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CDRI Desert NewsFlash
November 2022
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The lighting on Mitre Peak as the sun set opposite it was spectacular on October 28. This photo was taken through the filter of a glass door while not wanting to disturb the dinner party that was in full swing on the porch that looks toward Mitre Peak.
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| It's Thanksgiving, Y'all!
November is a time when we are reminded of the many people we are thankful for. We are reminded daily of how grateful we are for each of you. Without you, we wouldn't have a reason to keep on going. So, from the team, we thank you! Thank you very much for your support -- by visiting the Nature Center, through your donations, and through your membership.
Last Saturday, from my office, I could hear visitors exclaiming about the beauty of the CDRI site. Some were remarking about the gorgeous trails, while still others were talking about the fall colors in the botanical gardens, and others shared their delight over the cactus collection. And there were those who came to shop and who were not disappointed! It was meaningful to hear from so many people who felt so good about their visit. Thank you!
Thanks to the very generous support from donors, we have added a scat and tracks display to the Powell Visitor Center lobby area this year. We also replaced the ten panels (six 5 ft. x 3 ft. and four 3 ft. x 3ft.) at the top of Clayton's Overlook. A new trail was created for the Modesta Canyon and Clayton's Overlook trailhead. Interpretive panels and directional signs for the new trail are currently in production, in addition to new identification markers along the entire distance of the Modesta Canyon Trail. We also added two new ornamental demonstration gardens at the entrance to the Pollinator Garden. New signs identifying the plant Families at each of the plant groupings inside the Botanical Gardens were installed. We also added trees to the Chinquapin Grove. We addressed the flooding issues in the Botanical Gardens and in the parking lot, and then added new gravel to the parking area, and added pea gravel to paths around the Visitor Center and the path that leads to the Botanical Gardens.
Very importantly, your donations through the Education "Paddle Raise" at the annual BBQ & Auction fundraiser, in addition to the grants received from generous charitable foundations, allow us to honor our mission by producing some great educational programs, and then offer all of our educational programs -- for all ages -- for free. Thank you!
We owe a huge thank you to our very loyal group of volunteers who help to keep the Botanical Gardens, Cactus Greenhouse and the Wildscape Garden around the Powell Visitor Center looking beautiful. We also have volunteers who do the actual heavy lifting by moving large rocks, digging ditches, and weeding, and then they turn around and lead hikes and garden tours, feed the birds on the weekend, and help us with our education programs. Thank you to each of CDRI's volunteers!
We have a terrific team, with Faith Hille as our Head Gardener and Miguel Lopez as our Site and Maintenance Manager. Laura Gold works as the host at the Information Desk on Mondays and Tuesdays. We also have some dedicated host campers throughout the year, including returning host camper BJ King. This is BJ's 6th year at the Nature Center. Each of these team members goes out of their way to welcome guests and to do what they can to help make CDRI the shining star of the Big Bend Region. And starting November 7, we're looking forward to welcoming Ivory Harlow as our new Programs & Events Coordinator.
Not to be overlooked is our Board of Directors. We are fortunate to have a supportive Board that understands CDRI's vision and its values. The directors provide the "wind beneath our wings" and help to guide the direction we're always looking toward.
So to each of you who has helped us realize another incredibly successful year, we thank you! We've got a few more things to do before we wrap up 2022, and then we'll be ready to get going on some new projects. I'm not sure how we can top this year, but we'll give it a try and see what we can do!
Thank you! And Happy Thanksgiving!
Lisa Fargason Gordon
Executive Director
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|  | Volunteer Marty Havran led some of the hikes for The Earth Rocks! program
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| CDRI Volunteers rocked
"The Earth Rocks!"
CDRI's educational program, The Earth Rocks!, was a whopping success for 5th graders attending from schools within the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Region 18 served area and one school from Austin. The event, held on October 19 and 20, was one of the first in the region for day-long field trips since Covid took over our lives in 2020.
With the last Earth Rocks! program held in 2019, this event kicked off a new school year and a new beginning for students to come out of their homes and venture beyond their classrooms to learn about nature -- and, in this case, specifically about Earth Science.
Over a two-day period, CDRI hosted students from Fort Stockton, Presidio, Fort Davis, Marfa, Valentine, and the Austin International School. AIS was coincidentally in the neighborhood on those days, so we invited them to participate in the program.
We are grateful to our volunteers who helped lead the Learning Stations. Some of our volunteers knew the procedures very well, while it was brand new for others.
We have shared photos (below) of each of the volunteer teachers. They each took to their assignment like they had done this for their entire lives. Our volunteers, the great teacher support, and the students made this one a very fun comeback program! Thank you to all who gave of their time and love of sharing science's wonders to lead the learning stations and work at the information desk and gift shop. Our volunteers are amazing.
Thank you to CDRI volunteers Anne Adams, Allen and Peggy Gilchrist, Pam Cook, Warren Shaul, Hoot Baez, Cameron Adams, Marty Havran, and Roy Saffel. We also owe a big thank you to Drs. Elizabeth Measures and Kevin Urbanczyk for attending the program, as well as two members of the SRSU Geology Club who assisted with the learning stations. This was just to first of many programs yet to come!
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Join us for Herp Day!
Herp Day was created in 2016 by students in the SRSU Biology Club. After helping present our "Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! Day" program (for 2nd and 3rd-grade students), they came up with the idea of teaching children about "herps" (reptiles and amphibians). So, in 2016 SRSU Biology Department Graduate students Ali Hassenflu and Krystal Bencomo pushed to get the program on the calendar. They helped create the lessons and ensured that those lessons were included in the 4th-grade curriculum. The program was a "hit" from its inception and has continued to be a mainstay of our lineup of programs offered at CDRI.
Please contact us at programs@cdri.org if you are interested in your children joining us in this fantastic program. Details about Herp Day follow.
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| Please make plans to join us for
CDRI's
Volunteer Appreciation Dinner
Saturday, December 3, 2022
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
at the Powell Visitor Center
Dinner catered by Poco Mexico!
CDRI volunteers, their families, and those interested in volunteering
are invited for a fun evening with friends!
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Garden Notes
Text and photos by Faith Hille
Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii)
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| Early last May, I noticed a large herbaceous plant growing in front of the Powell Visitor Center’s crescent bed. It was fast-growing with broad forest green leaves and deep purple stems. I recognized the plant but was not 100 percent sure of its identity. I knew it to be a toxic, highly invasive plant through my time collecting plants with Borderlands Research Institute. My bias against this plant is the result of the majority of my studies being based on wildlife and agriculture. However, Seth Hamby (former gardener of CDRI) noted at the beginning of shadowing him, “if you aren’t sure what a plant is, wait for it to flower, then determine if it is a desirable or a weed.” A weed can be anything the gardener deems unpleasant or simply in the wrong place, such as grasses in a raised bed or cacti in a bed specifically for flowers. The herbaceous plant was allowed to stay in the bed until determined “desirable.” Boy howdy! I’m glad I let it stay! As the first flower bloomed in the early morning, I immediately recognized it as “Jimsonweed,” also known as Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii).
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| Sacred Datura is native to the southwest, found primarily in northern Mexico and as far north as eastern Washington. It thrives in disturbed sandy soils, specifically along roadsides. It is commonly used as an ornamental due to its beautiful flowers and robust nature and is an excellent specimen for xeriscapes. Large, white, trumpet-shaped flowers cover the 2-5 ft. plant, which makes a stark contrast to the large dark green leaves. The eight-inch-long fragrant blooms are tinged with purple, bear five slender teeth along the rim, and bloom June – October. After flowering, it produces a walnut-sized fruit that is spiny and bears many seeds. However, to the dismay of many of our visitors, Datura only blooms in the late evening to early morning. But there is one visitor who flutters right over our locked gates at night – the hawk moth.
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| The hawk moth waits in the evening rather impatiently for the compact spiraled corolla to unfurl. Once the flower fully pops open, it releases a powerful sweet aroma, and the moth dives in headfirst! It wiggles deep into the throat of the flower and uses its four-inch proboscises to reach the nectar. While it feeds, the hawk moth beats its wings against the corolla, causing pollen to cover its hairy body and anthers, thus pollinating the Datura. Hawk moths are one of the few insects that pollinate Datura making this relationship quite vital. After the hawk moth is satisfied with its meal, it rather clumsily flies out of the flower and, most of the time falls to the ground. This baffled researchers because hawk moths are known to gracefully hover around and zip from place to place like hummingbirds. However, the erratic behavior of the moth is induced by the plant’s narcotic substances. It is assumed that the moth becomes addicted to the alkaloids, which keeps this inebriated bug coming back for more, ensuring the plant’s survival.
The hawk moth is not the only one that has discovered these narcotic properties. Humans discovered its uses as a poison, sedative, medication, and aphrodisiac as early as the Babylonian times. There are several different species of Datura with the same effects around the world. But a few poor unfortunate souls didn’t know the powers of Datura.
Remember when I brought up the common name jimsonweed? That refers to the incident in the Jamestown settlement when soldiers ate Datura leaves in a salad and suffered delirium and hallucinations. These side effects are not to be used light-heartedly.
The other common name Sacred Datura refers to its uses in sacred rituals done by indigenous people in North and South America. A southern California tribe, the Chumash, had a ritual in which an eight-year-old boy would be given a drink made from Datura. It was a rite of passage to provide him with the spiritual well-being to become a man. It is to be noted that not all boys survived.
As for me, I will continue to admire this incredible nightshade every morning when I come to work. I hope y’all will come to see it grow next season at its peak beauty.
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October's Events & Visiting Groups
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| The Houston Cactus & Succulent Society
CDRI's friends from the Houston Cactus & Succulent Society visited CDRI last month. They had planned a trip to CDRI in 2020, which was canceled due to Covid. We're happy that things are getting back to normal, and they could venture this way to see us and our great cactus collection. CDRI's Head Gardener, Faith Hille, led the tour through the Botanical Garden and the Cactus Museum Collection.
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| Louis A Harveson:
R. Conant Distinguished Guest Lecturer
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| The Roger Conant Distinguished Guest Lecturer Program returned for its fall 2022 program at the Crowley Theater in Marfa, Texas, on October 13. Thank you to everyone who came out to hear guest lecturer Louis Harveson, Director of Borderlands Research Institute.
Dr. Harveson presented a thought-provoking talk about the land and the amount of space it takes for specific, individual wildlife species to survive. Thank you to the Crowley Theater, Marfa, Texas, for once again providing the perfect venue for the program. Further thanks to Rob Crowley for providing the audio/visual technical support. Thanks are also due to BJ King and Joe Williams for assisting with set up and refreshments, and thanks to Stone Village Market for catering the reception.
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We're excited to announce our April 13, 2023 distinguished guest lecturer will be Dr. Lauren Esposito, Assistant Curator, Schlinger Chair of Arachnology, at the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA.
Lauren describes her studies, "I study the patterns and processes of evolution in scorpions and their fascinating venoms, spiders, and whip spiders. I am particularly interested in the interactions between biota, geology, and climate that have led to the present-day assemblage of life on Earth. I feel that by understanding the history of life on Earth, we can make better-informed decisions for enabling the present-day flora and fauna to continue to adapt and evolve."
Please make a note to save the date. You won't be disappointed.
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Please Join Us on Thanksgiving Day!
Open 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
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From the CDRI Team, we wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday!
Photo by friend of CDRI, Carol DiQuilio
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Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute, P.O. Box 905, Fort Davis, TX 79734
432.364.2499
www.cdri.org
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