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Soldier Spring Park Hike, Weatherford, Parker Co.
October 1 @ 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Tuesday, October 1st; 9 am – 1 pm
Register here
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/npatfortworthchapter/1307175
No restrooms on site unless there are open restrooms by the baseball fields.
During the Civil War era, Confederate Soldiers used the area as a campsite.
We will meet at 8:45am on the parking lot next to the Vietnam Memorial on Thrush St.
Directions: https://maps.app.goo.gl/smRDSf588GLaYLkZ7
www.stoppingpoints.com/texas/sights.cgi?marker=Soldier+Spring+Park&cnty=parker
We will explore the limestone outcrops located off Thrush St. Although some species won’t be in flower, Comanche Peak Prairie Clover (Dalea reverchonii), Hall’s Dalea (Dalea hallii), Reverchon’s Scurfpea (Pediomelum reverchonii), and others are known from the park, and some are rare across North Texas.
Here’s a small list of species we might expect to see: Gray Golden Aster (Heterotheca canescens), Maximilian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani), Gayfeather (Liatris mucronata), Small Palafoxia (Palafoxia callosa), Common Goldenrod (Solidago altissima), Old Field Goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis), Downy Ragged Goldenrod (Solidago petiolaris), Rough Goldenrod (Solidago radula), Stiff Goldenrod (Solidago rigida), White Boneset (Eupatorium serotinum), (False Gaura (Oenothera glaucifolia=Stenosiphon linifolius), Osage False Foxglove(Agalinis densiflora), Prairie Agalinis (Agalinis heterophylla), Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Canada Wildrye (Elymus canadensis) and Southeastern Wildrye (Elymus glabriflorus).
When registering, please consider donating to NPAT. Your donation will help NPAT conserve, restore, & manage prairies while educating the public about the important role of prairies. The deadline to sign up is Sept 26th.
Hikes are sponsored by the Fort Worth chapter of the Native Prairies Association of Texas (FW-NPAT) https://texasprairie.org/fort-worth-chapter/
Please provide your email and cell number when registering through the Ticket Tailor link provided for each hike, in case there are any last-minute weather changes, cancellations or updates to any hikes. Start and end times are estimated. Please arrive 15 minutes ahead of time.
For any state park hikes, it is recommended you reserve a day pass beforehand through their website or app. www.tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/
In the spring of April 2000, while hiking the Lake Mineral Wells State Park Trailway, I discovered a rare plant that ended up being researched by botanists at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT). After 6 months of research, in October 2000 it was determined to be a new species, previously undescribed to science. It was named in my honor as Quayle’s Ragwort (Senecio quaylei). Only known from a 2-mile radius of Lake Mineral Wells State Park.
https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.flora.fna020001249
If you want to learn more our North Texas native and introduced plant species, you can download a free digital copy of BRIT’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas here:
https://fwbg.org/research/brit-press/illustrated-flora-of-north-central-texas-online/
I’m also featured in two articles about my experience with Texas botany in 2023.
https://greensourcedfw.org/articles/amateur-botanist-keeps-eye-out-native-plants-north-texas
https://texasprairie.org/our-prairie-people-the-self-taught-botanist/