Date post: | 31-Mar-2015 |
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Plant List 4
(8 plants this week)
Golden Poppy(Eschscholtzia mexicana)
• Poppy family = Four petals, a lot of pollen-making stamen & many ovaries
• Yellow-orange flower and long fruit
• Leaves are only slightly bigger than the main veins
Spiderling(Boehaavia coccinea)
• Four O’Clock Family = 5-lobed flowers in clusters
• Sticky unevenly heart-shaped leaves in pairs
• Sticky burrs are the fruit
• Sprawling on ground
Manzanita(Arctostaphylos pungens)
• Heather Family (woody, 5-petals, blueberry is part of this family)
• Bush with reddish bark on younger branches
• Stiff tear-drop shaped leaves with pointed tip
• Whitish urn-shaped flowers, dark berries
Madrone(Arbutus arizonica)
• Heather Family (woody, 5-petals, blueberry is part of this family)
• Large tree with reddish bark/new branches
• Long leathery leaves (3-6”), dark green, sometime with teeth on the edge
• Urn-shaped flowers
& reddish berries
Desert Globemallow(Sphaeralcea ambigua)
• Mallow Family (see next section)
• Orange flowers with 5 petals and a fused tube of pollen-making stamen, about 1” across
• Large triangular leaves with wavy edges and covered with silver hairs
Other Mallow spp.
• Mallow Family = All mallow flowers– 5 petals (distinct), and 5 sepals (green part
below the flower– Many pollen-making stamen fused into a tube– Tip of the female part of the flower sticks up
through the tube– Fruit is a dry, sectioned circle
Hackberry(Celtis pallida)
• Elm Family
• Thick bush with thin veins and small, oval-shaped leaves (less than 1.5”)– May have a few teeth, may not
• Branches zig-zag, thorns
• Tasty orange berries
Cottonwood, Fremont(Populus fremontii)
• Willow Family = woody (droopy) trees
• Toothed leaves almost as wide at the base as they are long (like an equilateral triangle)
• Tall with pale brown bark
• White, fuzzy fruit on female tree
Plant List 4
• Gold Poppy (Eschscholtzia mexicana)• Spiderling (Boehaavia coccinea)• Madrone (Arbutus arizonica)• Manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens)• Desert Globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua)
• Other Mallow spp.• Hackberry (Celtis pallida)• Cottonwood, Fremont (Populus fremontii)
Plant List 5
(7 plants this week)
Rattlesnake Weed(Euphorbia albomarginata)
• (Euphorbia family)
• Small, ground cover plant
• Four small white petals, purple inner portion to the petal
• Poisonous weed with milky sap
Limber Bush(Jatropha cardiophylla)
• (Euphorbia family)• Flexible reddish stick,
usually leafless– “Sangre de Cristo”– “Dragon’s Blood”
• Heart-shaped leaves during rainy season– “Heart-Leafed Limberbush”
Jojoba(Simmondsia chinensis)
• (Euphorbia/Spurge family)
• Blue-green oval leathery leaves, often in pairs & vertical
• Male: small, yellow pollen flowers w/o petals
• Female: make dark oily “nut”
London Rocket*(Sisymbrium irio)
• Mustard family – 4 petals in a “cross” shape, seed pod with two layers
• Leaves with jagged edges from plant base
• Tiny yellow flowers on tip of long seed stalk
• Long seed pods
Shepherd’s Purse*(Capsella bursa-pastoris)
• Mustard family – 4 petals in a “cross” shape, seed pod with two layers
• Leaves with jagged edges from plant base
• Tiny pink flowers on tip of long seed stalk
• Heart-shaped seed pods
Desert Mistletoe(Phoradendron californicum)
• Mistletoe family – poisonous parasite plant with green branches and berries
• Very brittle, knobby twigs
• Found on legume trees (trees that make bean-pods like mesquite, acacia or palo verde)
• RED coloration (twig & berry)
Other Mistletoe(Phoradendron spp.)
• Mistletoe family – poisonous parasite plant with green branches and berries
• Very brittle, knobby, oval leaves
• Found many long-living trees– Oak, hackberry, juniper, pine
Plant List 6
(7 plants this week)
Creosote Bush(Larrea tridentata)
• Two fused leaves (smell like rain) on ribbed, grey-black branches
• Flower yellow with “teeth” like petals
• Fuzzy white fruit
• Roots are extremely good at extracting water from the soil so that other plants cannot survive below it.
• One of the oldest plants (12,000 years old), new shoots grow from the outer portions while the inner ones die (form a circle)
Goat’s Head(Tribulus terrestris)*
• Short, sprawling plant with many leaflets
• Pale 5-petal flower
• Five fruits with two horns each– Resembling a goat’s head– Also called Puncture Vine
Filaree(Erodium cicutarium)*
• Lavender 5-petal flower and a fruit that is long, green, and pointy
• Common “weed,” short and in disturbed soil
• Lobed leaves (with pointed tips), stems are reddish and hairy
• (Geranium Family)
Poison Ivy(Rhus radicans)
• Three pointed oval leaflets ( often the one at the tip is on a stalk, the two at the sides are not)
• Oil on leaves can cause skin to itch
• Leaf edge may be toothed or wavy (or may not)
Hopbush(Dodonaea viscosa)
• Waxy, narrow leaves, 2-4 inches long with a rounded tip
• Female plants make a 3 or 4 winged fruit, starts green and turns, yellow, then papery and white
• Evergreen bush found along waterways
Arizona Sycamore (Platanus wrightii)
• Large tree with white bark (sometimes with peeling pieces), loses leaves in the winter
• 5-fingered leaf (palmate)
• Fruits are dry brown balls that have fluffy seeds when broken apart
Oak(Quercus spp.)
• Many species with overlapping variation in leaves – often toothed or lobed and leathery
• Tree with rough grey bark (dense wood)
• Make acorns
Note: Interbreeding between species is common
Emory, Mexican White and Mexican Blue Oak are the most common in the area
White Oak
Emory Oak
Mexican Blue Oak