Category Archives: Invisible flowers

A GLORIOUS MOUNTAIN HIKE

A few days ago I went to Arizona Lithographers and picked up their 2014 calendar. I knew that they included one of my paintings in the calender, but wanted to see it in print. This is part of the back of the calendar with  a portion of the August page from a painting I did of Seven Falls in the Catalina Mountains (the painting on the right in the middle row).

AZ LITHO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Yesterday Ed and I decided to revisit a trail I have hiked many times. It is a section of the Arizona Trail (a trail that goes from Mexico to Utah, a total of about 800 miles.) We drove to Molino Basin in the Catalina Mountains, and set off across the road and toward the east. It was cool with light breezes. This late in November we did not expect to see anything in bloom, but right away we saw several camphorweed plants with a few blooms (Heterotheca subaxillaris). Then one lone wire lettuce (Stephanomeria sp.), and several turpentine bushes (Ericameria laricifolia) loaded with flowers.

Turpentine bush

 

 

The leaves of the Turpentine bush smell like – you guessed it – turpentine.

 

 

 

 
It took us a while to realize that there was another plant in full and glorious bloom, one of my “invisible” flowers. We were not sure of the exact species, but it is one of the euphorbias, possibly Spurge (Euphorbia pediculifera). The plant was very dry and somewhat shriveled, and it was not until we got home that I could see that it was really in bloom. In fact it was loaded with blossoms, each one very minute.

Euphorb bellota saddle1

Here is the plant seen from above

It is about 6 inches across

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Euphorb bellota saddle5

Euphorb bellota saddle2

 

Here I am holding two little branches of the plant. If you look closely you can see the individual flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

This is one flower greatly enlarged (the actual flower is less than a tenth of an inch wide)

There is a lot going on in this tiny flower.

 

 

 

 

 
The hillside we climbed is covered with shin daggers (Agave schottii). There were no flowers, but plenty of flower stalks, and some of them sported little baby agaves – pups – plants that were starting to form on the mother ready to drop to the ground and assert their independence. Neither of us had ever noticed shin daggers sprouting babies like this before, though we had seen other agaves that have this skill.
Bellota view
Our turn-around point afforded us a view to the south of Agua caliente hill, and behind it the Rincon mountains. It was a truly gorgeous day, and another delightful hike.

BUCKWHEATS

Many times I find nature overwhelming in its complexity and beauty. It is impossible to know everything about everything. Over time I have learned that it is enough to get to know some things about a few things in a fairly limited area. Which brings me to buckwheat. I first got interested in buckwheat when I did illustrations for the first edition of Charlie Kane’s “Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest”, including paintings of flat-top buckwheat (p. 98-100). Now, eight years later, I decided to take a closer look at the buckwheat flowers.

With my new camera and lens I can zoom in and see flowers at a much closer range than before, and discover things I have not yet noticed.

The buckwheat family is called Polygonaceae, from the Greek word polygon = knee, referring to the fact that many in this genus have thickened joints on their stems.

The genus is eriogonum, from two Greek words: erion=hairy or woolly, and gonu=joint, since some species in this genus have hairy joints.

How many Eriogonum species are there?
240 – in the world (Wikipedia)
200 – in the United States ( Kane)
100 – in Southern California, Arizona and New Mexico (Ricketts)
50 – in Arizona (Epple)
5 – in the Santa Catalina mountains above 4000′ (Verrier and Tedford)

Of these five, let me show you two, one visible and the other “invisible”.

The visible one is Flat-topped buckwheat or eriogonum fasciculatum. The botanical name refers to the fact that the leaves are in fascicles, or bundles where they attach to the stem.

Here we see a road cut in the Catalina Mountains with eriogonum fasciculatum in fairly large clumps all along the slope.  Eriogonum fasciculatum1pass
Eriogonum fasciculatum1
These large masses look almost black in the late fall and winter. Then, in the early spring, they turn a beautiful green and soon are topped with a bouquet of pale pink flowers.  After a while, as the flowers fade, the top turns a pleasant rust color.

 

 

Here we see a group of plants, with just a few flowers left.

 

 

Eriogonum fasciculatum3

 

Here is a single plant showing some fresh flowers, and some that have turned brown.

Eriogonum fasciculatum3b

Here is a plant with mostly new flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eriogonum fasciculatum5

 

A single branch with a cluster on the top consisting of many flowers packed tightly together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eriogonum fasciculatum6

 

 

Here is the cluster close up. Note that some of the flowers have aged and turned reddish brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eriogonum fasciculatum7

 

This is a single flat-topped buckwheat flower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second species is one of the “invisible” buckwheats,  – Sorrel eriogonum,  eriogonum polycladon (meaning having many branches).

Eriogonum polycladon3

The plants are about two feet tall. You can see the way they branch. The pinkish-white parts at the end of the stems are the flowers. There are fields full of these plants between 4000′ and 5000′. Often I have walked by them and wondered if they were in bloom or not, since the flowers are so small. The stems are grey. The flower buds are partly red and the flowers mostly white. From a distance these plants give a beautiful pink glow to the landscape.

 

 

 

 

Eriogonum polycladon7

 

Eriogonum polycladon7blackThis is a close-up of a group of buds, part of a flower and some fading flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a single flower, very small, nearly invisible yet quite beautiful.

 

MORE INVISIBLE FLOWERS

Today I had the pleasure of doing a nature walk in Sabino Canyon. There were five of us. We took the tram to the last stop (number 9), and then slowly walked down the road to the 7th stop, looking at plants, insects, birds, trees, shrubs, etc., on the way. It was absolutely delightful. After an hour and a half of exploring we took the return tram and had a pleasant lunch.

I found many of the “invisible” flowers I have been looking for and met a few I had not yet known. Here are some of the close up pictures of the flowers. Keep in mind that most of them are less than a quarter of an inch wide.

Amaranthus fimbriatus7Ayenia filiformis7Commicarpus scandens9Dalea pringlei7Desmodium psilocarpum7Dodonea viscosa7femaleDodonea viscosa7maleEuphorbia florida7Evolvulus alsinoides7Porophyllum gracile7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fringed amaranth – Amaranthus fimbriatus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ayenia – Ayenia filiformis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bush spiderling – Commicarpus scandens

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pringle prairie clover – Dalea pringlei

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santa Cruz island tick clover – Desmodium psilocarpum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Female flowerHop bush – Dodonea viscosa

 

 

 

 

 

 

Male flower

Hop bush – Dodonea viscosa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chiricahua mountain sandmat – Euphoriba florida

 

 

 

 

 

Arizona blue eyes – Evolvulus alsinoides

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Odora – Porophyllum gracile

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIRD TIME LUCKY FOLLOW UP

September 20, 2013

About a week ago, I wrote about finding three mystery plants on the top of Mt. Lemmon, and asked for help. My call was answered by my botanical adviser, Joan. Here is what she suggests:

1 – The phlox-like plant is probably  Showy baby’s breath, Gypsophila elegans, a plant not listed as growing in Arizona. There is quite a little collection of these at the top of the Aspen trail.

2 – The Amaranth is likely careless weed, amaranthus palmeri. Amaranth seeds are an important food source. This plant is not new to the mountain. The surprising thing is to find it blooming at 9000 feet. Its normal range is 3100′-4800′.

3 – And as for the cosmos, I went back and took a picture of the native cosmos parviflora, against the new one, to give some idea of the relative appearance, size and color. This time I found two more plants near the first one we saw.
Cosmos big small

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then another mystery was solved. Two years ago, in this same area, we found Livermore stickseed, in the Borage family. Its botanical name is hackelia pinetorum, a shrubby plant with tiny blue flowers.  Several times this summer I have gone looking for the plant. It was no longer growing in the area where I originally saw it in 2011. This week we walked a little farther and Ed spotted it along the side of the trail. There was just one plant. As you can see the flowers are scarcely visible.

 

Hackelia pinetorum plant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of the flowers greatly enlarged. It is a pretty little blue flower with a yellow and orange center. Hackelia pinetorum7

ANOTHER LITTLE BEAUTY

Ed and I were hiking the Sunset Trail in the Catalina mountains, enjoying the wonderful display of wildflowers, when I noticed a tiny plant growing on top of a rock. It seemed to me that I had never seen it before, Hedyotis greenei3so I took photographs and made a special note of where it could be found. Later, with the help of my botanical friends I learned that it was Hedyotis greenei – hedyotis, or Green starviolet. This is a plant I have photographed before, and yet I had not seen it clearly until I did so through my new powerful macro. What a little beauty it is.

In this picture you see it in my hand, and can tell how small the whole plant is.

This is a side view of the flower, with the wonderful red markings.
Hedyotis greenei7
And here is a top view.
Hedyotis greenei7b
This is another reminder that there is more to these little plants than meets the unaided eye.

AN AMAZING INVISIBLE FLOWER

INVISIBLE FLOWERS
If you walk up the hill to enjoy a meal at the Iron Door Restaurant in the Catalina Mountains, you may not notice plants scattered among the clumps of grass. And even if you did, you might not realize that the plants were in full and glorious bloom. The plant is in the rose family, and has very unusual flowers.

The flower head consists of  a numberSanguisorba minor3 of little capsules, each packed with anthers, with long filaments ending in a yellow stamen. The stamens are the male parts of the flower and are loaded with pollen. When the time is right the capsules burst open and the male flowers hang down on their thin threads. The beautiful red female flowers are mostly on top. When they open up they look like something growing in a coral reef.

 

 

 

Here we see the flower head with the female flowers at the top. These heads are less than an inch in diameter.

Sanguisorba minor7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this picture we see the anthers popping out of the little capsules.

 

Sanguisorba minor7g

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
And here is a close-up of the female flowers.

Sanguisorba minor9f

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The plant is called Small Burnet. Its leaves are used in salads, so it is also called “Salad burnet”. The botanical name tells of the medicinal use of the plant – sanguisorba (meaning blood absorbing). The species name is minor. There is another larger sanguisorba, (Sanguisorba major) but I have not met that one. Small Burnet is a delightful plant, easily passed by because of the nearly invisible flowers.

INVISIBLE FLOWERS

INVISIBLE FLOWERS
In 2011 the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum published my book: “Mountain Wildflowers of Southern Arizona” and a year later, “Mountain Trees of Southern Arizona.”  Many people have thanked me for the two publications and have wondered what my next book will be. This had been on my mind some time when I attended a meeting of the Arizona Native Plant Society (AZNPS), and heard a fascinating talk on bees. The author, Stephen Buchmann, had wonderful pictures, some of them taken at very close range. I immediately began to wonder what kind of camera could take such fascinating close-ups. The author mentioned that Jillian Cowles, a friend of mine, had taken some of the pictures. She was at the meeting. When the talk was over I went to her and found it what kind of camera and lens she was using. She not only gave me all the details, but after I had bought the camera, lens and flash, took me on a field trip to show how it worked. This has led me to my current project – photographing “invisible flowers.”

People ask, “How can you find invisible flowers?” Well, they are not really invisible, of course. The plants can be seen with the naked eye. I did have the experience of sending my daughter to find one species (Drymaria molluginea) near a rocky outcropping on the Box Camp trail, and she failed. Later on the trail we came across another colony, and I said: “There they are!” Later we returned to the outcrop, and it was only after she knew what to look for that she found them. Galium wrightii1 Galium wrightii7

Some of the “invisible” flowers are on very large plants. With the naked eye it is hard to know if they are in bloom. It is only with a loupe or binoculars that the average person can see the flower.

In this category of “invisible flowers’ I include flowers where the whole inflorescence is clearly visible, but the individual flowers in it are not.  I plan to show pictures of these rarely seen treasures of the plant world.

Let’s start today with one of the many bedstraws on the mountain, Wright’s bedstraw (Galium wrightii). The plant has very small, elegant wine-red flowers. From a distance you can hardly tell whether the plant is in bloom or not, but the macro lens brings you into an appreciation of its beauty.