Post Oak Savannah

Immediately west of the East Texas Piney Woods we find the Post Oak Savannah emerging almost imperceptibly with its subtle changes in soil and vegetation. This approximately 8,500,000 acres of gently rolling to hilly land receives an annual rainfall of 35 to 45 inches per year. While much of this area is somewhat arid due to the clay pan soils, a notable exception occurs in Bastrop County, the home of the Lost Pines. The Carrizo sands here harbor a unique community of loblolly pine, post oak, and blackjack oak.

The Post Oak Savannah is punctuated by scattered oaks – mainly post oaks and blackjack oaks. Black hickory may also be locally abundant. Cedar elm, sugarberry, eastern red cedar and common persimmon are also widespread. Historically, wide vistas of tall-grass – little bluestem, Indiangrass, switchgrass and a myriad of wildflowers were broken only by the occasional motte of trees giving the landscape a park like atmosphere. Peat bogs mingled amongst stands of flowering dogwood, sassafras, brumelia and yaupon are also found here.

This transitional area between woodlands and prairies was especially attractive to the early European settlers. Today the region is mostly improved pasture with vast acreages seeded to Bahia Grass and Bermuda Grass.

The distinctive sandy inclusion of the Lost Pines area harbors one of the last refuges for the endangered Houston Toad.

Plants for the Post-Oak Savannah

  • Trees
    • Wooly birch
    • Pecan
    • Black hickory
    • Sugarberry
    • Black walnut
    • Southern red oak
    • Bur oak
    • Blackjack oak
    • Chinkapin oak
    • Post oak
    • American elm
    • Cedar elm
    • Texas persimmon
    • Wax myrtle
    • Honey mesquite
    • Drumond red maple
    • Eastern redbud
    • Flowering dogwood
    • Mexican plum
    • Ashe juniper
    • Loblolly pine
  • Shrubs
    • American beautyberry
    • Buttonbush
    • Black dalea
    • Lantana
    • Texas honeysuckle
    • Autumn sage
    • Sassafras
    • Coral-berry
  • Succulents
    • Prickly-pear cactus
    • Narrow-leaf yucca
    • Thread-leaf yucca
  • Vines
    • Wooly pipevine
    • Cross-vine
    • Trumpet-creeper
    • Old man’s beard
    • Coral honeysuckle
    • Virginia creeper
    • May-pop
    • Yellow passionvine
    • Prairie rose
    • Mustang grape
  • Grasses
    • Big blue stem
    • Broomsedge
    • Sideoats grama
    • Cane bluestem
    • Buffalograss
    • Inland sea-oats
    • Hooded windmillgrass
    • Canada wildrye
    • Big muhly
    • Little bluestem
    • Indiangrass
  • Wildflowers
    • Butterfly-weed
    • Winecup
    • Prairie larkspur
    • Coralbean
    • Late boneset
    • Maximillian sunflower
    • Cardinal flower
    • Turk’s cap
    • Scarlet sage
    • Indian paintbrush
    • Texas bluebells
    • Texas bluebonnet