East Texas Prairie.

In the summer of 2005, Dwayne Estes, Ph.D., took a trip to Texas and traveled to Tyler. He visited the site where a specimen of native clematis had been collected decades before.

The plants were behind a shuttered gas station near northwest Loop 323. It was in full bloom and Dr. Estes immediately realized that it was “strikingly different” from the common species in Tennessee for which it was identified.

With a live specimen for comparison, Dr. Estes published the new species description in the 2006 Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

Aside from Dr. Estes, the unusual species had been collected and observed before 2005 and had been photographed by Sonnia Hill many times.

It took focused study and comparison to the Tennessee populations to conclude that Clematis carrizoensis was its own distinct species endemic to a few counties on the Carrizo Sands of East Texas.

If you’d like to hear more about the plight of this and other wildflowers of the southeastern United States, plan to attend a lecture by Dr. Dwayne Estes hosted by the Gertrude Windsor Garden Club. The public lecture will be Tuesday April 18 at 10:30 a.m. at the Rose Garden Center in Tyler.

Dwayne Estes is the co-founder and executive director of the Southeastern Grasslands Institute, a conservation organization based out of Austin Peay State University that is dedicated to the protection and restoration of the Southeast’s native grasslands.

These grasslands are the most imperiled ecosystems in eastern North American and are host to exponentially greater biodiversity than any other terrestrial ecosystem, with only 1% of these native grasslands remaining.

In addition to his role as executive director of the Southeastern Grasslands Institute, Dwayne is a Full Professor of Biology and Principal Investigator for the Center of Excellence for Field Biology at Austin Peay, where he teaches courses in botany and ecology.

Dr. Estes has published over 20 publications, described six new-to-science species, and co-authored the Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee.

He received his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2008. He is passionate about teaching and training the next generation of botanists and conservationists. He enjoys working alongside his students in the field most of all.

For more information about the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative visit https://www.segrasslands.org/ or follow them on Facebook.

In addition to learning about vanishing native grasses and wildflowers on Tuesday, plan to attend the Smith County Master Gardeners’ Library Lecture Series Friday in the Taylor Auditorium at the Tyler Public Library at 11:30 a.m.

Friend and Smith County Master Gardener Katy Barone will speak on “No Till Gardens for Small Spaces” and tell how you can transform a small space into something beautiful will littler effort.

The Smith County Master Gardeners are a volunteer organization trained and coordinated by the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service.