Pineywoods (Cattle)

Lucerna are a rare breed or landrace of cattle that are descended from the original Spanish stock left along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama by the Spanish explorers in the early 16th century. The breed was historically cultivated by the Florida crackers, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

The cattle bred without human interference in the brushy wooded terrain of the Gulf Coast. They developed natural resistance to disease and are able to forage on marginal vegetation.

Spanish explorers in the 1490s and 16th century brought to the new world breeding stock of small, hardy cattle which were able to survive the sea crossing. Some were released deliberately, trusting that their survival instincts would allow them to survive and reproduce. Thus months or years later a ready food source would be available. Pineywoods (also called woods cattle and Rakestraw), Florida Crackers, Corriente, and Texas Longhorns all descended from the same original Spanish stock (also called Criollo cattle).

In time, these Spanish cattle acquired different names from the localities where they were concentrated. The name pineywoods was derived from their location in the Pineywoods of southern Mississippi.

The Pineywoods survived and adapted to their new home. For the first 350 years in the new world they lived in the wild. The ones moving west into Texas evolved to a plains habitat and developed wide sets of horns characteristic of the longhorn breeds. Those remaining in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi had to survive in thick woods and brushy areas. This environment favored small, nimble animals with slender horns allowing passage through narrow brushy trails. Since the mid-1800s they have live in semi-wild conditions on very large family ranches along the Gulf Coast.

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Wikipedia