FINDING NEW FRIENDS

April 23, 2016

It seems as if every time Ed and I go out on a plant walk we come across new species – not new to the world, just to us. This is partly because we are hiking at lower elevations than we normally do, and so are seeing plants that we had never seen in bloom before. Lately I have added eight new plants. Here are a few. Some of them fall into the “Invisible flower” category. Others are just beautiful flowers that have escaped our attention.

One is a prickly pear – which is not only one of the most abundant cactuses in Southeastern Arizona, but may be found in many other places in the world. The one we know best has pure yellow blooms – Engelman’s prickly pear (Opuntia engelmannii). On a recent walk we came across a different prickly pear with red markings in the petals. I had never noticed this before, but had read about its existence. It turned out to be Brownspine prickly pear (Opuntia phaecantha) .

The top picture is the Engelmann Prickly Pear, the middle is the new plant, and the bottom is a close-up of the flower.

Another plant had us puzzled . It was growing near a stream in Catalina State Park. The leaves are quite beautiful and distinctive. The little white flowers almost qualify as “invisible”, not because they are so small, but because they are so easily overlooked. My hiking companion recognized the fruit as typical of the geranium, or stork’s bill genus. A little research indicated that it was the Carolina geranium.(Geranium carolinium)

On our mountain walks we often come across Mountain parsley, (Pseudocymopterus montanus). Since “pseudo” means “false” we have sometimes wondered what the real Cymopterus looks like. Iris took us on a walk and we came across the plant. It had a cluster of deep purple flower buds. None of them were opened, and it was left to our imagination to see if we could picture what it would look like when it was in full flower. Whatever we might have thought, we were way off. Ed and I revisited the plant this week, and the opened flower looked nothing like anything we expected, as you can see from these pictures. I was not able to discern the flower parts. This looks somewhat like the fruits of the Hopseed bush (Dodonea viscosa).

The pictures above show the Cymopterus multinervatus with flower buds, the second one with buds and flowers, then a close-up of the flowers. The last picture is the Hopseed bush fruits.

We are sure that more plants are waiting for us to discover and enjoy.

PEACE IN THE GROTTO

March 22, 2016

Peace in the Grotto

El Nino promised rains and wonderful flowers but the promises have not been kept. So far this has been an average Spring. Here is a picture of two of the favorite Spring flowers – the Mexican Gold Poppy (Eschscholtzia californica ssp. Mexicana) and Wild Heliotrope (Phacelia distans). We saw a few patches of these in Catalina State Park. Other years we would have seen fields of them.

Yesterday Dave and I went to visit one of our favorite spots in the Catalina Mountains. To reach it we followed an unmarked trail up a canyon to a place where the stream drops about fifteen feet into a little pool. On the way we stopped to enjoy the view and have a little rest. We were struck by the quiet in this remote canyon. It was not completely silent. After sitting a while we could hear a background of insect and bird noises, together with the gentle flow of air through the flowers, shrubs, and trees.

There were wildflowers here and there, like this beautiful patch of Parry’s Penstemon (Penstemon parryi) just by the trail.

When we reached the grotto those noises were eclipsed by the water dropping down from the cliff, and splashing on rocks and mosses before landing in the very small pool at the base. Some of the drops refreshed us with a very gentle rain.

We have been there when the pool was the size of one of those above-ground pools that are popular in Tucson back yards. Today it was scarcely three by two feet. With the binoculars we caught a glimpse into its life. There were water scorpions, water striders and other aquatic bugs with their zig-zag courses skimming on the water and bouncing into each other like bumper cars at the fair. Occasionally one would dive the six inches or so to the bottom. Over time we saw lots of different species and couldn’t help wondering what they would do when the pool dried up completely in a few weeks. We had a quarter of an inch of rain on February 1st. The only rain since then was a tenth of an inch two weeks ago. Even so the snow melt from higher in the mountains continues to provide life-giving water to the lower canyons and every day we can expect to find new flower species coming into bloom.

Grotto 2 The Grotto with a trickle of water. Below a close-up with yellow monkey flower

An odd plants, a dead bird and lost paintings

January 30, 2016

On our walks lately we have seen plants in bloom but they are few and far between. We did see a Desert Spoon (Dasylirion wheeleri) with two flowering stalks. Normally they only have one that stays on the plant for more than a year. At least we think it was one plant. Sometimes plants grow so close together that their leaves become entwined to the point that it is hard to tell whether it is one or two.

The Teddy bear cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) has some of the densest collection of spines of all the cactus species around here. Some birds build their nests right in the thick of them where they can feel really safe and secure. How they manage to fly in and out without impaling themselves is quite a mystery. Recently we came across a dead bird lying on one of their branches. We assumed that it had been flying in and out of the plant successfully until it finally got hooked. Of course it could have died in the air and simply fallen to this resting place.

My wife and I occasionally have a burst of energy to de-junk our house. Last week we tackled the shed throwing out many large plastic bags of trash. And then, to my amazement, I found two oil paintings that I had done years ago. They were tucked away in the back corner. The fact that I had not signed them proves that they have never been in a show. As it turns out our son, Owen, and I are having a joint show at the Contreras Gallery (110 E. 6th St., Tucson) the whole month of March. We will frame these two oil paintings and make them the center pieces of my part of the show. You are all invited to the opening of the show, 6-9 pm, Saturday March 5, 2016.

“Douglas fir” oil painting (30×24 inches)

“Navajo country” oil painting (24×30 inches)

In a few weeks we will have lots of flowers to enjoy and talk about.

Fun with Saguaros

December 24, 2015

For over thirty years I have been admiring the great columnar cactus, Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea). When they are about 60 years old some, but not all, of them start growing arms. Much later, some of the arms might begin to grow arms. What if those arms grew arms? About ten years ago I became obsessed with the task of finding one with an arm on an arm on an arm, what you might call a third-generation outgrowth.

On one of our hikes in Catalina State Park years ago we saw one but I did not get a photograph. Since then every time I go to that park I look for it. So far no luck. But last week Ed and I were walking on the Pink Hill Trail in Saguaro National Park East, and there was a giant Saguaro. Ed pointed out that it did indeed have an arm on an arm on an arm.

We hiked again yesterday, this time on the Ridge Trail on the south side of the Rincon mountains. The trail ends at a beautiful outcropping of rock with a panoramic view of the area. We noticed a Saguaro whose south side was almost pure white. We studied it a little and came to the conclusion that it had been pelted with stones over the years and, for some reason the whole south flank turned white.

Then, as we retraced our steps, we looked in the distance at a Saguaro that looked like it had just had a terrible shock, with hair standing on end. Of course we were seeing two saguaros. The one behind was now a skeleton with its ribs pointing skyward.

Then we saw an Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) with several of its branches turning downwards and then turning back skyward. It must have been injured in some way.

It is the day before Christmas, and we are still seeing plants in bloom. Yesterday it was Pringle’s Prairie Clover (Dalea pringlei), and Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata) plus lots of dogweed (Thymophylla pentachaeta) and others. Every month of the year we find plants in bloom. Soon the early spring flowers will brighten our walks.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you

Winter Walk in the Mountains

December 10, 2015

Lately Ed and I have been confining our weekly hikes to the desert around Tucson but last Wednesday both of us felt a desire to drive up into the Catalina Mountains. Since it was 40 degrees in the valley when I woke up, and the mountain temperatures are usually 20 or 30 degrees cooler than the valley, I worried a little about being too cold. My worries were unfounded. We drove up the mountain, stopping first at Molino Canyon Vista, where we saw fleabane, trixis, tufted evening primrose and a few other species in bloom. We continued up the mountain to Marshall Gulch at about 8000 feet. It was a sunny day with a light cloud cover. We hiked along the stream (Sabino Creek), and were sure we would not see any flowers in bloom this time of the year. The air was clear and the woods beautiful in the winter sunlight and we were in bliss. We noticed the beautiful ripple patterns of foam on the stream in certain spots (see the pictures).

The first picture looks like a skeleton but it is a row of foam spreading out from a tiny waterfall.

The last two pictures show ice along the stream.

There were small patches of snow were here and there in the woods, and many of the rocks along the stream were covered in ice. We joked about getting a special prize if we saw any flowers in bloom. Then, on the way back, we almost stepped on a flower in the middle of the trail. Well, it wasn’t exactly a flower, but the the tip of a Ponderosa Pine Branch, evidently broken off by a squirrel, with a cluster of female flower cones on it. This tree was blooming way out of season.

We enjoyed the soft blue color of these Ponderosa female flower cones.

The parts of the trail nearest the creek were chilly, since cold air tends to gather in low places, but not drastically cold. By the time we got near the car park we were ready to take off our jackets. In less than a week Marshall Gulch will be closed for the winter, so we were especially pleased to have such a pleasant walk this deep into December.

MORE LATE BLOOMERS

November 28, 2015

Last Wednesday Ed and I hiked in Molino Basin. We were delighted to see a number of flower species still in bloom. Perhaps the most abundant was Spreading Fleabane (Erigeron divergens). We saw hundreds of these plants in bloom.

There was also quite a few Gymnosperma plants in flower (Gymnosperma glutinosum). This is a plant that blooms almost any time of the year but seemed particularly plentiful today.

Then there was the Narrow-leaf Aster (dieteria asteroides), with its beautiful bluish-purple flowers.

Much to our surprise we found a Tufted Evening Primrose in bloom (Oenothera caespitosa). We normally see these flowers from March to July. Since it is an evening bloomer the flowers usually close by about 9 or 10 in the morning. We only saw one on this walk, around noon the day before American Thanksgiving. What a beauty.

The Squaw Bush (Rhus aromatica ver. Trilobata) was not in flower but it called out to us with its fall coloring and red fruit.

Our plant walk that day was greatly enriched by the people we met on the trail, a couple from Montana, and family from Long Island, New York to mention just a few of them.

Today I walked with another friend on the Finger Rock trail. Our bird bath was frozen solid last night, but later in the morning the warm sun made us quite comfortable as we made our way up the trail. People were coming and going with smiling faces. There were a few species in bloom, notably Leadwort (Plumbago zeylanica), with its beautiful tubular white flowers and copper-colored fall leaves.

We also saw lots of seedlings promising a glorious spring.

More Invisible Flowers

November 24, 2015

We are now toward the end of November and there are still plenty of flowers to see, some of them new to me this year. Here are three recent ones: A climbing milkweed with small, pale yellow flowers called Arizona swallow-wort (Metastelma arizonicum). Ed and I found it on the Tanque Verde Ridge Trail in Saguaro National Park East.

The Arizona Swallow-wort covering another plant

The penny gives an idea of how small the flowers are. The fruit is much bigger.

A flower bud and an opened flower.
About a week later we were on the Garwood Trail and saw a beautiful pink patch. The plants looked like they belong to the buckwheat family. We were hiking in a loop and I was sure we would see more of the same plant later, but that was not to be. When we couldn’t find any, we turned back to this patch and I got a few photographs. I did not have my super close up camera with me, so I returned that same afternoon with it, and got some pictures of the flowers. It turned out to be Palmer’s Buckwheat, Eriogonum palmerianum.

A patch of the Palmer’s Bucwheat

An individual plant, the penny giving scale.

An individual flower

I was about to leave the area when I saw a plant I had never noticed before, lying flat on the ground. This was a member of the Euphorbia family (New Mexico Silverbush, Argythamnia neomexicana), and I was happy to get some pictures.

The New Mexico Silverbush plant lying on the ground. Below is a picture of an individual flower. These are quite small.

This means that in two weeks in the middle of November we had found three more “invisible flowers” to add to my growing collection.

On my last posting I noted that one of our Golden Barrel cactuses (Echinocactus grusonii, a Mexican species) that had been hollowed out from the inside by some animal, had some new growths. Today I took these pictures to show that the growths are “pups”, or new plants. So this cactus that was almost completely hollowed out and had every reason to die a year and a half ago, is producing lots of new life. It looks like we will have eighteen new plants in the spring when I cut them off and plant them out on their own.

The gouged out Golden Barrel showing some of the 18 pups that are developing. Below a closeup of one of them.

Plant Mysteries

October 16, 2015

Today my wife and I drove along I 10 to visit the Amerind Foundation and I was impressed with the plants along many stretches of the highway especially between Tucson and Benson. I was not able to stop and take pictures because of it being a freeway, but on the return journey we found a frontage road which gave us access to a few of them. It looks like some kind of sunflower, but I do not know which one. Some of the plants were over eight feet tall. The flowers are about an inch and a half wide, and some of the leaves were over five inches long. As can be seen from the photographs, the plant is very open with rough, reddish stems. Since this is so abundant I am hoping that someone can help me to identify it.

In May 2014 I posted pictures on this blog of two of our golden barrel cacti in our front yard whose insides had been hollowed out by ground squirrels. I have been keeping my eye on them to see if they would die from this evisceration. About a year and a half later they are not only still alive, but one of them has new growth, and I can’t figure out what that growth is. The middle one was never attacked, and has been in bloom even though we are in the middle of October. One of the other two has these rosettes. Once again I am wondering if anyone knows what these rosettes are. Long ago the plant toppled over from being scoured out, and the new growths are along what is now the top of the plant and used to be the side.

The first picture shows the three barrel cacti. The one in the middle is still whole.

The second picture is a flower on the middle one, and the other two pictures show the mysterious growth.

It is amazing to me how I can walk past a plant for years – in this case about 30 – and not really notice it. I assumed it was a salt-cedar (Tamarix ramosissima), which is not native, so I did not look very closely. My friend Jim was with me on a recent trip and said it was Burro Brush (Ambrosia monogyra). This is a name I have encountered on my various plant lists and was amazed and delighted to find that it was right there in the parking lot of Gordon Hirabayashi camp ground. The plant is very woody. The photograph shows a portion of Jim’s jeep for scale. It is quite an impressive plant and is in full bloom right now. For the first time I am giving it the attention it deserves.

The days are growing shorter, and the mountain slopes are covered with large patches of yellow flowers. After a good summer rainy season, there is more rain to come, which gives us hope for a spectacular Spring.

Pokeweed

September 5, 2015

We have had a wonderful monsoon season in this part of Arizona. The cloudscapes have been very impressive and ever-changing.

An attractive plant in the Catalina mountains is: Phytolacca icosandra,
Pokeberry. I have seen only two examples in all my years of looking. Recently I went to find one of the two, and the space where it used to be was completely empty of vegetation.

Then I stopped to check in on the other one and found it was still there though smaller than in the past. I was able to get a close-up picture of the flower and of the fruits. When the fruits drop what remains looks a lot like a flower. I noticed that the remnants of the anthers were still there, long after the rest of the flower had fallen off.

The first picture shows the plant in its setting. The next a closer look where you can see an inflorescence in the upper left, and a fruit stalk with deep red fruits in the lower center.

Then there is a close up of part of the inflorescence, and next an individual flower. The last picture shows the place where the fruit was, leaving behind the anthers.

This is a poisonous plant, with deep wine-colored fruit used for dyes and inks. The leaves can be eaten only after much preparation to remove the toxins.

TAKING A CLOSER LOOK

July 23, 2015

I apologize for the long gap between postings on this blog. Mostly it was due to a hernia operation that I had and complications after the surgery. I am now back on the trail and very happy to be visiting my friends, the flowers.

There is a composite flower that is not native to the Santa Catalinas Mountains, but I have seen it in two places in that range. It is called Mexican Hat, (Ratibida columnaris). I saw it years ago in Gordon Hirabayashi camp ground when it was still called Prison Camp. I have looked for it there every year for the last few years and came to the conclusion that the population has died out. The other place is along side of one of the residential roads in Summerhaven. There are lots of them near where Loma Linda Extension Road meets Ajo Avenue. Until last week I had never seen them anywhere else on the mountain. Last Saturday I stopped at mile post 17 to get something out of my trunk and saw a collection of what looked like black flowers. On closer examination they proved to be another colony of Mexican Hat. Before driving off I decided to get out my loupe and take a closer look. Though I have known that it was a composite, meaning that what looks like a single flower is composed of many flowers, I had never looked to see what the individual flowers look like. I got out my super-close-up lens, and got these pictures.

The Mexican hat plant A close-up

Ratibida columnaris 6 The “Hat” part has lots of individual flowers on it – below is what these individual flowers look like close-up

I used the same lens to take a closer look at the Mahogany Milkweed (Asclepias hypoleuca). This plant is fairly rare. This was taken on the Palisades Trail, less than a half a mile from the top of the trail.

A close up of the center of a Mahogany Milkweed flower – A cluster of flowers

Below is Fendler hawkweed, the last picture being a close-up view.

Yet another flower worth a closer look is Fendler Hawkweed (HieracIum fendleri). The plant can be six inches or even a foot high, with rather small flowers that open for a short time toward the middle of the day. This flower looks different close up.

The summer rains began in June this year, so we can expect lots and lots of flowers for the rest of the summer.

Frank S. Rose

Flowers and more