Indeed, it certainly never get old tramping about on the grasslands!
We started early when it was cool, but soon we had to shed a few layers! The protruding limestone made me think of giant cow patties. LOL
Did you notice above that Jeanne was looking down? Its the botany way to find the Hall’s Dalea (Dalea hallii) and most plants, eh!
A loaded Common Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)! Sometimes you do need to look up.
They can be real sweet, but watch out if not fully ripe they will leave a astringent feeling in your mouth. I had a really nice one. Jeanne was not as lucky. There is a old tale that says a frost must occur before the fruit is ripe. However, I found that’s not the case.
Not far from the persimmons, we came across the cochineal scale on the Prickly Pear (Opuntia). The natural dye, carmine is gathered from the cochineals. The carmine acid deters other insects. (Wikepedia)
Never having looked closely at the bug, this was the day for me to look! The waxy stuff was hard to remove from it.
A closer look you can barely see its tiny legs. This is a wingless female. The males have wings. The red carmine has been used as dye since the Maya and Aztec cultures.
An arrow rock points to a rock heart! I love the LBJ grasslands!
Botanists mostly look down; birders mostly look up. Creates a conflict with some of us naturalists LOL.
LOL Indeed!
More stretching!!
Suzanne hit the nail on the head. Cochineal looks kinda like a fat tick.