thebark's Journal

Two years ago I was thrilled to find Escobaria missouriensis in Yellowhouse Canyon and to learn to identify it, and am just as excited to have found more in a location I never scouted before. I have started an "Escobaria missouriensis in Lubbock County" project to gather observations on one page: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/missouri-foxtail-cactus-escobaria-missouriensis-in-lubbock-county-texas

The pioneering iNat observation of this species in Lubbock was made by @ellen5 in April, 2015: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2267183, where the conversation with nathantaylor over identification is preserved. My observations began 3 years later, at a different location. I had encountered one in the early 2000s on the highest point South of Dunbar Lake but did not identify or photograph it.

42 separate cacti were photographed today and I only explored part of the area, which is the most accessible of all the locations where I have encountered this species. Likely there are at least 20 more individuals nearby.

As usual they seem to occur along vertical streaks from a flattish caliche ridge down the slope. It is not clear that the seeds of an older plant proceed downhill by gravity because sometimes smaller individuals lie uphill from a larger presumably older one.

In another month or less E. missouriensis should be in bloom.

This makes six small areas where I have found E. missouriensis on the heights along Yellowhouse Canyon. Where else might they occur? Unexplored places are in the ridges south of Broadway on private or posted property, the northeastern part of Lubbock Lake Landmark, the private lots overlooking Buddy Holly Rec Area on the
east, the central heights South of Dunbar Lake, the east edges of Meadowbrook golf course South of Purina Mills, and the canyon east of Lubbock.

So far E. missouriensis has been found in six separate small, relatively inaccessible areas in city parklands along Yellowhouse Canyon. This suggests these were not planted by human agency but are a relict species, survivors in remote places of a population that was more common and widespread before farming, ranching, and urban development. When I first found the species at Mackenzie Park Wilds I imagined they might have descended from cacti planted there, a view I have since discarded.

Are they found farther up or down the canyon? I have looked for the species at Lubbock Lake Landmark, along the edges of the Buddy Holly Recreation Area and east of Hell's Gate but have not found any. It is possible that I overlooked them. Others are invited to join in the search, which is easier when these cacti are blooming.