"In Central Texas, an area of rugged limestone hills and deep river valleys forms the Hill Country, perhaps the most spectacular wildflower-producing area in the state. The flora of a region is usually determined by its soils, and the soils here range from dark calcareous clays to cream-colored caliche, both having evolved from the underlying Cretaceous limestone. Rainfall ranges from 10 to 15 inches in the westernmost reaches and up to 30 inches in the east.

Centered in this land of undulating hills and fertile valleys is the Llano Uplift, where igneous and metamorphic rock has pushed to the surface. The most conspicuous feature of this unusual geological area in Enchanted Rock, a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome that is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formations uncovered by erosion) in the country. Despite the unfertile, decayed granite soils of this area, a great variety of wildflowers thrive here. Spiderwart, bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, greenthread, bladderpod, and basin bellflower bloom throughout the spring. Prickly pear and claret cup cacti punctuate the landscape with spectacular yellow and red blossoms, respectively.

Accounts by early settlers in this region describe endless seas of wildflowers. While such vistas no longer exist, one can still encounter mile after mile of roadside flowers along most of the highways and farm roads that crisscross the area. There are still many fields and pastures, which, with adequate fall and winter moisture, will be filled with bluebonnets, prairie coneflowers, coreopsis, gaillardia, Engelmann's daisies, and brown-eyed Susans from March through June."

-from page 49