The tallgrass prairie regions of Texas (in color, #2, #4, and #5) are the Blackland Prairies (which includes the Dallas, Waco, and Austin areas), the Cross Timbers and Prairies (Grand Prairie subregion, consisting of the Fort Worth Prairie and the Lampasas Cut Plains), and the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes (which includes the Houston area).
“I can sit on the porch before my door and see miles of the most beautiful prairie interwoven with groves of timber, surpassing, in my mind, the beauties of the sea. Think of seeing a tract of land on a slight include covered with flowers and rich meadow grass for 12 to 20 miles…” - John Brooke, an early settler in the tallgrass prairies of Texas, 1849
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia)
“The most variegated carpet of flowers I ever beheld lay unrolled before me – red, yellow, violet, blue, every color, every tint was there… The finest artificial garden in the world would sink into insignificance when compared with this parterre of nature’s own planting.” - Charles Sealsfield in the tallgrass prairies of Texas, 1843
“My horse could scarcely make his way through the wilderness of flowers, and I for a time remained lost in admiration of this scene of extraordinary beauty. The prairie in the distance looked as if clothed with rainbows that waved to and fro over its surface.” - Charles Sealsfield in the tallgrass prairies of Texas, 1843
Prairie Celestial (Nemastylis geminiflora) and polinator
Out of the original 20 million acres of beautiful Texas tallgrass prairie, less than 1% remains due to suburban sprawl, plowing for row-crop agriculture, and improper overgrazing during the last 150 years.
Conservation and restoration of tallgrass prairie is needed as habitat for wildlife such as grassland birds and native pollinators. Grassland birds are experiencing the greatest declines of all bird groups, and to save the grassland birds we need to protect and restore their habitat: the prairie.
We need to conserve beautiful native Texas prairie plants and critically imperiled native plant communities. Most tallgrass native plant communities have a Global Conservation Status of G1 - Critically Imperiled to G2 – Imperiled, the most threatened conservation rankings. These conservation rankings mean the native plant communities are at high to very high risk of extinction due to few populations, steep declines, or other factors.
Tallgrass prairie is a beautiful and special piece of Texas history and natural heritage.
Recent studies have found diverse native prairie plantings to be the highest energy biofuel while simultaneously sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, while being far better for the environment than corn grain ethanol or soybean biodiesel.
Native prairie remnants have been measured to include hundreds of species of native plants, including beautiful prairie flowers and grasses.
Our current generation is the last chance to save this important piece of Texas’ cultural and natural heritage, and with Texas’ high projected population growth we must act now to save these special places.
Prairie Larkspur (Delphinium carolinianum)
Monarch (Danaus plexippus) on Ground Plum (Astragalus sp.)
Prairie Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia)
Dickcissel (Spiza americana)
Primrose (Calylophus sp.) among Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
Black Swallowtails (Papilio polyxenes) on Prairie Foxglove (Penstemon cobaea)
Standing Winecup (Callirhoe pedata)
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) on Pale Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)
Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea) and Englemann Daisy (Engelmannia peristenia) among Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris sp.) among Silveus' Dropseed (Sporobolus silveanus)
