All Lists Bright and Beautiful

     [All of the following high-quality photographs come from Harlin.  The miserable other ones at the end of this page are the work of somebody else.]

A fine drawing of sedge.

     Harlin has been doing the hard work of navigating the identification keys to help us arrive at a name for the plants out at The Creek.  Here is some of his work at identifying the sedge growing in and near the water.  This is a great link to a site that provides about as much detail as one could hope for:    http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242357940.

Sedge (genus Schoenoplectus?)

     And a couple intimate views within the inflorescence of this sedge:

     

     And here's one of our favorite grasses . . .

Rabbitfoot Grass (Polypogon monspeliensis )

Floret of the Rabbit-foot Grass

     We've been admiring this grass within the riparian zone for a number of weeks now.  Turns out, it's not a native at all, but comes from Europe where the English call it "beardgrass."  In these United States, it grows as an annual mostly across the western half of the Union and nearly always around water.
     It's hard to imagine a more beautiful plant--especially in its juxtaposition to the many whitened stones around which it grows in thick bunches.
     And the white stones.  It would be nice to be able to say more about them because they represent something we see so much of in nature that we are tempted not to question them.  The white-covered stones of dry stream beds are like the assumptions of our prejudices.  But they can be studied and named like just about anything else.
     In our case, the white is probably the dried remains of diatoms and other algae.  In the water, the diatoms lay down a snotty film over submerged rocks and detritus.  And if floating on the surface, they form thick white, gray, or brown clumps of gelatinous snot.  The cell walls of diatoms contain high quantities of silica (silicon dioxide), the stuff of sand and quartz that is used to make glass.  So the expression "glass house" really does have an antecedent in nature.  Bits of chlorophyll color parts of each diatom with green or golden yellow.
     With over 100,000 species of diatom, we won't be too cocksure with our correct identification of any one of them, but we can locate some fairly common examples.  Here's a photographic sampling of some fresh-water diatoms found in The Creek and Wikipedia:

Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Chromalveolata
Phylum:	Heterokontophyta
Class:         (Diatoms)	Bacillariophyceae

Nolina lindheimeriana

Nolina lindheimeriana

Range of Nolina lindheimeriana

Another really sorry photograph of two young and lovely olive trees (Mission and Arbequina)
that we hope to plant out at The Creek following next winter. Just for the record.

  Below is the Harlin List so far:

Genus	species	English name	Family	Location
Cheilanthes	tomentosa	Wooly lip fern	Polypodiaceae	across creek
Pellaea	ovata	Zigzag cliffbrake	Polypodiaceae	below cliff
Juniperus	ashei	Ashe Juniper	Cupressaceae	Everywhere
Siphonoglossa	pilosella	Tube Tongue	Acanthaceae	Creek bed; Below cliff
Yucca	treculeana	Spanish Dagger	Agavaceaea	cliff
Rhus	toxicodendron	Poison Ivy	Anacardiaceae	creek side
Chaerophyllum	tainturieri	Chervil	Apiaceae	below cliff
Hydrocotyle	umbellata	Water Pennywort	Apiaceae	creek side
Torilis	arvensis	Hedge Parsley	Apiaceae	various
Amblyolepis		Huisache Daisy	Asteraceae	Near bird blind
Calyptocarpus	vialis	Lawn flower	Asteraceae	near central oak
Chaptala		Silver Puff	Asteraceae	near garage
Cirsium	texanum	Texas Thistle	Asteraceae	Creek bed
Corepsis			Asteraceae	field
Gaillardia	pulchella	Firewheel, Indian Blanket	Asteraceae	Creek side, creek bed
Hymenoxys	scaposa	Bitterweed	Asteraceae	creek side
Hymenopappus	scabiosaeous	Old Plainsman	Asteraceae	field
Pinaropappus	roseus	White Rock Lettuce	Asteraceae	creek side
Ratibida		Mexican Hat	Asteraceae	field
Rudbeckia	hirta	Blackeyed Susan	Asteraceae	Creek bed
Sonchus	asper	Sow Thistle	Asteraceae	near central oak
Zexmenia (Wedelia)	hispida		Asteraceae	Creek bed
Xanthium	strumarium	Cocklebur	Asteraceae	creek side
Berberis	trifoliata	Agarita	Berberidacaea	below cliff
Buglossoides	arvensis		Boraginaceae	creek side
Onosmodium	bejariense	Flase Gromwell	Boraginaceae	outer field
Opuntia		Pickly Pear	Cactaceae	cliff
Opuntia		Pencil Cactus	Cactaceae	below cliff
Triodanis		Venus' Looking Glass	Campanulaceae
Tradescantia	gigantea	Giant Spiderwort	Commelinaceae	creek side
Convolvulus	equitans	Bindweed	Convolvulaceae	creek side
Cuscuta		Dodder	Convolvulaceae	creek side
Capsella	bursa-pastoris	Sheperd's Purse	Cruciferae	Near bird blind
Cucurbita	foetidissima	Stinking Gourd	Cucurbitaceae	Near bird blind
Schoenoplectus	pungens	common threesquare	Cyperaceae	creek side
Diospyros	texana	Texas Persimmon	Ebenaceae	below cliff
Cnidoscolus	texanus	Texas Bullnettle	Euphorbiaceae	field
Croton		Bush Croton	Euphorbiaceae	below cliff
Tragia		Noseburn	Euphorbiaceae	creek side
Sophora	secundiflora	Texas Mountain Laurel	Fabiaceae	cliff
Melilotus	indicus	Sour Clover	Fabiaceae	Creek bed
Lupinus		Bluebonnet	Fabaceae	Creek bed
Sesbania	drummondii	Rattlebush	Fabaceae	creek bed
Prosopis	glandulosa	Mesquite	Fabaceae	outer field
Vicia	ludoviciana	Deer Pea Vetch	Fabaceae	creek bed
Quercus		Live Oak	Fagaceae	central oak
Phaecelia	congesta	Blue Curls	Hydrophllaceae	near bird blind
Sisyrinchium	biforme (?)	Blue-Eyed Grass	Iridaceae	creek side
Juglans	microcarpa	River Walnut	Juglandaceae	creek bed
Salvia	farinacea	Mealy sage	Lamiaceae	creek side-north
Lamium	amplexicaule	Henbit	Lamiaceae	Near bird blind
Smilax	bona-nox	Greenbriar	Liliaceae	outer field
Alium		Wild Garlic	Liliaceae	near central oak
Nolina	lindheimeriana	Devil's Shoestring	Liliaceae	creek bed
Nothoscordium	bivalve	Crow Poison	Liliaceae
Sida	filicualis		Malvaceae	garden
Wissadula	holosericea	Velvetleaf Mallow	Malvaceae	near garage
Forestiera	pubescens	Elbow Bush	Oleaceae	below cliff
Oenothera	laciniata	Cutleaf Evening Primrose	Onagraceae	near central oak
Oxalis	Stricta	Yellow Wood Sorrel	Oxalidaceae	creek side
Plantago		Plantain	Plantaginaceae	creek bed
Plantanus	occidentalis	American Sycamore	Plantanaceae	creek side
Bromus	uniloides	Rescue Grass	Poaceae	near central oak
Polypogon	monspeliensis	Rabbitfoot grass	Poaceae	creek side
Phlox		Phlox	Polemoniaceae
Delphinium	carolinianum	Carolina Larkspur	Ranunculaceae	field
Ranunculus	sardous	Hairy Buttercup	Ranunculaceae	creek bed
Colubrina	texensis	Hog Plum	Rhamnaceae	below cliff
Ungnadia	speciosa	Mexican Buckeye	Sapindaceae	cliff
Mimulus	glabrata	Monkey Flower	Scrophulaceae	Creek bed
Veronica	anagallis-aquatica	Water Speedwell	Scrophulaceae	Creek bed
Solanum	triquetrum	Texas Nightshae	Solanaceae	central oak
Solanum			Solanaceae	creek side
Celtis	laevigata	Hackberry	Ulmaceae
Ulmus		Elm	Ulmaceae	creek side
Valerianella	stenocarpa	Corn salad	Valerianaceae	creek side
Lantana	horida	Lantana	Verbenaceae	creek side
Phyla	nodiflora	Frog Fruit	Verbenaceae	Creek bed
Verbena		Vervain	Verbenaceae	creek side
Cissus	incisa	Cow Itch	Vitaceae	below cliff
Vitis	mustangensis	Mustang Grape	Vitaceae	Creek bed