Indian Creek Ranch is in the vegetational Zone 7 of Texas, the Edwards Plateau. We are putting together a gallery of plants that we would expect to find in Indian Creek, with separate pages for trees and shrubs, cactus and succulents, forbs, and grasses. As we find and document the different plants, we will add them to the gallery to help you in identifying the plants on your place. We will emphasize which plants are good for deer, turkey, quail, and other wildlife.
Please remember, we are not plant experts! If you are, we welcome your help. If you aren’t either, we hope you enjoy learning along with us.
I drew this list of “Plants We Expect to Find” from many websites and from these books:
Brush and Weeds of Texas Rangelands, 2008, AgriLife Extension
Texas Range Plants, 1993, Texas A & M University Press
Toxic Plants of Texas, 2003, AgriLife Extension
Your Remarkable Riparian, 2010, Nueces River Authority (this 92-page guide is available free online)
| family | common name | Latin name | notes and links | |
| Beech family | ||||
| Bigelow shinoak | Quercus durandii | also called scalybark shinoak, white shinoak | ||
| TAMU Bigelow oak | ||||
| blackjack oak | Quercus marilandica | TAMU blackjack oak | ||
| live oak | Quercus virginiana | TAMU running live oak | ||
| Wildflower Center live oak | ||||
| second choice for deer | ||||
| Mohr shin oak | Quercus mohriana | |||
| Wildflower Center Mohr oak | ||||
| post oak | Quercus stellata | |||
| Wildflower Center post oak | ||||
| sand shinnery oak | Quercus havardii | |||
| TAMU sand shinnery | ||||
| Buckthorn family | ||||
| Christ thorn | Paliuris spina-christi | also called Jerusalem thorn | ||
| lotebush | Zizyphus obtusifolia | |||
| second choice for deer | ||||
| Citrus family | ||||
| Hercules club | Zanthoxylum clava-herculis | |||
| pricklyash | Zanthoxylum hirsutum | also called tickle-tongue | ||
| Creosote-bush family | also known as Caltrop family | |||
| creosote bush | Larrea tridentata | |||
| Wildflower Center creosote | ||||
| third choice for deer | ||||
| guayacan | Guaiacum angustifolium | also called ironwood | ||
| Wildflower Center guayacan | ||||
| first choice for deer | ||||
| Cypress family | Cupressaceae | |||
| Ashe juniper | Juniperus ashei buchholz | also called blueberry juniper | ||
 |
TAMU Ashe juniper | |||
 |
 |
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| Eastern red cedar | Juniperus virginiana | |||
| redberry juniper | Juniperus pinchotii | |||
| Elm family | Ulmaceae | The elms and hackberries have uneven bases to their leaves — one side is lower than the other. | ||
| cedar elm | Ulmus crassifolia | |||
| first choice for deer | ||||
| elm | Ulmus spp | |||
| hackberry | Celtis spp | |||
 |
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| spiny hackberry | Celtis pallida | also called granjeno | ||
| first choice for deer | ||||
| sugar hackberry | Celtis laevigata | also called palo blanco | ||
| first choice for deer | ||||
| winged elm | Ulmus alata | |||
| Foxglove family | Scrophulariaceae | |||
| ceniza | Leucophyllum frutescens | also called purplesage, Texas silverleaf | ||
| second choice for deer | ||||
| Holly family | Aquifolaceae | |||
| yaupon | Ilex vomitoria | |||
| second choice for deer | ||||
| Legume family | Fabaceae | |||
| blackbrush | Acacia rigidula | |||
| second choice for deer | ||||
| catclaw acacia | Acacia greggii | |||
| second choice for deer | ||||
| catclaw mimosa | Mimosa biuncifera, Mimosa borealis | |||
| goldenball lead tree | Leucaena retusa | |||
 |
TAMU golden ball lead tree | |||
| first choice for deer | ||||
| guajillo | Acacia berlandieri | |||
| second choice for deer | ||||
| honey locust | Gleditsia triacanthos | |||
| honey mesquite | Prosopis glandulosa | |||
| huisache | Acacia smallii | |||
| second choice for deer | ||||
| retama | Parkinsonia aculeata | |||
| second choice for deer | ||||
| Texas kidneywood | Eysenhardtia texana | also called vara dulce | ||
| http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=EYTE | ||||
| first choice for deer | ||||
| twisted acacia | Acacia shaffneri | also called huisachillo | ||
| second choice for deer | ||||
| western honey mesquite | Prosopis glandulosa | |||
| Lily family | ||||
| sacahuista | Nolina texana | |||
| Mulberry family | ||||
| bois d’arc | Maclura pomifera | also called Osage orange | ||
| Persimmon family | ||||
| common persimmon | Diospyros virginiana | also called eastern persimmon | ||
| Texas persimmon | Diospyros texana | |||
| Pine family | Pinaceae | |||
| Texas pinyon | Pinus remota | |||
 |
 |
Wikipedia Texas pinyon | ||
| Rose family | Rosaceae | |||
| mountain mahogany | Cercocarpus montanus var. glaber | also called true mountain mahogany | ||
 |
TAMU mountain mahogany
first choice for deer; |
|||
| Rue family | Rutaceae | |||
| wafer ash | Ptelea trifoliata | hoptree | ||
 |
Wildflower Center wafer ash | |||
| Sapodilla family | ||||
| coma | Sideroxylon celastrinum | also called saffron plum | ||
| http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SICE2 | ||||
| first choice for deer | ||||
| gum bumelia | Sideroxylon lanuginosum | also called coma, chittimwood, wooly bucket | ||
 Gum bumelia, also known as gum bully and about 10 other names. Photo by Jo Roberts. |
http://indian-creek-ranch.org/2015/04/10/plants-of-indian-creek-gum-bumelia/ | |||
| second choice for deer | ||||
| Spurge family | Euphorbiaceae | |||
| leatherstem | Jatropha dioica | also called sangra de drago | ||
 |
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/nativeshrubs/jatrophadioc.htm | |||
| Southwest bernardia | Bernardia myricifolia | also called oreja de raton | ||
 Southwest Bernardia. Photo by Jo Roberts. |
http://indian-creek-ranch.org/2015/04/08/plants-of-indian-creek-southwest-bernardia/ | |||
| first choice for deer | ||||
| Sumac family | ||||
| evergreen sumac | Rhus virens | also called tobacco sumac | ||
 evergreen sumac leaves |
 evergreen sumac bloom |
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/nativeshrubs/rhusviren.htm | ||
| flameleaf sumac | Rhus copallina | |||
| skunkbush sumac | Rhus aromatica | also called fragrant sumac | ||
| Sunflower family | Asteraceae | |||
| Roosevelt willow | Baccharis neglecta | |||
| sand sagebrush | Artemisia filifolia | |||
| seepwillow | Baccharis salicifolia | |||
| Tamarisk family | Tamaricaceae | |||
| saltcedar | Tamarix spp., | |||
| Vervain family | Verbenaceae | |||
| bee brush | Aloysia gratissima | also called beebush, whitebrush | ||
 bee brush |
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/nativeshrubs/aloysiagratis.htm | |||
| Willow family | Salicaceae | |||
| willow | Salix spp. |