Big Spring Plant Survey Flora Data and Discovering Texas Tree Ring Science

The former Jenkins Farm as it looked during tree clearing for the future Texas Horse Park. Pictured are Sean Fitzgerald with the orange helmet and Tim Dalbey who are extracting tree trunk samples from a huge downed Post Oak estimated to be over 150+ years old

The rough edged realities of progress come quick to large construction sites. What man built and has stood for a century is reduced to scrap over the course of an afternoon. What nature took centuries to grow falls in the fraction of that. It's a dramatic farewell that bulldozers often orchestrate, a permanent change of landscape. Caught in the middle of all that are unseen gems of history that at some point will help Dallasites understand not just the past but where we are headed in the future.

In 1846 Sam Houston gave a speech on the floor of the United States Senate entitled A Tribute To The Indians "As a race they have withered from the land, Their arrows are broken, and their springs dried up;......Ages hence, the inquisitive white man, as he stands by some growing city, will ponder on the structure of their disturbed remains and wonder to what manner of person they belonged."

Dallas is fortunate to have a handful of very dedicated private citizens who fit the bill of what Sam Houston spoke of so long ago. Nowhere does his speech ring more true than the woods surrounding Big Spring in the Great Trinity Forest. The Yeoman's work here over the last year to discover the centuries of history and the combined preservation efforts will have a far reaching legacy for generations to come.

Through some very hard work Big Spring will become an official Dallas Landmark. Believed to be the first natural landmark in the City of Dallas, landmark designation is traditionally given to buildings, places and physical things. This new landmark, still in just the formative infancy of the process will be unique in what it represents, a rare natural spot ripe with the complete story of Texas at ones feet.

The story and the people involved in the awareness and preservation is rather remarkable and maybe someday once the dust settles some the background of how this came to be will be shared to a greater extent. As of this writing much is still in Square One with regards to how it will all shake out, written on bar napkins, sketched into dirt drawings with a stick and what amounts to over a thousand emails.

Part of that hard work includes some rather obscure data collection and preservation of tree slices from an old Post Oak trunk and a continuing cataloging of plant species around Big Spring.

 The Big Post Oak at 811 Pemberton Hill

The dying Post Oak at 811 Pemberton Hill Road as it looked in June 2012

For as long as there has been a Dallas, a Post Oak tree has commanded the high terrace of the Trinity River Valley in Pleasant Grove. From the spot one can see west clear to Oak Cliff,The VA Hospital, Fair Park and Downtown Dallas some miles distant.

The tree is most likely more than 150 years old and witnessed the first surveyors, Texan explorers, pioneers and settlement of this very spot. The Beemans, Bryans, Pembertons, Kirbys, Jenkins, Cantrells and Jassos made a living under this tree as it served as part of their farm and ranching operations over the better part of two centuries.

The rainfall, the weather, the heat of the summer and the cold of the winter that all those families saw over the last two hundred years are recorded in the tree trunk of that old tree.

Post Oaks Quercus stellata are extremely sensitive to root disturbance and lack of oxygen in the root zone, so construction activities that compact the soil, pave over the roots, or change the soil grade can kill existing trees. Chemical contamination of the soil and poor care will slowly kill even the strongest of trees. Roy Appleton of the Dallas Morning News has recently written an article that discusses some of the issue, it serves as a great primer to some of the underlying concerns:
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/best-southwest/headlines/20130930-responsibility-for-dump-site-at-horse-property-adds-to-dispute.ece

The area near the old Post Oak was scraped as part of the remediation process and with it went the old Post Oak. Tim Dalbey got word that the tree would be removed from the property entirely in just a couple days so the race was on to get some priceless tree ring "cookies" from the trunk.


The work to remove tree slices first began at the conclusion of a plant survey at Big Spring(results are below, scroll down for an ever growing list). Those attending were able to speak with construction supervisors about removing slices, got the OK and were given word on that Friday that they only had till Monday at dawn to get the tree parts.

The work was supervised by Geo-Marine, the city archeology contractor that coming late Sunday afternoon. The work was started that Friday by Billy Ray Pemberton with his trusty chainsaw.

Followup work that Sunday was completed by Tim Dalbey and Sean Fitzgerald. Sean in addition to being great with a chainsaw is also the very best photographer of the Trinity River, bar none. http://seanfitzgerald.com/ showcases much of what he sees on the river.

Sean Fitzgerald at Lemmon Lake in his floating blind with Roseate Spoonbills flying over him, July 2012

His stunning images dominate public places around town, in print and on the City of Dallas website. 

Tim Dalbey and Sean Fitzgerald

Tim Dalbey has slices of one other Post Oak tree from this same part of town that date back to when the Beeman family first settled the land in the 1840s. Using a scientific method called dendochronology one can first sand the surface of the slice and painstakingly measure and record each growing year.

Growth rings, also referred to as tree rings or annual rings, can be seen in a horizontal cross section cut through the trunk of a tree. Growth rings are the result of new growth in the vascular cambium, a layer of cells near the bark that is classified as a lateral meristem. This growth in diameter is known as secondary growth. Visible rings result from the change in growth speed through the seasons of the year, thus one ring usually marks the passage of one year in the life of the tree.

Many trees make one growth ring each year, with the newest adjacent to the bark. For the entire period of a tree's life, a year-by-year record or ring pattern is formed that reflects the climatic conditions in which the tree grew. Adequate moisture and a long growing season result in a wide ring. A drought year may result in a very narrow one. Alternating poor and favorable conditions, such as mid summer droughts, can result in several rings forming in a given year.

Success! A great clean slice from the old Post Oak trunk

Since Dr Dalbey has two sections from different trees of the same species, one interesting idea will be to cross-reference the data. It should tell what the environment, weather, rainfall and growing seasons were like in this part of North Texas going back several centuries. The slices extracted here are near perfect for such work, free from rot and splitting.

I would not hazard a guess to the absolute age or conclusions that will be drawn from the data. Post oaks can often kick out a false ring when a growing season stops and restarts during the same year.

The slices measured 38 inches or so in diameter, almost too large for any conventional chain saw one would have at home.

Bill Pemberton with a tree slice he started on and Sean finished

Two slices in all were extracted. One was taken by Tim for his dendrochronology work, the other was brought over to the Pemberton home where it was given to Mr Billy Ray Pemberton. His family's slice was sawed by him to a large extent and finished off a couple days later by Sean Fitzgerald.

Very difficult and hard work. So much of it is down here. The reward though is one that few get to experience. Only a handful of folk have ever seen the sunset from the backyard of the Pembertons. A sunset view of many miles to the west. Gotta be a special person to command a sunset audience there. A priceless experience.

The Ongoing Plant Surveys at Big Spring

High School Senior Alexander Neal and Historian MC Toyer discussing the history of Big Spring among the fall wildflowers in the Big Spring pasture, October 2013. Alexander is a student at Townview Magnet and is working on a Senior thesis about preservation and the aspects of the Trinity River Project

The stark contrast of landscapes between the construction next door at the Horse Park and that of the serene Big Spring landscape are readily apparent in the fall of 2013. The late summer and early fall rains have contributed to a new growth of second crop wildflowers in the pasture here that serves as a bio-buffer between the construction and the fragile Big Spring site.

Indian Blanket wildflower growing at the "topographic high" area of the Big Spring meadow. The exact spot where this wildflower is growing is known as 41DL72 a pre-historic Native American site, October 2013

Plant surveys are an important part of understanding the overall environment here. Quarterly surveys have begun here in 2013 which over time hope to catalog the wide and diverse plant and animal life of Big Spring and the surrounding area that will become a future city landmark.

Master Naturalist Jim Varnum, Master Naturalist Jim Flood and Geo-archeologist Dr Tim Dalbey taking notes on a plant species not seen before on previous visits

The plant survey work is led by the local Master Naturalist chapter here in North Texas. The Master Naturalist Program in Texas is a certification process through a Texas Parks and Wildlife program. More information can be found on their website http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/master_naturalist/

One of the more well known and whom many regard as the foremost expert Master Naturalist is Jim Varnum. Pictured above in the red checkered shirt. In addition to his near encyclopedic knowledge of plants, he runs one of the best aggregated online newsletters in Texas called Jim's This and That. A worthwhile link to bookmark as he condenses what is going on around North Texas on a weekly basis. If you ever needed to find something to do in a pinch some weekend outdoors, he always has great suggestions and great insight.

The other Jim, Jim Flood, seen in the middle of the photo, is the trail steward of the Buckeye Trail just across White Rock Creek from Big Spring. His website http://www.texasbuckeyetrail.org/ has contact information about guided hikes and workdays on the Buckeye Trail.

Below is the ever growing and compiled list of flora seen at Big Spring in visits. The list was compiled in spreadsheet format by Jim Varnum. It includes plants through the end of September and number 188 species. An additional 15 new species were documented in mid-October and are not on the list. This list has been previously shared with the City of Dallas office of Trinity River Watershed Management.

Equisetum hyemale subsp. affine	Tall scouring rush	Hrstls	Equisetaceae
Juniperus virginiana	Eastern red cedar	Tree	Cupressaceae
Dicliptera brachiata	False mint	Forb	Acanthaceae
Ruellia humilis	Low reullia, Wild petunia	Forb	Acanthaceae
Ruellia strepens	Smooth ruellia	Forb	Acanthaceae
Acer negundo var. negundo?	Box elder	Tree	Aceraceae -> Sapindaceae
Amaranthus hybridus	Green amaranth	Forb	Amaranthaceae
Amaranthus tuberculatus (PLANTS db) (OLD A. rudis)	Water hemp	Forb	Amaranthaceae
Rhus lanceolata	Prairie sumac	Tree	Anacardiaceae
Toxicodendron radicans subsp. ?	Poison ivy	All	Anacardiaceae
Chaerophyllum tainturieri	Chervil	Forb	Apiaceae
Daucus carota	Wild carrot	Forb	Apiaceae
Hydrocotyle sp. (peltate)	? Pennywort	Forb	Apiaceae -> Araliaceae
Torilis arvensis	Hedge parsley, Beggar’s lice	Forb	Apiaceae
Ilex decidua	Possumhaw holly	Tree	Aquifoliaceae
Asclepias viridis	Green milkweed	Forb	Asclepiadaceae → Apocynaceae
Cynanchum laeve	Bluevine	Forb	Asclepiadaceae → Apocynaceae
Matelea gonocarpos	Anglepod	Vine	Asclepiadaceae → Apocynaceae
Ambrosia artemisiifolia	Little ragweed	Forb	Asteraceae
Ambrosia psilostachya	Western ragweed	Forb	Asteraceae
Ambrosia trifida var. texana	Giant ragweed	Forb	Asteraceae
Symphyotrichum drummondii var. texanum (OLD Aster drummondii var. texanus)	Texas aster	Forb	Asteraceae
Symphyotrichum ericoides var. = (OLD Aster ericoides)	Heath aster (white)	Forb	Asteraceae
Symphyotrichum lateriflorum var. = ? (OLD Aster lateriflorus)	Calico aster	Forb	Asteraceae
Symphyotrichum divaricatum (OLD Aster subulatus var. ligulatus)	Fall aster (white)	Forb	Asteraceae
Calyptocarpus vialis	Straggler daisy, Horseherb	Forb	Asteraceae
Cirsium altissimum	Iowa thistle	Forb	Asteraceae
Cirsium engelmannii	Blackland thistle	Forb	Asteraceae
Conyza canadensis var. =	Horseweed	Forb	Asteraceae
Dracopis amplexicaulis	Clasping-leaf coneflower	Forb	Asteraceae
Eclipta prostrata	Pieplant	Forb	Asteraceae
Gaillardia pulchella	Firewheel, Indian blanket	Forb	Asteraceae
Amphiachyris dracunculoides (OLD Gutierrezia dracunculoides)	Broomweed	Forb	Asteraceae
Helenium amarum var. =	Sneezeweed	Forb	Asteraceae
Heterotheca subaxillaris	Camphor daisy	Forb	Asteraceae
Iva annua	Marsh-elder, Sumpweed	Forb	Asteraceae
Lactuca serriola	Prickly lettuce	Forb	Asteraceae
Mikania scandens	Climbing hemp-weed	Vine	Asteraceae
Packera tampicana	Great plains ragwort	Forb	Asteraceae
Parthenium hysterophorus	False ragweed	Forb	Asteraceae
Pluchea odorata	Camphorweed	Forb	Asteraceae
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima	Black-eyed susan	Forb	Asteraceae
Solidago gigantea - tall, lin lvs, glab stem	Tall goldenrod	Forb	Asteraceae
Vernonia baldwinii	Western ironweed	Forb	Asteraceae
Bignonia capreolata	Cross-vine	Vine	Bignoniaceae
Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum
Lonicera japonica	Japanese honeysuckle	Vine	Caprifoliaceae
Dichondra carolinensis	Dichondra	Forb	Convolvulaceae
Convolvulus arvensis	Bindweed	Vine	Convolvulaceae
Convolvulus equitans	Texas bindweed	Vine	Convolvulaceae
Ipomoea cordatotriloba var. ???	Morning-glory	Vine	Convolvulaceae
Ipomoea lacunosa	White morning-glory	Vine	Convolvulaceae
Ipomoea wrightii	Wright’s morning-glory	Vine	Convolvulaceae
Melothria pendula	Meloncito, Speckled gourd	Vine	Cucurbitaceae
Acalypha ostryifolia	Hop-hornbeam copperleaf	Forb	Euphorbiaceae
Croton monanthogynus	Prairie tea	Forb	Euphorbiaceae
Poinsettia dentata (OLD Euphorbia dentata)	Toothed spurge	Forb	Euphorbiaceae
Triadica sebifera (OLD Sapium sebiferum)	Chinese tallow tree	Tree	Euphorbiaceae
Tragia ramosa	Noseburn	Forb	Euphorbiaceae
Chamaecrista fasciculata	Partridge pea	Forb	Fabaceae
Desmanthus illinoensis	Illinois bundleflower	Forb	Fabaceae
Desmanthus leptolobus	Prairie bundleflower	Forb	Fabaceae
Desmodium paniculatum	Panicled tick trefoil	Forb	Fabaceae
Gleditsia triacanthos	Honey locust	Tree	Fabaceae
Indigofera miniata var. leptosepala	Scarlet pea	Forb	Fabaceae
Lathyrus hirsutus	Singletary Pea	Forb	Fabaceae
Prosopis glandulosa	Honey mesquite	Tree	Fabaceae
Sesbania herbacea	Coffee bean	Forb	Fabaceae
Quercus macrocarpa	Bur oak	Tree	Fagaceae
Quercus shumardii	Shumard red oak	Tree	Fagaceae
Carya illinoinensis	Pecan	Tree	Juglandaceae
Juglans nigra	Black walnut	Tree	Juglandaceae
Monarda citriodora	Lemon mint	Forb	Lamiaceae
Monarda punctata ssp. = var. intermedia (OLD Monarda punctata var. intermedia)	Spotted beebalm	Forb	Lamiaceae
Teucrium canadense	American germander	Forb	Lamiaceae
Lythrum alataum var. lanceolatum	Lance-leaf loosestrife	Forb	Lythraceae
Callirhoe involucrata var. ?	Spreading winecup	Forb	Malvaceae
Hibiscus laevis	Rose-mallow	Forb	Malvaceae
Modiola caroliniana	Carolina modiola	Forb	Malvaceae
Sida rhombifolia	Axocatzin	Forb	Malvaceae
Melia azedarach	China-berry	Tree	Meliaceae
Cocculus carolinus	Carolina snailseed	Vine	Menispermaceae
Broussonetia papyrifera	Paper-mulberry	Tree	Moraceae
Maclura pomifera	Osage orange, Horse apple	Tree	Moraceae
Morus alba	White mulberry	Tree	Moraceae
Morus rubra	Red mulberry	Tree	Moraceae
Boerhavia diffusa (coccinea)	Scarlet spiderling	Vine	Nyctaginaceae
Forestiera acuminata	Swanp-privet	Shrub	Oleaceae
Fraxinus texensis	Texas white ash	Tree	Oleaceae
Ligustrum japonicum	Wax-leaf ligustrum	Shrub	Oleaceae
Ligustrum quihoui	Quihoui’s privet	Shrub	Oleaceae
Ligustrum sessile fruit
Ligustrum sinense	Chinese privet	Shrub	Oleaceae
Oenothera curtiflora (OLD Gaura mollis (OLD Gaura parviflora))	Lizard-tail gaura	Forb	Onagraceae
Oenothera suffulta (OLD Gaura suffulta)	Kisses	Forb	Onagraceae
Ludwigia octovalvis	Shrubby water-primrose, Narrow-leaf w-p	Forb	Onagraceae
Ludwigia peploides	Water-primrose	Aqua	Onagraceae
Oenothera rhombipetala	Four-point evening-primrose	Forb	Onagraceae
Oenothera speciosa	Showy evening-primrose, Buttercup	Forb	Onagraceae
Oxalis stricta	Oxalis, Yellow wood-sorrel	Forb	Oxalidaceae
Passiflora incarnata	Passion-flower	Vine	Passifloraceae
Passiflora lutea	Yellow passion-flower	Vine	Passifloraceae
Rivina humilis	Pigeon-berry	Forb	Phytolaccaceae
Polygonum aviculare	Prostrate knotweed	Forb	Polygonaceae
Polygonum hydropiperoides (white)	Swamp smartweed	Forb	Polygonaceae
Polygonum pensylvanicum (pink)	Water smartweed	Forb	Polygonaceae
Rumex crispus	Curly dock	Forb	Polygonaceae
Rumex pulcher	Fiddle dock	Forb	Polygonaceae
Anemone berlandieri	Anemone, Windflower	Forb	Ranunculaceae
Clematis pitcheri	Leather-flower	Vine	Ranunculaceae
Berchemia scandens	Rattan-vine	Vine	Rhamnaceae
Geum canadense var. camporum	White avens, Geum	Forb	Rosaceae
Prunus mexicana	Mexican plum	Tree	Rosaceae
Pyrus calleryana	Bradford pear	Tree	Rosaceae
Rubus trivialis	Southern dewberry	Forb	Rosaceae
Cephalanthus occidentalis	Buttonbush	Tree	Rubiaceae
Diodia virginiana (white)	Virginia buttonweed	Forb	Rubiaceae
Zanthoxylum clava-herculis	Hercules’-club, Prickly ash, Toothache tree	Tree	Rutaceae
Populus deltoides subsp. =	Eastern cottonwood	Tree	Salicaceae
Salix nigra	Black willow	Tree	Salicaceae
Cardiospermum halicacabum	Balloon vine	Vine	Sapindaceae
Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii	Western soapberry	Tree	Sapindaceae
Agalinis heterophylla - pedicel ≤ 4 mm	Prairie agalinis	Forb	Scrophulariaceae / Orobanchaceae
Castilleja indivisa	Texas paintbrush	Forb	Scrophulariaceae / Orobanchaceae
Ailanthus altissima	Tree-of-heaven	Tree	Simaroubaceae
Physalis cinerascens	Ground-cherry	Forb	Solanaceae
Physalis turbinata	Thicket ground-cherry	Forb	Solanaceae
Solanum dimidiatum	Horse-nettle	Forb	Solanaceae
Solanum elaeagnifolium	Sliver-leaf nightshade, Trompillo	Forb	Solanaceae
Solanum rostratum	Buffalo bur	Forb	Solanaceae
Celtis laevigata var. =	Hackberry, Sugarberry	Tree	Ulmaceae -> Cannabaceae
Ulmus americana	American elm	Tree	Ulmaceae
Ulmus crassifolia	Cedar elm	Tree	Ulmaceae
Boehmeria cylindrica	Small-spike false-nettle	Forb	Urticaceae
Callicarpa americana	American beauty-berry	Shrub	Verbenaceae
Glandularia bipinnatifida	Prairie verbena	Forb	Verbenaceae
Lantana urticoides	Texas lantana	Shrub	Verbenaceae
Phyla lanceolata (OLD Lippia lanceolata)	Lance-leaf frogfruit	Forb	Verbenaceae
Phyla nodiflora (OLD Lippia nodiflora)	Texas frog-fruit	Forb	Verbenaceae
Verbena brasiliensis	Brazilian verbena	Forb	Verbenaceae
Verbena halei	Texas vervain	Forb	Verbenaceae
Viola missouriensis	Missouri violet	Forb	Violaceae
Phoradendron tomentosum	Mistletoe	Para	Viscaceae
Ampelopsis arborea	Peppervine	Vine	Vitaceae
Ampelopsis cordata	Heart-leaf ampelopsis	Vine	Vitaceae
Cissus trifoliata (OLD Cissus incisa)	Cowitch	Vine	Vitaceae
Parthenocissus quinquefolia	Virginia creeper	Vine	Vitaceae
Vitis cinerea var. =	Summer grape, Swet grape	Vine	Vitaceae
Vitis mustangensis	Mustang grape	Vine	Vitaceae
Tribulus terrestris	Goat-head (yellow)	Forb	Zygophyllaceae
Sagittaria graminea	Grassy arrowhead	Mom	Alismataceae
Sagittaria latifolia	Common arrowhead	Mono	Alismataceae
Sagittaria platyphylla	Delta arrowhead	Mono	Alismataceae
Commelina erecta var. =	Dayflower	Mono	Commelinaceae
Carex sp.	thin, light green leaves	Mono	Cyperaceae
Carex sp.	broader, dark leaves	Mono	Cyperaceae
Carex cherokeensis	Cherokee caric sedge	Sedge	Cyperaceae
Carex crus-corvi	Crow-foot caric sedge	Sedge	Cyperaceae
Cyperus erythrorhizos (red roots) (BO)	Red-root flat-sedge	Sedge	Cyperaceae
Cyperus retroflexus	One-flower flat-sedge	Sedge	Cyperaceae
Cyperis sp.
Iris sp.	Flag	Mono	Iridaceae
Lemna sp.	? duckweed	Mono	Lemnaceae -> Araceae
Juncus torreyi	Torrey’s rush	Mono	Juncaceae
Zephyranthes chlorosolen (former Cooperia drummondii)	Rain lily	Mono	Liliaceae -> Amaryllidaceae
Aegilops cylindrica	Jointed goat grass	Grass	Poaceae
Bothriochloa ischaemum var. songarica	King Ranch bluestem	Grass	Poaceae
Bothriochloa laguroides subsp. torreyana	Silver bluestem	Grass	Poaceae
Cenchrus spinifex	Sand-bur	Grass	Poaceae
Coelorachis cylindrica	Carolina joint-tail	Grass	Poaceae
Cynodon dactylon	Bermuda grass	Grass	Poaceae
Dactylis glomerata	Orchard grass	Grass	Poaceae
Echinochloa sp.		Grass	Poaceae
Echinochloa muricata var. =	a barnyard grass, NCN	Grass	Poaceae
Elymus canadensis	Canada wildrye	Grass	Poaceae
Elymus virginicus	Virginia wildrye	Grass	Poaceae
Panicum virgatum	Switchgrass	Grass	Poaceae
Paspalum notatum var. latiflorum	Bahia grass	Grass	Poaceae
Paspalum dilitatum	Dallis grass	Grass	Poaceae
Polypogon monspeliensis	Rabbitfoot grass	Grass	Poaceae
Phalaris caroliniana	Carolina canarygrass	Grass	Poaceae
Setaria parviflora	Knot-root bristlegrass	Grass	Poaceae
Sorghastrum nutans	Yellow Indian grass	Grass	Poaceae
Sorghum halepense	Johnson grass	Grass	Poaceae
Tridens flavus	Purpletop	Grass	Poaceae
Potamogeton nodosus	Long-leaf pondweed	Aqua	Potamogetonaceae
Smilax bona-nox	Catbrier	Vine	Smilacaceae
Typha domingensis	Narrow-leaf cat-tail	Aqua	Typhaceae