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Come back to this page each day to read another entry from Frederick R. Gehlbach's almanac of suburban natural and unnatural history, "Messages from the Wild," which chronicles the world of a forested ravine in central Texas.
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Eastern cottonwood is the second large tree to flower in the ravine, and today is its day. This majestic species, sometimes three to four feet in diameter, is neighborly with American elm, which bloomed a month ago. Both thrive along the creek, where the air is cooler than on hillsides, so it would seem that they should bloom later than upland trees. But they don't, even though at least eight streamside companions do, including bur oak, pecan, and black walnut. Cottonwood may flower early, because its floating seeds require spring winds for dispersal to bare creekbanks, where the young trees stabilize soil, permitting companions to join them in community. But why the earliness of American elm? |
Frederick R. Gehlbach is Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies at Baylor University. His ecological studies have taken him from New Zealand to Slovakia and, in the Americas, from Alaska and Newfoundland to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. His research interests include the life-history strategies of small owls, small burrowing snakes and urban wildlife ecology.
From MESSAGES FROM THE WILD: AN ALMANAC OF SUBURBAN NATURAL AND UNNATURAL HISTORY by Frederick R. Gehlbach, Copyright © 2002. Courtesy of the University of Texas Press.
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