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Page 8 - Texas I Then it was off to Texas. I bypassed El Paso and the Guadalupe Mountains this time because I really wanted to see Big Bend. I stopped by the cactus garden at Sul Ross University, Alpine, Texas, which was pretty cool, with some interesting Texas native cacti that I had not seen before. The town of Alpine isn't really that "alpine" by our standards, but at 5,000' with a few 7,000 to 8,000' mountains around, I guess that is pretty good for Texas. Still, some of the plants I saw there might have a hard time growing at sea level in Washington!
Yucca rostrata at Sul Ross University.
Agave americana with Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca' in Alpine, Texas, which I thought was an interesting combination for some reason.
This Agave havardiana under the shade of a tree in someone's yard has a beautiful open shape.
Mature Washingtonia filifera in Alpine.
Some Agave salmiana-ish plant, or maybe it has some A. scabra or A. protamericana in it.
Another Agave salmiana-ish plant with much greener leaves.
A nursery in Alpine, TX. Why didn't I think of this brilliant name for my nursery? At least they are selling the right kind of plants.
A beautiful, tall Yucca rostrata in Marathon, TX. This town just east of Alpine definitely had some cool plants.
Washingtonia robusta and Phoenix canariensis seem to have little trouble growing in Marathon.
Some nice Yucca faxoniana in Marathon. The Jeff Davis Mountains are another good place in Texas to do some collecting. Agave havardiana can be found there up to 7,000' elevation, and there are some interesing oaks, and big, beautiful specimens of Yucca torreyi.
There were some interesting Opuntias in the Davis Mountains, including this odd thing.
Some of those nice Yucca torreyi.
A nice Quercus grisea in the Davis Mountains.
The attractive Agave havardiana, looking like a more open and sculptural A. parryi (to which it is closely related).
Dasylirion leiophyllum also grows rather high up in the Davis Mountains, but these plants didn't have any seed.
Habitat of Agave havardiana with oaks in the Davis Mountains.
This interesting Agave havardiana had lots of suckers. I would have liked to collect a lot of seeds but it was behind a fence that I really couldn't cross. I did eventually manage to get a few seeds by chopping the lowest branch of the infloresence off with the pole pruner I brought!
These very robust Dasylirion leiophyllum near Kent, TX, were loaded with seeds (not these plants, but some nearby). |
