St. Maria Feverfew
By Jake Landers Published January 2013 
A plant that is abundant in our pastures is Feverfew, or should I say in some pastures, because it can be dense in one and absent across the fence. Most of the time the plant grows in patches on shallow soil as well as on the deeper soil of Mesquite flats, probably in response to some heavy grazing in the past. But it is present also in some roadsides that are not regularly mowed such as Lone Star Alley near Menard, Texas, where I often drive to observe the abundance of native wildflowers and grasses. Some pastures on the road to the ranch, however, were dominated by Broomweed or Croton instead of Feverfew. Grazing history and the kind of livestock have contributed to which plant is dominant, and I haven’t figured it all out.
Feverfew is also called St.Maria feverfew, False ragweed, and scientifically, Parthenium confertum. It is a weak perennial, some years coming back strong from the old root system and in other years disappearing temporarily and coming back from seed following a drought year when grass competition is weak.
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Christmas Decorations From the Pasture
By Jake Landers Published December 2012
It might be meant for an early Christmas flower, but Michaelmas daisy starts blooming in October and it’s spent by Thanksgiving. Other plants in our native plant collection fit Christmas a little better. The brilliant red berries of Snailseed, or Coralberry vine, are ideal to drape around a branch of cedar for a table decoration or the Christmas tree itself, and although the leaves remain green, the berries tend to dry out by the time Christmas rolls around. Blueberry Cedar (Ashe juniper) fits well into our Christmas traditions. It doesn’t have deep blue berries every year, but the green foliage and its odor are always there. There’s nothing like the smell of a Cedar Christmas tree in my memories. The red Poinsettia, now commercialized in many colors, is a far cry from its native populations of Euphorbia cyathophora, by scientific name, because of our human tendencies to add splashy colors to most decorations and to make them look artificial. It has become the most popular of our Christmas flowers.
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Kidneywood and Mexican Elderberry
By Jake Landers Published November 2012
Two woody plants of our area are seldom noticed by ranchers because they are rare on our rangeland, and because they have little impact on livestock or wildlife anyway. But, maybe they are beginning to get a little attention from our city cousins concerned about water conservation and landscaping with adapted species.
I’m referring to Kidneywood and Mexican Elderberry—large bushes or small trees that grow in a few scattered locations in the southern half of Texas and Mexico. Kidneywood prefers rocky calcareous outcrops and Mexican elderberry stays on the edge of streams or river banks where it can benefit from the extra water. Both species have received attention from the landscaping trade because of their drought resistance and ability to grow when water is available into small attractive trees. Both become small trees with pruning and good growing conditions. If planted north of halfway in Texas, they may suffer some frost injury.
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Two Unusual Natives
By Jake Landers Published October 2012
Some of our native plants can be overlooked despite their importance or because they don’t impress us by their looks. Now that I have shifted my living location from a city standard home and lawn to a community retirement center with adjacent park, parking lot, ditch, and cracks in the sidewalks, I see a different mix of plants. None seem to be very important, but I still find them interesting, and I can get to local ranches to see some important ones when I have a gate opener. But my time on pasture ground is becoming more limited, and my time on the scooter going to and from bank, library, court house, drug store, only two blocks away, is exposing me to new plants.
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Recovery
By Jake Landers Published September 2012
What has happened to our rangeland following combinations in the past year of extreme drought, wildfires that wouldn’t quit, temperatures that kept going up, and the usual mix of livestock and wildlife grazing pressure? I’m tempted to say “Who knows?!” and go on to a less complicated subject, or “Who cares?!” and let the land take care of itself. My conscience wouldn’t let me take either choice. We need to observe what has happened and hope that we can understand our individual responsibility in passing our knowledge of land management on to the next generation.
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A plant that is abundant in our pastures is Feverfew, or should I say in some pastures, because it can be dense in one and absent across the fence. Most of the time the plant grows in patches on shallow soil as well as on the deeper soil of Mesquite flats, probably in response to some heavy grazing in the past. But it is present also in some roadsides that are not regularly mowed such as Lone Star Alley near Menard, Texas, where I often drive to observe the abundance of native wildflowers and grasses. Some pastures on the road to the ranch, however, were dominated by Broomweed or Croton instead of Feverfew. Grazing history and the kind of livestock have contributed to which plant is dominant, and I haven’t figured it all out.
