Wildlife Usage of the Plants of the Lost Pines Complex
Melanie Nash-Loop WFSC 636 Wildlife Habitat Management
1 Plants
Page Trees Loblolly Pine Pinus taeda 3 China Berry Melia azedarach 4 Cedar Elm Ulmus crassifolia 5 Chinese Tallow Triadica Loureiro 6 Eastern Cottonwood Populus deltoides 7 Eastern Red Cedar Juniperus virginiana 8 American Sycamore Platanus occidentalis 9 Post Oak Quercus stellata 10 Blackjack Oak Quercus marilandica 11 Live Oak Quercus fusiformis 12 Mesquite Prosopis glandulosa 13 Flowering Dogwood Cornus florida 14
Forbs & Shrubs Farkleberry Vaccinium arboreum 15 Bracken Fern Pteridium aquilinum 16 Virginia Creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia 17 Yaupon Holly Ilex vomitoria 18 Possum Haw Ilex decidua 19 Mustang Grape Vitis mustangensis 20
2 Pinus taeda Loblolly Pine Description Height: 80-100 feet Diameter: 2-3 feet Needles: evergreen Bark: blackish-gray; deeply furrowed exposing inner layers. Cones: 3-5 inches
Habitat From deep, poorly drained flood plains to well- drained slopes of rolling, hilly uplands. Forms pure stands, often on abandoned farmland.
Discussion Loblolly Pine is native in 15 southeastern states. Among the fastest-growing southern pines, it is extensively cultivated in forest plan- tations for pulpwood and lumber. One of the meanings of the word loblolly is "mud puddle," where these pines often grow.
Importance to Wildlife Seeds consumed by birds and small mammals. Nesting site and cover for small mammals. Loblolly Pine
3 Melia azedarach Chinaberry Description 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
Habitat Dry soils near dwellings, in open areas and clearings; sometimes within forests.
Discussion Chinaberry grows rapidly but is short-lived. It forms dense thickets that overtake native habi- tats, and its seed dispersal by birds means that it
Chinaberry keeps spreading into new territory. The stones, inside the toxic fruits, can be made into beads.
Importance to Wildlife Negatively impacts wildlife dependent on na- tive vegetation for forage, nesting, and cover.
Caution Poisonous—Do not eat or ingest any part of this species.
4 Ulmus crassifolia Cedar Elm Description Height: 50-70 feet Canopy diameter: 40-60 feet Leaves: rough-textured Bark: scaly
Habitat Can withstand heavy, poorly drained clay soils and soils that are moderately compacted.
Discussion 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 ex- cellent drought tolerance and beautiful golden
yellow fall color. Its leaves are small and rough, and glossy green in the spring.
Importance to Wildlife Attracts insects which, along with seeds, are consumed by birds. Provides nesting sites, browse, and seeds for small mammals. Cedar Elm
5 Triadica sebifera Chinese Tallow Description Invasive Height: 60 feet Diameter: 3 feet Leaves: heart-shaped
Habitat Sandy soils along coast and streams, and near towns.
Discussion This invasive tree has been planted for its pop- lar-like leaves that turn red and yellow in au- tumn and for its odd white waxy seeds. Unfor- tunately, it has been squeezing out native
Chinese Tallow plants, and is difficult to eradicate once estab- lished. 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 boil- ing the fruit to remove the wax from the seed coats. An oil is extracted from the seeds.
Importance to Wildlife Nectar for insects, especially bees. Fruit con- sumed by birds.
Caution The sap is poisonous—wash hands after com- ing in contact with it.
6 Populus deltoides Eastern Cottonwood Description 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: 2-3.5 inches brownish Fruit: 3/8 inches
Habitat Bordering streams and in wet soils in valleys; in pure stands or often with willows. Pioneers on new sandbars and bare flood plains.
Discussion One of the largest eastern hardwoods, it is planted as a shade tree and for shelterbelts. Al- though short-lived, it is one of the fastest- growing native trees; on favorable sites trees average five feet in growth annually (up to 13 feet the first year).
Importance to Wildlife Twigs and young branches eaten by browsers. Hollow trees are ideal den sites. Eastern Cottonwood
7 Juniperus virginiana Eastern Red Cedar Description Height: 40-60 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.
Habitat From dry uplands, especially limestone, to flood plains and swamps; also abandoned fields and fence rows; often in scattered pure stands.
Discussion Eastern Red Cedar Resistant to extremes of drought, heat, and
cold, it was first observed at Roanoke Island, Virginia in 1564. It was prized by the colonists for building furniture, rail fences, and log cab- ins. Cedar oil for medicine and perfumes is ob- tained from the wood and leaves.
Importance to Wildlife 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 Platanus occidentalis American Sycamore Description Height: 60-100 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 droop- ing clusters; male and female clusters on sepa- rate twigs. Fruit: 1 inch
Habitat Wet soils of stream banks, flood plains, and
edges of lakes and swamps; dominant in mixed forests.
Discussion 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.
Importance to Wildlife Seeds eaten by birds and squirrels. Hollow trunks serve as shelter.
American Sycamore
9 Quercus stellata Post Oak Description Height: 30-70 feet Diameter: 1-2 feet Leaves: 3.25-6 inches Bark: light gray; fissured into scaly ridges. Acorns: 0.5-1 inches
Habitat Sandy, gravelly, and rocky ridges, also moist loamy soils of flood plains along streams; sometimes in pure stands.
Discussion The wood is marketed as White Oak and used for railroad cross-ties, posts, and construction timbers.
Importance to Wildlife
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 Quercus marilandica Blackjack Oak Description Height: more than 50 feet Canopy diameter: 15-40 feet Leaves: club-shaped, distinctive, large, three- lobed. Acorn: 0.75 inches
Habitat Sand or gravelly clay that is only slightly acidic.
Discussion 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.
Importance to Wildlife Acorns feed birds and mammals. Provides cover and nesting sites for birds and mammals.
Blackjack Oak
Fall Coloring
11 Quercus fusiformis Live Oak Description Height: 20-50 feet Canopy diameter: 24-40 feet Leaves: 1-3 inches Acorns: 0.75-1 inches
Habitat It grows on well-drained soils from alkaline to slightly acid, although it is rare in the heavy clay of the true Blackland Prairies.
Discussion 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 Importance to Wildlife Acorns feed birds and mammals. Provides cover and nesting sites for birds and mammals.
12 Prosopis glandulosa Mesquite Description Height: 20 feet Diameter: 1 feet Leaves: 3-8 inches Bark: dark brown; rough, thick, becoming sheddy. Flowers: 0.25 inches wide Fruit: 3.5-8 inches long, narrow pod slightly flattened, sweetish pulp; maturing in summer.
Habitat Sandy plains and sandhills and along valleys and washes; in short grass, desert grasslands, and deserts.
Discussion 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 fire- wood. Southwestern Indians prepared meal and cakes from the pods.
Importance to Wildlife Nectar for insects, especially bees. Fruit con- sumed by various wildlife and livestock. Mesquite
13 Cornus florida Flowering Dogwood Description Height: 30 feet Diameter: 8 inches Leaves: 2.5-5 inches long Bark: dark reddish-brown Flowers: 3/16 inches wide Fruit: 3/8-5/8 inches
Habitat Both moist and dry soils of valleys and uplands in understory of hardwood forests; also in old fields and along roadsides.
Flowering Dogwood Discussion It has showy early spring flowers, red fruit, and scarlet autumn foliage. The hard wood is ex- tremely 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.
Importance to Wildlife Fruit consumed by wildlife.
14 Vaccinium arboreum Farkleberry Description Height: up to 30 feet Width: canopy to 40 feet Flower: which or pinkish Fruit: small black berries (inedible)
Habitat Found on acid, sandy, well-drained soils in fields, clearings, open mixed forests, dry hill- sides and wet bottomlands
Discussion 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 dura-
ble tree—fast-growing, drought tolerant and an important food source for birds.
Importance to Wildlife Fruit consumed by wildlife. Farkleberry
Bark
15 Pteridium aquilinum Bracken Fern Description 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.
Habitat 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 thick- ets in partial shade.
Discussion Like other ferns, bracken reproduces by spores produced on the back of the fronds.
Bracken Fern Importance to Wildlife Shelter for small mammals.
16 Parthenocissus quinquefolia Virginia Creeper Description 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
Habitat A vigorous grower, it tolerates most soils and climatic conditions.
Discussion Virginia Creeper can be used as a climb- ing 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.
Importance to Wildlife Fruit consumed by birds throughout winter.
Caution Poisonous—Do not eat or ingest any part of this species. Virginia Creeper Virginia
17 Ilex vomitoria Yaupon Holly Description 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;
Habitat Moist soils, especially along coasts and in val- leys, sometimes in sandhills.
Discussion The ornamental twigs with shiny evergreen
leaves and numerous red berries are favorite Yaupon Holly Christmas decoration. Yaupon Holly is some- times 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.
Importance to Wildlife 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 Ilex decidua Possum Haw Description Height: 15-30 feet Leaves: remain dark green through autumn, finally turning yellow. Flowers: inconspicuous Fruit: red berries on female trees
Habitat Moist soils along streams and in swamps.
Discussion Possum Haw is conspicuous in winter, with its many, small, red berries along leafless, slender, gray twigs. Opossums, raccoons, other mam- mals, songbirds, and gamebirds eat the fruit of
this and related species.
Importance to Wildlife 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 Vitis mustangensis Mustang Grape Description 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
Habitat Mustang grape favors disturbed ground, fence rows, woodland edges and sandy slopes.
Discussion A common and easily recognized grape with a white, velvety surface on the lower Mustang Grape 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 fea- ture.
Importance to Wildlife Insects are attracted to flowers and leaves. Mammals and birds consume fruit; mammals also consume foliage and stems.
20 Sources
Information and Images Adapted From:
Audubon Online Guides www.audubonguides.com
USDA Plants Database plants.usda.gov
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center www.wildflower.org
A&M Texas Native Plant Database essmextension.tamu.edu/plantsdev
Flickr Creative Commons Images www.flickr.com
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department www.tpwd.state.tx.us
21