FORT SILL, Okla. -- The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is a premiere place to see native prairie wildflowers, and if you want to know their names, take a tour with an amateur botanist.
Wildflower walking tours (which include a bus ride to three different areas) will be given May 14 and 21, at 10 a.m., and pre-registration is advised. I did the May 7 tour, led by Friends of the Wichitas volunteer Helen Riley. We received a printed list to keep of the flowers likely to be found, and a picture sheet and book which we returned at the end.
We started out at a parking area alongside Lake Quanah Parker and walked into a rocky field full of tiny white ground cover flowers (least daisies), stunning red Indian paintbrush, and Bailey's barrel cactus ready to bust out their hot pink blooms. A killdeer played the broken wing trick, trying to lure us away from a presumable nest. The rocky outcropping offered many flat gravelly spots that killdeer favor, so we kept an eye out.
Riley knew every flower and gave us background information on some of them. She also gave a mini-geology lesson and explained how the Quanah granite areas have different vegetation from the gabbro (sedimentary rock) areas. Penstemon flowers were found in the latter area near Mount Scott, for instance, but not seen in the granite areas.
She also said the paintbrush was especially abundant this year. The rains this winter and spring contributed. She also said how fire was a natural part of prairie landscapes and the refuge does prescribed burns to mimic that process without having it run amok. Fire will kill the eastern red cedar seedlings, and without it, the tree tends to spread, helping transform the prairie into a woodland. Areas that were burned over the winter have grown back lush and green and full of wildflowers. Riley counted 60 species seen, but I could only check off 45.
It was hard for me to keep up with the leader, since this flower or that demanded extra attention with the camera. On top of that, birds kept distracting me. I went back later and found that grasshopper sparrow buzzing in the background of the flower field. I also found singing painted buntings just up the road (an unreal combination of cobalt, chartreuse and cherry plumage) and the endangered black-capped vireo, number 460 on my life list.
Riley said the refuge's fields should be chock-a-block with yellow coreopsis and threadleaf thelesperma within two weeks. It's worth a trip after work just to see that.
We won't even talk about the prairie dog pups, the bison with calves, and the striking longhorn cattle that will also vie for your attention.
By mid-afternoon the barrel cactus, warmed by the sun, had opened their vivid magenta flowers. They love the rocky spots, and because not much other vegetation grows on them, their flowers stand out like spotlights. A couple of prickly pear cactus near the lake's boat ramp even had giant yellow blooms.
The refuge offers many types of tours throughout the year, so ask for the list at the visitor center. Even if you prefer solo exploring, a guided tour offers added benefits. You sometimes find people who know people you know from far flung corners of the world. I met a retired sergeant first class who served in Iraq with a law enforcement park ranger I knew in Big Bend National Park, Texas! Even for us introverts, that's a cool thing.
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