Gumweed on the prairie
I photographed this partially open gumweed flower head (Grindelia sp.) on an extant parcel of the Blackland Prairie along Old Settlers Blvd. at Greenhill Dr. in Round Rock on July 14th. The site used to be a good deal larger, but two iterations of an office complex have shrunk it, and there’s little chance that the remaining land, which fronts an increasingly busy road, will hold out for more than a few years, if even that long. (Round Rock grew from about 13,000 people in 1980 to about 100,000 people in 2010.)
© 2013 Steven Schwartzman
Pretty darn scary, isn’t it? The population growth, that is. I recently drove past this area and noticed that it had been mowed. Because of some soil disturbance near the road, I feared that it was going under the dozers, but I was mistaken. They are putting in sidewalks all along Old Settlers Blvd. That indicated development for sure, but not quite yet.
In the meantime, because of beneficial recent rains, the plants are coming back nicely. If left alone, the Gayfeather (Liatris) should put on a good show in September. Let’s hope!!!
Agnes Plutino
August 5, 2013 at 6:42 AM
Yes, I remember that when I moved to Austin in 1976 Round Rock was a small town. I didn’t know how small, so I looked up the census figures.
The main reason I include the locations of my photographs is so that local people can identify the places. I thought about you when I visited this property, which you know so well, and like you I couldn’t help noticing right away that it had recently been mowed. It was in the most bereft state I’d ever seen it, but I cheered up a little when I found some native plants surviving and even flowering along the western fringe of the remaining property (and I can’t resist saying that those plants were literally a fringe benefit of my visit).
I’ve noticed Liatris plants in several places recently, and again like you I’m looking forward to their flowering this September—or possibly earlier, which seems to be the trend.
Steve Schwartzman
August 5, 2013 at 8:07 AM
OOOOOOOooooooooooooooo….claps with glee!!
Elisa
August 5, 2013 at 7:05 AM
I searched and found that this isn’t the first comment on my blog in which someone used the word glee, but I didn’t have to search to know that it’s the first comment to include OOOOOOOooooooooooooooo. I can almost hear your gleeful clapping.
Steve Schwartzman
August 5, 2013 at 8:12 AM
Beautiful color and depth in that picture, Steven. As to the development, the ‘small town’ just north of us has the highest growth rate in IA. It is sprawling out fast. The infrastructure of sewer and water can hardly keep up. There are continuous street projects. The area was once prime farmland. No more.
Jim in IA
August 5, 2013 at 7:18 AM
And from my perspective, Jim, the changes you describe are a second round of replacement: what made the farmland prime was the immense and immensely fertile prairie it had replaced, a prairie that developed—in a different sort of development—over tens of thousands of years and had covered much of the central part of the continent. I wish I could have seen it even as recently as two centuries ago.
Steve Schwartzman
August 5, 2013 at 8:20 AM
Yes, so true. I appreciate those who are trying to restore parts of their land back to what the original was like at that time. There was a very diverse ecosystem. Now, we have crops that are forced to be the only growing plant type on most of our acres. Nothing else is allowed to grow.
I’m not certain where I come down on this. My father was a farmer, as were his ancestors. We do need to feed people. There are good examples of farmers who are stewards to the land and try to make it better for future generations. I like to think my father was one of those.
Jim in IA
August 5, 2013 at 12:14 PM
Yes, there’s no denying that we need to feed people, and farms are a necessity. I think a happy medium would be to leave some of the land—more than now—permanently in as natural a state as possible.
Steve Schwartzman
August 5, 2013 at 12:58 PM
I grew up in Newton. I last was there two years ago, and was astonished by the changes. When my folks built a new house on the edge of town about 1958, we didn’t see anything from the front step but corn and I-80. No more.
I did get to visit the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City, and was pleased to see how it’s developed over the years. It seems to be quite active, too, in terms of educational programs and such. I just looked at the board of directors and saw a number of familiar names – no doubt children of the people I knew when I lived there. Even grandchildren, I suppose. Every one of these projects is so important,
shoreacres
August 10, 2013 at 10:39 PM
Some areas see changes occur very rapidly, too fast. The changes are sometimes for the better as with the wildlife refuge and educational centers. Those all deserve our support.
Good to hear from someone from IA.
Jim in IA
August 11, 2013 at 6:35 AM
Jim, meet Linda; Linda, meet Jim. One of you has remained there and the other moved to Texas a long time ago.
Steve Schwartzman
August 11, 2013 at 8:00 AM
It suddenly occurred to me that Newton means ‘new town’ and that on your last visit back there you did see it as a new town. Part of the newness was real, just as your house once was, and part due to the ways that time had wrought changes in you. Perhaps one of those changes was a greater appreciation for things like wildlife refuges.
Steve Schwartzman
August 11, 2013 at 7:11 AM
Nice picture. Like the lack of depth in this one..
bentehaarstad
August 5, 2013 at 7:39 AM
At such a close distance there was no way to keep the back and front of this flower head in focus at the same time, but the fading of the back part makes the front all the more salient, especially with all its narrow, pointy bracts.
Steve Schwartzman
August 5, 2013 at 8:24 AM
Your capture lends a sense of the mysterious and a bit of the surreal. Very nice.
lensandpensbysally
August 5, 2013 at 9:21 AM
Thanks, Sally. Any time I can elicit the mysterious and surreal I’m happy. (On second thought, that doesn’t include the all-too-many times when I’ve tried to get a straight answer out of a bureaucrat.)
Steve Schwartzman
August 5, 2013 at 9:29 AM
Steve I really like where you placed the focus points in this photo. Really leads you right into the flower. Great photo!
iseebeautyallaroundbyrobpaine
August 5, 2013 at 2:29 PM
Thanks. I also took pictures at various other angles, including from the side and from directly overhead. Each has something to recommend it, but this one seemed particularly effective.
Steve Schwartzman
August 5, 2013 at 4:15 PM
Very nice, Steve.
Steve Gingold
August 5, 2013 at 2:33 PM
The closest bracts seem to reach out of the frame at me. That brings back memories of the 3-D photography I used to do.
Steve Schwartzman
August 5, 2013 at 4:32 PM
Another beauty Steve!
Michael Glover
August 5, 2013 at 9:37 PM
A beauty, but definitely gooey.
Steve Schwartzman
August 5, 2013 at 10:06 PM
I really like this one!
Brian Comeau
August 6, 2013 at 11:49 AM
It seems to have struck a chord, no question.
Steve Schwartzman
August 6, 2013 at 12:45 PM
What’s the meaning of the “sp.” next to Grindelia? I don’t recall seeing that abbreviation before, though it’s probably been around.
The photo’s really interesting. Is the plant truly gummy? I can see several little “threads” of something just beyond the bracts that appear to be almost glue-like.
shoreacres
August 10, 2013 at 10:56 PM
It’s appropriate that you asked. When a genus name is followed by sp. (or spp.) it means that the writer is referring to one or more indeterminate species in that genus. In this case, I know the photograph shows a species of Grindelia, but I don’t know which one.
Steve Schwartzman
August 11, 2013 at 7:56 AM
Ah – thanks.
Re: your comment above (“…on your last visit back there you did see it as a new town. Part of the newness was real, just as your house once was, and part due to the ways that time had wrought changes in you.”)
You’ve reminded me of the wonderful observation by Anais Nin: “We don’t see things as they are – we see them as we are.”
shoreacres
August 12, 2013 at 9:47 PM
Well said!
Steve Schwartzman
August 12, 2013 at 10:58 PM