Integrative Natural History of Old Ore Road, Part 4: Closing in on the Waxy One | Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA
We're in the same place as Part 3, on the eastern side of Old Ore Road, at about 1.5 road mi (2.4 km) north of its intersection with the paved park road to Rio Grande Village (Park Road 12). Looking eastward.
This is a close-up of the same community of plants shown in the previous image. And the emphasis here is really on the Candelilla (Euphorbia antisyphilitica) plants, with their erect, pale-gray stems.
Those stems are coated with an antidesiccant wax—hence their ghostly color—that in previous decades was harvested for various human uses.
Keep in mind that while many plant genera are pretty polymorphic, Euphorbia takes things to extremes. It also contains the arborescent and fancy-flowering Poinsettia (E. pulcherrima), tiny flat-growing herbs, the spiny Crown of Thorns (E. milii), and various succulents, tall or tubby, that are often mistaken for cacti.
Also present in the scene shown above is a supporting cast of yellowish-green Lechuguillas (Agave lechuguilla) and, in the background, what are probably Faxon Yuccas (Yucca faxoniana) and some species of Opuntia (Prickly Pear).
To see the other photos and descriptions in this set, visit my my Integrative Natural History of Old Ore Road album.
Integrative Natural History of Old Ore Road, Part 4: Closing in on the Waxy One | Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA
We're in the same place as Part 3, on the eastern side of Old Ore Road, at about 1.5 road mi (2.4 km) north of its intersection with the paved park road to Rio Grande Village (Park Road 12). Looking eastward.
This is a close-up of the same community of plants shown in the previous image. And the emphasis here is really on the Candelilla (Euphorbia antisyphilitica) plants, with their erect, pale-gray stems.
Those stems are coated with an antidesiccant wax—hence their ghostly color—that in previous decades was harvested for various human uses.
Keep in mind that while many plant genera are pretty polymorphic, Euphorbia takes things to extremes. It also contains the arborescent and fancy-flowering Poinsettia (E. pulcherrima), tiny flat-growing herbs, the spiny Crown of Thorns (E. milii), and various succulents, tall or tubby, that are often mistaken for cacti.
Also present in the scene shown above is a supporting cast of yellowish-green Lechuguillas (Agave lechuguilla) and, in the background, what are probably Faxon Yuccas (Yucca faxoniana) and some species of Opuntia (Prickly Pear).
To see the other photos and descriptions in this set, visit my my Integrative Natural History of Old Ore Road album.