BIG THICKETPLANT ECOLOGY

An Introduction

Third Edition

Big Thicket AssociationUniversity of North Texas Press

Denton, Texas

GERALDINE ELLIS WATSON

Number 5 in the Temple Big Thicket Series

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page i

©2006 Geraldine Ellis Watson

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Permissions:

University of North Texas Press

P.O. Box 311336

Denton, TX 76203-1336

The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of the American

National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, z39.48.1984.

Binding materials have been chosen for durability.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Watson, Geraldine Ellis, 1925–

Big Thicket plant ecology : an introduction / Geraldine Ellis Watson. -- 3rd ed.

p. cm.— (Temple Big Thicket series ; no. 5)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-57441-214-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-57441-214-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Plant ecology—Texas—Big Thicket National Preserve. 2. Big Thicket National Preserve

(Tex.) I. Title.

QK188.W38 2006

581.709764'157--dc22

2006018786

Big Thicket Plant Ecology: An Introduction, 3rd edition, is Number 5

in the Temple Big Thicket Series

This book was made possible by a generous grant from the T. L. L. Temple Foundation

and the assistance of the Big Thicket Association.

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page ii

Contents

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS v

PREFACE vii

CHAPTER 1 / Keys to Understanding 7Many Thickets 1

Natural Thickets 2Unnatural Thickets 2

Three Concepts 5The Traditional Big Thicket 7The Ecological Big Thicket 8The Big Thicket National Preserve 9

CHAPTER 2 / The Ecological Big Thicket 11Geological History 11

Big Thicket Basin 12Soil pH 16Climate 17Ecological Succession 17

Plant Communities 19Coastal Prairie and Marshes 19Mixed Grass Prairie 19Longleaf Pine-Bluestem Range 22

Longleaf Pine Uplands 22Pine Savannah Wetlands 34Beech-Magnolia-Loblolly Pine Association 37Stream Floodplains 43Upper Stream Terraces 54Lower Stream Terraces 65

iii

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page iii

iv Contents

CHAPTER 3 / The Big Thicket National Preserve 71Beaumont Unit 72Beech Creek Unit 78Big Sandy Creek Unit 79Canyonlands Unit 82Hickory Creek Savannah Unit 86Neches Bottom-Jack Gore Baygall Unit 87

Neches Bottom 87Jack Gore Baygall 90

Lance Rosier Unit 94Loblolly Unit 96Turkey Creek Unit 98Stream Corridor Units 101

Big Sandy Village Creek 101Menard Creek 104Neches River 106Pine Island / Little Pine Island Bayou 112

CHAPTER 4 / Man in the Big Thicket 115Indians 115Anglo-Americans 115Modern Usage 116

Roadsides 116Bar Ditches 116Fencerows 117Roadside Wildflower Conservation 117

Conclusion 117

REFERENCES 119

INDEX 123

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page iv

v

List of Illustrations

Maps

1. General Map of the Big Thicket Region, p. 62. Geological Formations (Cross Section), p. 133. Geological Formations (Surface), p. 144. Topographic Map of Longleaf Pinelands, p. 295. Topographic Map of Floodplains, p. 476. Terrace Levels in Jack Gore Baygall Area, p. 487. Big Thicket National Preserve, p. 748. Beaumont Unit and Lower Neches River Corridor Unit, p. 769. Beaumont Unit Topographic Map, p. 77

10. Beech Creek Unit, Canyonlands Unit and

Upper Neches Corridor Unit, p. 8011. Big Sandy Creek Unit and Menard Creek Corridor Unit, p. 8112. Canyonlands Unit, p. 8413. Hickory Creek Savannah and Turkey Creek Units, p. 8514. Neches Bottom and Jack Gore Baygall Unit, p. 8815. Lance Rosier Unit and Loblolly Unit, p. 93

Figures

1. Inter-Relationships of Big Thicket Plant Communities, p. xi2. Successional Stages in Forest Development, p. 203. Evolution of Successional Lakes, p. 214. Theory of Pimple Mound Origin, p. 245. Distribution of Longleaf Pine Wetland and Upland Communities, p. 286. Stream Valley Cutting and Filling, p. 467. Classic Acid Bog Formation, p. 558. Mystery Holes, p. 99

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page v

Photographs

1. Natural Thicket (by Geraldine Watson), p. 32. Unnatural Thicket (by Geraldine Watson), p. 43. Encroachment on the Prairie (by Geraldine Watson), p. 254. Marysee Prairie (by Maxine Johnston), p. 265. Longleaf Pine Uplands (by Geraldine Watson), p. 276. Precribed Fire (by Geraldine Watson), p. 307. a. Pine Savannah (by Paul V. Roling), p. 38

b. Grass Pink Orchid (by Geraldine Watson), p. 39c. Pitcher Plants (by Geraldine Watson), p. 40

8. Beech-Magnolia-Loblolly Pine (by Geraldine Watson), p. 419. Stages in River Development:

a. Cutting (by Geraldine Watson), p. 49b. At Grade (by Geraldine Watson), p. 50c. Depositing (by Geraldine Watson), p. 51

10. Successional Stages in Lakes:

a. Open Stage (by Geraldine Watson), p. 60b. Grass Stage (by Geraldine Watson), p. 61c. Baygall Stage (by Geraldine Watson), p. 62

11. Arid Sandyland (by Geraldine Watson), p. 6312. Palmetto-Hardwood Flats (by Geraldine Watson), p. 6813. Cypress-Tupelo Swamp (by Paul V. Roling), p. 7514. Cypress Slough (by Geraldine Watson), p. 8915. Blue Springs (by Geraldine Watson), p. 9216. Turkey Creek (by Geraldine Watson), p. 10217. Village Creek (by Geraldine Watson), p. 10318. Round Lake (by Paul V. Roling), p. 11019. Boulders at Base of Red Bluff (by Paul V. Roling), p. 11120. Upper Pine Island Bayou (by Geraldine Watson), p. 114

vi List of Illustrations

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page vi

Preface

This book is the result of a lifetime spent in Big Thicket country andof close observation and appreciation of its plant and animal life. Itis written in a non-technical style for the benefit of the many non-professional persons interested in the general nature of the BigThicket. The description of plant associations given in this work isbased on the virgin condition and not as conditions are now. Thisis important so that people who plan to restore the natural habitatwill have an authentic guideline.

I have used the botanical nomenclature of Correll and Johnston’s1970 work, Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas (see References).Some plant names have been changed, so the serious botanist willwant to consult more recent literature if there is a conflict.

In 1936, some interested persons led by R. E. Jackson created theEast Texas Big Thicket Association for the purpose of setting asidesome of the area known as the Big Thicket, but for various reasonsthe effort failed. In 1964, a Saratoga naturalist, Lance Rosier, revivedthe Big Thicket Association and a fresh effort was launched to savesome of the remains. I became a member and began writing aweekly column called “The Big Thicket—Past, Present and Future”in the local newspaper, The Pine Needle. A search for informationturned up a plethora of amazing claims, such as, “If it growsbetween the Mississippi River and the Edwards Plateau, it can befound in the Big Thicket.” Ocelots and monkeys were even reportedas residents. The Big Thicket was called a “Biological Crossroads,”yet I could find no verification, published or unpublished, for any ofthese claims.

Abundant literature was available on the legends, people, and his-tory of the Big Thicket (see Abernethy in the References, for instance),but it would not be sufficient to take a scientist or a senator to

vii

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page vii

the Kaiser Burnout, which is now a pine plantation, and recount theCivil War legend; or to take them to the old Hooks Bear Camp siteand tell of the wildlife of bygone days. The response would probablyhave been, “So what! There were probably dinosaurs here once,” or,“What kind of National Park would a pine plantation make?” Itappeared to me that if we were to save any of the Big Thicket, wewould have to produce evidence based on the “here” and “now”that there is something here worth saving.

Some of the questions to which I sought answers were as fol-lows: Is the Big Thicket unique? Is it really a biological crossroads?Why? Is it disappearing at the rate of fifty acres a day, as some claim?Or, as the opponents of preservation claim, is it bigger and betterthan ever? In light of these questions, I began to take a long, close,unemotional look at the Big Thicket.

Actually, my emotions were involved. I had spent a happy child-hood along the streams and forests of Tyler County. On Sundayafternoons, my mother, Retha Ellis, took us for walks to pick wild-flowers among the towering virgin pines. She gave names to themand pointed out those her mother had used to make medicines anddyes for her homespun cloth. I followed my father, Herbert Ellis, anavid hunter and fisherman, into the deep forests and along thestreams and he would identify the trees. A small branch of TurkeyCreek was only a few hundred yards from our home.

During my lifetime, I have watched all these beautiful scenes ofmy childhood made ugly and disappear. But neither the agony ofwatching my homeland disintegrate nor the memory of its pastglory could be counted as reasons to create a national preserve toanyone but myself.

In my quest for the truth, and evidence of that truth, I went backto school at Lamar University, enrolling in all the classes that wouldhelp me understand and interpret this land. Dr. Donovan Correll, ofthe Texas Research Foundation, was compiling the Manual of theVascular Plants of Texas and enlisted my help collecting specimens inmy area and, in the process, taught plant taxonomy and herbariummanagement to me. I had been listing plants with location andblooming dates for four years, but realized my list was worthlesswithout voucher specimens, so, with the encouragement of Dr.

viii Preface

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page viii

Richard Harrel, as an undergraduate problem at Lamar, I organized aherbarium and began to systematically botanize, preserve, and cata-logue the vegetation of the Big Thicket.

As an amateur botanist in the right place at the right time, I hadthe most eminent persons in that field for teachers. Scientists fromall over the world were coming to the Big Thicket and, since LanceRosier had died, I was the person on the scene to assist them andlearn from them. Eventually, after ten years in the classroom, thefield, and laboratories, the answers began to come.

It didn’t take long to decide that the Big Thicket was beingrapidly altered. As I returned to the flower-filled meadows, thedeep forests of giant oaks, magnolias, and beeches, and the sunnylongleaf pinelands of my childhood, I found either raw earth as faras the eye could see, neat rows of pine trees, or real estate develop-ments. The charming little streams were either choked with brush ordredged for drainage ditches.

I also reached the conclusion that the Big Thicket is indeedunique and the key word is “diversity.” In no other area of compara-ble size can such biological diversity be found. It was apparent thatthis is due largely to its geological history. The age differences of thesurface formations, with resultant differences in elevation, drainagepatterns, and soil types, and its location on the continent whereclimate changes occur, caused a great number of plant communitiesto develop. Patterns began to appear, and I segregated several distinctplant associations. Here, one can literally step from a hydrophyticcommunity with ferns, sphagnum moss, and orchids into a xero-phytic community with cactus, yucca, and other desert flora. Orstand in one spot and, facing in four different directions, viewscenes typical of the Appalachians, or the Florida Everglades, asouthwestern desert, or the pine barrens of the Carolinas (see fig. 1).

This diversity has become a matter of record as scientists like Dr.Paul Harcombe of Rice University and Dr. Peter Marks of CornellUniversity continue to collect and quantify forest ecology researchdata here. Dr. Richard Harrel of Lamar University continues to studythe aquatic communities of the area, and the late Dr. Saul Aronow,an authority on quaternary and tertiary geology, was generous withhis vast knowledge of that land below the surface of the Big Thicket.

Preface ix

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page ix

Dr. Paul Feeny, a British scientist, stated in the prestigious journal,Science, that the Big Thicket was unique in all the world (see fig. 1).

It is my hope that this book will inspire more in-depth, detailedresearch, which will be irrefutable proof that the Big Thicket isindeed a biological wonder of the world. And that there is still aneed to fight for its protection.

Along with Dr. Correll, Dr. Harrel, and Dr. Aronow, I wish tothank Maxine Johnston, former head librarian at Lamar University,for making it possible for my works to be published.

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page x

F I G U R E 1

Inter-relationship of Big Thicket Plant Communities

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page xi

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page xii

1

KEYS TOUNDERSTANDING

MANY THICKETS

Few areas in the United States have inspired such claim and acclaimas the Big Thicket of Southeast Texas; and seldom are such claims socontroversial and so contradictory. While the controversies can gen-erally be laid at the feet of those who want to use all its naturalresources for personal and corporate profits, contradictions comefrom reliable, well-intentioned sources as well. Considering thecomplex nature of the Big Thicket, it is not surprising in this age ofspecialization that each person who investigates the Thicket sees itin the light of his own experience and interests.

The Big Thicket has had many interpreters: The folklorist traces itslegends and pins its boundaries down to the bear hunters’ happyhunting grounds in the “Old Hurricane Section.” The promoter envi-sions hordes of tourists and skyrocketing land values. The lumberman with an eye to the fantastic growth rate of pines, views theThicket as wasteland and useless ornamentals such as magnolia anddogwood trees taking up space where the more profitable pine treescould grow. The biologist discovers opportunities for the study of eco-logical succession. Canoeists, hikers, birdwatchers, sportsmen, loversof wilderness and solitude—each has found in the Big Thicket the ful-fillment of his own particular need and has defined it accordingly.

1

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page 1

2 BIG THICKET PLANT ECOLOGY

There are two major keys to understanding the Big Thicket.One: It is not one, but many extensive thickets, both natural andunnatural, interspersed with open woodlands. Two: There are threemajor definitions of the nature, the location, and the causes of theBig Thicket.

Natural ThicketsImmense natural thickets occupy topographic depressions, seepageslopes, and filled, abandoned stream channels. In moisture-saturatedsoil, if a tree grows tall, it cannot retain its footing but falls andcontributes to the acidic organic debris where fungi decay it andlichens, mosses, and ferns grow on it. When a large canopy tree falls,the sunlit opening quickly acquires a dense population of acid- andmoisture-loving shrubs such as titi (Cyrilla racemiflora), gallberryholly (Ilex coreaceae), wax myrtle (Myrica heterophylla), and variousericaceous shrubs. The dense population of titi in poorly drainedareas of the Traditional Thicket gave it one of its names: “the tight-eye thicket” (“titi” being corrupted to “tight eye”).

There are also natural thickets found in areas that are isolatedfrom wildfire by streams, and where the soil and leaf mulch are toodamp to burn. The leaves of some species such as beech (Fagus gran-difolia), magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), and some oaks are actuallyfire retardant. Thickets of shrubs such as titi, sweetpepper bush(Clethra alnifolia), and azaleas (Rhododendron species), form a band inthe seepage slopes between the closed-canopy slope forest and thewater of baygalls (see photos 1 and 2).

Unnatural ThicketsThe most common thickets today are artificial ones caused by firesuppression (see photo 2). Under natural control, all land not pro-tected by water barriers is swept by wildfires every few years, espe-cially during drought cycles, allowing only those species tolerantin varying degrees of fire to survive. Without fire, wetland savan-nahs are thickly populated with moisture-loving shrubs, while theuplands become dense thickets of yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), wax myr-tle (Myrica cerifera), and various species of non-pyric tree saplings.

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page 2

P H OTO 1 : Natural Thicket (by Geraldine Watson)

NTP_Big Thicket 12/26/06 12:05 PM Page 3