Up and Down the Road in Texas
/At home I write a lot of blogs about my walks Across the Road. Here at my daughter's place in the Texas Hill Country my walks are Up the Road or Down the Road. These are photos taken from walks in both directions.
This was Up the Road the first morning I was here. It had rained heavily during the night.
I tried to clean my glasses a couple of times thinking that I must have rubbed greasy fingers on them. Then I realized that the glasses were fogging up due to the humidity and temperature. Well, that's annoying.
Juniper berries, although everyone in the west calls these "cedar trees".
I have identified this plant as either Snow-on-the-Mountain or Snow-on-the-Prairie, a Euphorbia species. I read that it is an annual that is poisonous to livestock. Here is an excerpt from Texas A&M Extension: "The white sap of these plants has long been used to blister the skin or as an intestinal purgative. In most cases, livestock are poisoned by an acrid principle that severely irritates the mouth and gastrointestinal tract. This plant rarely causes death. Experimental feedings of this plant in Texas have shown that 100 ounces produces severe scours and weight loss in cattle, the latter persisting for several months."
Gorgeous oak trees are seen where the juniper (cedar) has been cleared.
I have not tried to ID the rest of these flowers. I'm just enjoying them.
My granddaughter and I saw many of these large Black Swallowtails this morning.
