and the ground of forest and prairie is aglow with bright-colored wild flowers. Although 

 impressing the mind at first as quiet and unattractive, these post-oak woods are, during 

 a great part of the year, full of life, and abound in an astonishing wealth of flowers. 

 This I found especially true of the region between Brenham and Austin. These woods 

 consist almost entirely of post-oaks, though hickories and black jack oaks are frequently 

 interspersed. In the bottom lands of the creeks and "branches" water oaks, pecan trees, 

 mulberry and hackberry trees, and elms, mostly draped with long pendent festoons of 

 Spanish moss, take the place of the post-oaks. Small live-oak and mesquit prairies, 

 alternating with the woodlands, are another feature of the landscape. The farms are 

 scattered promiscuously in the woods and on the prairies where the soil proves 

 especially fertile. 



The first spring blossoms appear in February. In March the ground is covered 

 with gorgeous masses of lovely flowers. The sweet-scented Carolina anemone', varying 

 in color from white to purplish-red, is the first spring flower we meet, although in sunny 

 and protected places the striped allium^ begins to flower sometimes in January. One of 

 the most dazzling and familiar plants of the post-oak woods is the dwarf coral plant or 

 Cherokee bean'. Its red pea-like flowers are scattered along the leafless stems in great 

 profusion. Later on the ground glows with masses of phlox ^ in different shades of color, 

 from rosy- white to a deep scarlet, the fiery red prevailing. The fragrant nemastylis^, the 

 interesting blue-eyed grass °, the star-grass ' are common everywhere in early spring. The 

 pretty sky-blue larkspur' is a vei'y common plant, while patches of the standing cj'press^, 

 stately in growth and with large spikes of dazzling orange-scarlet flowers, are seen 

 from a great distance. Coreopsis or tickseed", gaillardias", the deep blue lupine'^, and 

 many others add color and variety to the white carpet of wooly gnaphalium, which 

 covers the ground everywhere in the openings. The soft stems of this plant are most 

 extensively used by many birds in nest building. In sandy places the eye beholds large 

 patches of tuberous rooted commelyna", the blue flowers of w^hich exhale the fragrance 

 of the heliotrope. After a heavy shower the star-like blossoms of the yellow zephyr 

 flower" and the snowy- white blossoms of the cooperias'^ appear like magic out of the 

 ground. Characteristic among the flora of these localities are the beautiful pentstemons, 

 especially the thimble-flower'" with its large bell-shaped pale blue, purplish striped 

 blossoms, and the imposing Pentstemon Murrayanus, attaining a height of from 

 four to six feet with magnificent spikes of large scarlet blooms. On dry gravelly soil 

 in the woods we frequently find patches of the exceedingly beautiful comb cactus", the 

 rosy-purple flowers of which are very striking. The bread cactus " is met most abundantly 

 in openings, while the devil's pin-cushion" prefers the dry heavy soil in the open woods. 



The prairies, here and there dotted with patches of live-oak and mesquit trees, 

 abound in a flora of their own. Among the spring flowers the evening primroses-", the 

 sensitive plants", and a host of other flowers^^ convert these localities into veritable 



1 Anemone Caroliniana. 2 Allium striatum. 3 Erytbrina herbacea. •» Phlox Drummondii. s Nemastylis ccelestis. 

 6 Sisyrincbium bellum and S. mucronatum. '' Hypoxia stellaris. « Delphinium azureum. » Gilia coronopifolia. 

 10 Coreopsis Drummondii and C. bicolor. ii Gaillardia picta. 12 Lupinus texensis. la Commelyna ccelestis. n Zephyr- 

 anthes texensis. 15 Cooperia Drummondii and C. pedunculata. le Pentstemon Cobasa. n Echinocereus cxspitosus. 

 18 Mamillaria applanata. is Ecbinocactus texensis. ao CEnothera Drummondii. 21 Schrankia angusta and S. uncinata. 

 22 Gaura L,indheimeri, Scutellaria Drummondii, Callirhoe triangulata, Lindheimeria texana, Lysimachia ciliata, Castilleja 

 indivisa, Hymenopappus asterici folios, Heliantbus, etc. 



