The Big Thicket area has been declared unique in all the world by famous scientists
because of its diversity of habitat. In an area that was being developed, Geraldine Watson
discovered a site that exhibited almost all of the plant communities for which the Big Thicket
is famous. She purchased as much of it as her finances would permit and is working to
restore it to its original condition. It is named in memory of her late husband, Earl Watson,
who supported her years of activism on behalf of the Big Thicket National Preserve.
The Watson Rare Native Plant Preserve has many rare and endangered species of native
plants, including seven species of orchids, four of the five genera of carnivorous plants,
and ten species of ferns. Except for a few introduced plants indigenous to the original habitat,
no cultivated species have been added to the preserve. Many wildflowers and grasses grow
on the sunny, park-like longleaf pine uplands and savannah wetlands, while shade-loving
species prefer the mesic slope forest. Desert plants are found on sandy knolls on the uplands
while aquatics grow in the pools at the slope base. A thicket/baygall community occurs
at the base of the mesic slope forest on the south-end.
Wildlife, both birds and mammals, abound and management practices are careful to preserve
the brood plants of the many types of butterflies here.
Geraldine Watson is in her eighties and has five children. Her husband, Earl Watson, who
died in 1982, supported her environmental work and the preserve is named in his honor.
She attended Lamar University and worked with the many scientists who have used the
Big Thicket as a laboratory/classroom. Ms. Watson was one of the activists who worked
to create the Big Thicket National Preserve. As plant ecologist/ranger for the National Park
Service, she delineated the vegetational zones of the Preserve units and collected and
catalogued the plant life of the Big Thicket area.
Watson has published two books: “Introduction to the Ecology of the Big Thicket" and
"Reflections on the Neches - a Naturalist's Odyssey on the Big Thicket's Snow River",
as well as many articles on environmental ethics, fire ecology, and the history and culture
of the Big Thicket area in numerous publications. She is also a successful artist.
The purpose of the Watson Rare Native Plant Preserve is three-fold: to honor her husband's
memory, to preserve a remnant of the beautiful virgin forests of her childhood, and to restore
the balance of nature as evidence of the creative genius of God.
The preserve is open to the public
at no charge and guided tours may be arranged by calling
