Carolina Anemone
The Longleaf Ridge Texas Master Naturalists, on a field trip to Five Mile Prairie March 5, 2022, observed a flower that had yet to be recorded for Deep East Texas on iNaturalist. Russell Pfau, an iNat Curator who has been focusing on anemones, confirmed the ID and commented, "Oh, good. Finally an observation of this species from deep East Texas." According to Pfau, this species is "known from all around that area." He said that "This species requires sandy soils, and open areas without competition from trees."
The "Open areas without competition from trees" probably explains why we observed this species at Five Mile Prairie. This is one of the only areas, like Black Branch Barrens, in the Angelina National Forest, that resembles a prairie. The Catahoula Formations in both areas provide some of the only places here that don't have lots of trees, unless it's mowed, and we don't usually look for flowers in mowed places. This page explains why the lack of trees, if interested:
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/southern/BlackBranchBarrens/index.shtml
