Mountain View Lodge Nature Trail
Welcome to the Mountain View Nature Trail. It's a short walk-shorter than a trip around a city block. But it passes through representatives of many of the habitats of the Texas Hill Country, from dry rock slopes down into cooler moister ravines, and as a result many of the region's interesting native plants can be seen here in a small area. Numbered signs refer mostly to trees and shrubs mentioned in this guide. Almost all of the dozens of wildflowers that can be seen along the trail can be identified in the "Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country," by Marshall Enquist. A copy is available on loan from the front desk. For a map of the Nature Trail for printing click here and then click on map and print.
The following is a list of the many plants that are here on the Nature Trail for all our guest to enjoy.
1) Several succulent
plants of the Lily Family are common on these dry rock slopes. The term
"succulent" is a vague term applied to any plant with tough or
thick and fleshy leaves that allow little water loss; such plants are well
adapted to desert and semi-arid environments. To the left of the trail
is sotol (Dasyliriontexanum). It is easily recognized by its huge clump
of long thick flat narrow leaves with sharp, widely spaced teeth. In midsummer,
sotol produces a woody flowering stalk that can be ten feet tall. Sotol
is most common in desert areas of the west Texas and northern Mexico, and
here at Mountain View it is at the eastern edge of its distribution.
1a)
Not all the plants at Mountain View are typical of desert regions. Some
species, such as the grass called big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), are
plants that typically inhabit tallgrass prairies of the Midwest. Such species
are at the southern or western edges of their ranges. On the right side
of the trail is a large clump of big bluestem, but unless you're visiting
in late summer or fall when it's flowering it might look like any other
grass.
2)
Another locally common succulent is twistleaf yucca (Yucca rupicola). Its
stiff rigid leaves have a sharp point at the tip. Twist leaf yucca is one
of several plant species you might see along the trail that are endemic
to the Texas Hill Country, i.e., found nowhere else in the world.
3)Probably
the most characteristic plant species of the Hill Country is Ashe juniper
(Juniperus ashei), more commonly known simply as cedar. This conifer covers
dry rocky hillsides over much of the Edwards Plateau, usually in association
with a few oaks and several smaller shrubs.
