The Winged Elm flowers in early spring. Its pollen is highly allergenic.
Here we can see the developing fruits which are called samaras. They mature quickly and fall almost immediately.
The Post Oak Woodlands has a definite understory layer. Much of this
layer is composed
of Ilex vomitoria, the Yaupon Holly. Yaupon is aggressive, and
has contributed
significantly to the process of thicketization in parts of Texas.
Hollies are dioecious,
which means that the male and female flowers are on separate plants.
This plant is male--
its flowers have functional anthers.
This is a female plant. The stamens are sterile, but they gynoecium is
well-
developed.
The bright-red fruits add color to the fall and winter landscape, while
the leaves remain
green all year.
Another showy member of the understory community is Beauty Berry,
Callicarpa
americana. During spring and summer, it doesn't look like much, but
in the fall it can
be the most conspicuous thing in the landscape.
Unfortunately, the beautiful fuchsia berries aren't edible.
For edible fruit, we have to turn to the Farkleberry, Vaccinium
arboreum. It's in
the same genus as the blueberry, and is the only member of the generally
acid-loving
Ericaceae that grows naturally on the local basic soils.
April sees the bushes covered with hundreds of tiny white bells.
By autumn, these blossoms will be replaced by bluish farkleberries. They
look very
much like small blueberries. Fruit quality varies greatly from plant to
plant and from
year to year. Even when plump and sweet, they tend to be a little seedy
and not very
flavorful.
Another group of plants with edible fruit is the Hawthorns. This is
Crataegus
marshallii, the Parsley-leaved Hawthorn. The Hawthorns are difficult to work with taxonomically
because they
hybridize readily and can reproduce apomictically, creating populations
with unusual
characteristics and uncertain affinities.
The white flowers can really stand out in the shade of the understory.
Hawthorns are small trees or large shrubs. As you can see, they have
long, very sharp
thorns. This is C. crus-galli. It is recognizable by its very shiny leaves and its extremely long, wicked thorns. In the fall, Hawthorns produce crops of small red pomes. They are
tart but tasty, and
make a very good jelly. They are an important food source for the many
species of birds
in the park. Commercial examples of pomes are apples and pears.
As we continue through the woods, our path leads us into and out of
little open, sunny
patches.
