This past Saturday (May 29, 2022), I went out of the house for a change, on a field trip with the Williamson County Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT-Wilco), at the Southwest Williamson County Regional Park (SWCRP). The field trip consisted of walking along the Jim Rodgers Nature Trail, 1.75 miles long, I’m told.

I managed to arrive late, but soon caught up with the group. (Usually I arrive a week early, having managed to forget the actual date and time).

Then I managed to continually fall behind and catch up, working up a sweat. Because this was an evening field trip on a fairly even path (it does need mulching to give it a little more comfort underfoot), the pace of the hike was a little closer to a real hike than the usual NPSOT or Texas Master Naturalists’ walk in the woods – where it often takes an hour to go half a mile down the trail – if that much. And yet, I was able to get some interesting shots of some of the native plants and wildflowers.

Asclepias asperula (Antelope Horns) milkweed, seed pods ripened.

Quercus marilandica (Blackjack Oak) has distinctive “duckfoot”shaped leaves.

Yucca rupicola (Twist-Leaf Yucca) was in bloom

Yucca rupicola flower detail

Prosopis glandulosa (Honey Mesquite)

Toxicodendron radicans (Poison Ivy)

Pearl Milkweed vine seed pod

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