Thorn Forest Archives - El Mesteño Ranch and Arboretum

Mesoxaea texana nectaring on Waltheria indica on the South Texas Sand Sheet!

Camille — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 03:38:17 +0000

by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist

He’s BACK!!!!!

A “hovering” display….

A green-eyed male Mesoxaea texana is a repeat visitor to the South Texas Sand Sheet!

This rare, ground nesting bee has earned a few terms of endearment: “MT” and “El Guapo!”

The post Mesoxaea texana nectaring on Waltheria indica on the South Texas Sand Sheet! appeared first on El Mesteño Ranch and Arboretum.

“Tepanec Long-horned Bees Nectaring on Coma on the South Texas Sand Sheet,” by C. M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist

Camille — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 15:44:59 +0000

Tepanec Long-horned Bee ~ Melissodes tepaneca

A Tepanec Long-horned bee enjoying a brief stop on a glossy, dark green Coma leaf.

About the Texas native bee:

“Abundant throughout the United States and Canada, these fast-flying bees are hairy and generally large. Males have extraordinarily long antenna.”

Source: Wilson, Joseph S., and Olivia Messinger Carril. “The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America’s Bees.” Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016.

“Melissodes means ‘bee-like.’ Meslissa means ‘bee’ and -odes means ‘looks like’ or ‘resembles.'”
Source: Wilson, Joseph S., and Olivia Messinger Carril. “The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America’s Bees.” Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016.

Note: Less than twenty-four hours after its initial capture, this Tepanec Long-horned bee was returned, alive and unharmed, to the exact tree he was found on. He buzzed off without skipping a beat!

This particular bee was found nectaring on a Coma tree (Bumelia celastrina).

About the Coma tree:

“Shrubs or trees up to 30′ tall (usually less), with milky sap, forming thickets from root sprouts. Side branches usually long slender thorns. Flowers: Radial, fragrant, in clusters from the leaf axils; petals 5, white, up to 3/16″ long. Leaves: Alternate; blades spatulate to ovate, tapering onto the petioles, up to 1 and 5/8″ long. The sweet fragrance of plants in bloom can be detected from long distances.”
Source: Richardson, Alfred, and Ken King. “Plants of Deep South Texas.“ College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2011.

Tamaulipan Thornscrub is an endangered habitat.

Coma is an attractive evergreen tree that is part of the Tamaulipan Thornscrub habitat that dots the landscape out on the South Texas Sand Sheet.

A glimpse into the Tamaulipan Thornscrub on the South Texas Sand Sheet.

Books referenced:

Bravo, Esteban. “Incredible Edibles of South Texas.” (What to Eat & How to Get It). Copy Zone. McAllen, Texas. 2013.
Peacock, Dexter and Forrest S. Smith. “A Photographic Guide to the Vegetation of the South Texas Sand Sheet.” ” Texas A & M University Press. College Station. 2020.
Eason, Michael. “Wildflowers of Texas.” Timber Press Field Guide. Timber Press, Inc. Portland, Oregon. 2018
Richardson, Alfred, and Ken King. “Plants of Deep South Texas.” College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2011.
Wilson, Joseph S., and Olivia Messinger Carril. “The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America’s Bees.” Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016.

Online resources:

A Texas native bee photographed on the exact same Coma Tree in 2022. Although the exact species of Texas native bee is unknown, those antennae are definitively characteristic of male Long-horned bees.

“Roemer’s Acacia” by C.M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist

Camille — Sat, 18 May 2024 19:45:00 +0000

Roemer’s Acacia

Senegalia roemeriana

Exquisite blooms…

“This is a prickly, 3-7 ft., round-topped shrub or, more rarely, a small tree to 20 ft. with spreading branches. Branchlets with scattered straight or recurved prickles. Leaves divided into numerous leaflets 1/2 inch long or less. Fragrant, cream to greenish flowers 3/8 inch wide arising mostly from the axils of the leaves are followed by a narrow, leathery fruit. Fruit a brown to reddish, flat, curved pod up to 4 inches long and 1 1/8 inches broad. Young trunks are covered with smooth bark, becoming scaly with age. Twigs are armed with short, curved prickles; hence the common name, Catclaw.”
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Roemer’s acacia is a shrub that can grow from 15 to 20 feet in height and has a spread of 10 to 15 feet. It is a perennial, deciduous shrub that prefers sand, clay, gravelly, rocky, or limestone soil types. It requires full sun, and, once established, requires very little water to survive. It blooms in the Spring. Flower color varies from white to green. It provides both nectar and seeds for wildlife.
Native Plant Society of Texas

Leguminosae (Fabaceae)

“Roemer Acacia grows in dry limestone or gravelly soils. In good, deep soil it grows to 15′-20′, although on thin limestone hillsides in Edwards County it is a scraggly shrub of 3′ to 6′. It is drought resistant and fairly cold hardy, as are Gregg and Wright Acacia. Its globe-shaped flowers are a good source of honey.”
Texas Native Plant Database

“Fruit Characteristics: pods, flatter and not as twisted as Gregg Acacia’s.”
Texas Native Plant Database

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References:

“Blooms on the South Texas Sand Sheet,” by C.M. Rich, Texas Master Naturalist

Camille — Sat, 18 May 2024 15:49:44 +0000

Blooms on the South Texas Sand Sheet

Fishhook Cactus

Red Poppy – pink-flowering form

Blue Curls

Swan Flower

Roadside Guara

Cardinal Feather

Squarebud Daisy

Rio Grande Phlox

Red Poppy – Cow Pen Daisy – Three Lobed Florestina

Red Poppy

Spanish Dagger, Palma Pita

Southern Indian Blanket , Fire Wheel

Yellow Flowered Alicoche