street as well, and will be available for questions of a cactus field and READ because the text is just so and conversation about Trans-Pecos flora. remarkably interesting. On Sunday morning, those who travel to Alpine on Identification aids are numerous for each species – the added early day, Saturday, will be meeting with Dr. beautiful color plates of the plants in bloom, and also Powell in The Herbarium at Sul Ross, for an overview in fruit. There are identification keys (just ask a mem- of the work done there and a tour of the Herbarium, ber of the Taxonomy Class for further information – of which he is the Director. they‟ll explain how to read „em, and also how to write How Come It’s Called That? Place Names in the Big Bend Country, Virginia Madison and Hallie Still- well (1997), Iron Mountain Press, originally published 1958, New Mexico University Press Reviewed by Margy Butler Hallie Crawford Stillwell was a leg- in the early 50‟s. That‟s when Hallie started writing end in her own time. Born in Waco, down her experiences in the Trans-Pecos, to earn she was an icon for the pioneer west- some extra money to keep the ranch running. She was ern woman. She and her folks moved a reporter, a lecturer, and even served for 20 years as to the Big Bend when she was 12, and a JP in Alpine. when she was 16 “armed with a high In the mid 50‟s, when her friend Virginia Madison school diploma, a teacher's certificate, and a six- and she began to wonder who would carry forward shooter – (she) moved to Presidio, Texas to teach the authentic stories of the place names of the Big school, just across the Rio Grande from Ojinaga, Mex- Bend, and who would even be around in later years to ico, where Pancho Villa and his raiders were on the authenticate the stories, they decided to set down on rampage.” (Iron Mountain Press background and re- paper these place naming legends. In the Introduction view.) In 1918 she married Roy Stillwell and for 30 of their book they state: “If there are several versions years rode beside him taking care of cattle business on to the story of how a place was named we have given their ranch just north of the Rio del Norte, just east of all the versions, but if you find something you don‟t what is now Big Bend National Park.
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