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Other Nations: A Naturalist’s Blog about Buffalo Bayou
by Alisa Kline

Posts Categorized: Flora

Apr 03

Wild onions and a bunch of mistakes

The Park is full of wild onions. All of Houston is full of them. They are visually intriguing, but I didn’t think they were interesting enough to write about. This is an onion. Story told. So I didn’t do much more than enjoy how they bite back sharply when you nibble them. But this week,… Read more »

Mar 13

Wolves!

Ancient Europeans took note of a flower that grew in barren soil. They decided that this plant must be stealing the nutrients other plants need and hoarding them for itself. Hence, it was like a wolf, stealing animals from the flocks they tended. They called the flower lupine which is Latin for wolf-like. We no… Read more »

Jan 22

Stranger in a Strange Land

Our Park is full of loblolly pines. Houston is full of loblolly pines. The southeast is full of loblolly pines. The loblolly is one of the most common tree in the US, second only to the red maple. As common as loblolly pines are, you might overlook a similar but very different pine that’s unobtrusively… Read more »

Nov 20

Our Park is getting seedy!

There is an eye-catching plant in our Park right now. Usually, when I post about an eye-catching plant, it is in glorious bloom. But in this case, the plant is in glorious seed. It bloomed months ago and I have to admit, I didn’t even notice. The plant is Baccharis halimifolia, its common names include… Read more »

Nov 14

Tasty/Deadly

First, the tasty. Knotweed (also known as smartweed) is blooming in our Park right now. It is fairly insignificant looking but it packs a heck of a punch! It is spicy. Peppery hot. Indigenous people and early European settlers used it to flavor their stews and salads. When  you chew a leaf (only a bit,… Read more »

Oct 31

Autumn on the Prairie

Our Park is part of a prairie restoration project that aims to show off the native coastal prairie ecosystem that was present in this part of Texas for the last 23,000 years. The silt from Hurricane Harvey dealt this project a setback, but there is a stunning patch of prairie plants going strong just to… Read more »

Oct 11

The return of Bidens alba

When I was contemplating this blog, I knew there were a few topics that I would cover early and possibly often. One of the first was any lasting effect Harvey might have on the ecosystem of the Park. Another was one of my favorite flowers, Bidens alba.  Funny thing – topic A, seems to have… Read more »

Sep 26

Secret Garden

I found a secret garden within shouting distance of the Jackson Hill footbridge. I would tell you exactly where except it’s gone now. I stumbled on it poking around off of the paths. That’s where the bugs, birds, lizards, snakes, and naturalists like to hang out. I crested a tiny hill and found scores of… Read more »

Sep 13

Sunflowers and Leaf-cutters

Buffalo Bayou Park is full of Common Sunflowers, and our Common Sunflowers are full of leaf-cutter bees.  Common Sunflowers are just that, common. They are the tall ones (four to six feet) with flowers four to five inches in diameter. You can find them everywhere. They were an important food crop for native peoples. So… Read more »

Sep 05

Frog Fruit

Each blog post begins with a walk. If nothing jumps out at me, or crawls up to me, or flies over me, I look for the nearest patch of frog fruit and stay for a while, something will always happen. But this blog is also driven by photography and I have never managed to get… Read more »

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“[Animals] are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”

—Henry Beston, The Outermost House

 

For sightings, questions or comments email blog@alisakline.com.

Blog Categories

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