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Come back to this page each day to read another entry from Frederick R. Gehlbach's almanac of suburban natural and unnatural history, "Messages from the Wild," which chronicles the world of a forested ravine in central Texas.
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Stimulated by heavy rain, plateau spiderlilies just sprouted two leaves about two weeks behind the single new leaves of hill country dayflowers. Although spiderlily appears later now, it blooms a month earlier in the spring, because it grows gradually, harvesting the sunlight of warm winter days. It is a stay-put perennial that utilizes last year's energy, stored in fleshy roots, to get started. The dayflower is an annual with seed energy sufficient only for the quick germination needed to secure a position in shifting edge habitat. It won't grow again until spring. |
Frederick R. Gehlbach is Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies at Baylor University. His ecological studies have taken him from New Zealand to Slovakia and, in the Americas, from Alaska and Newfoundland to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. His research interests include the life-history strategies of small owls, small burrowing snakes and urban wildlife ecology.
From MESSAGES FROM THE WILD: AN ALMANAC OF SUBURBAN NATURAL AND UNNATURAL HISTORY by Frederick R. Gehlbach, Copyright © 2002. Courtesy of the University of Texas Press.
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