A Very Cool Milkweed . . .

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

I have put off the 2010 return of One Hundred Species while my camera--the one that took a short dip in the Rio Grande--dried out. Utterly. And Completely. Now, a very cool member of the Asclepidaceae:

#48: Asclepius asperula--common names: Spider Milkweed or Antelope Horn. Like all the milkweeds, this plant is poisonous to animals (including humans), and contains a milky latex. It does attract bees, butterflies and birds, and is primary food for the Monarch Butterfly. Monarch then ingest the bitter milky latex and become bad-tasting to birds.

Summer Wildflowers

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Time for more of the One Hundred Species Challenge. I really wonder how long this will take me!

42. Blazing Star: Mentzilia multiflora var. multiflora. This is in Loasa family, It is a desert plant, and likes sandy soil and loess.

43. Desert Heliotrope: Heliotropum curassavicum

This plant also likes salty soil, sands and fines.

It is part of the Borage family, and ranchers like

the family because most of the plants

are good for grazing.

44. Miner's Torch (Mullein): Verbascum thapsis. This plant
is mildly poisonous, but is used extensively in the herbal healing arts. It is found where soil has been disturbed, and the yellow flowers have a very sweet smell and attact bees and flies.









The late summer flowers are now blooming and I will have to see what I did not have here last year!

Long Warm Days, Short Cool Nights, Early Summer Wildflowers

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

We have come to summer, though the nights are cool, and we have yet to turn on our swamp coolers. On our morning walks, I wear a jacket until the sun comes over the ridge, and then the intesity of the rays soon has it tied around my waist. We are seeing so many wildflowers. Some are new on my list, and some I identified last year but couldn't resist their beauty.


The meadow and the trees, the pale blue horizon deeping into that startling New Mexico blue, all speak of the change of season. Summer has come to the high meadow.

Last year I identified #16. Opuntia polycantha, the prickly pear cactus, but it was not in flower. Now it is, and you can see the resemblance of the Cacti to the rose family.

Near the top of the bank is the lavender flower:

37: Phlox hoodii. Carpet Phlox (a.k.a.

Santa Fe Phlox)

In the gravel beneath is:

38. Trogopodon dubius. Yellow Salsify.

One flower had been in seed the night before,

but the rain washed it away before morning.

In many places in the meadows, we find:
39. Erysium capitatum. Western Wallflower.
It is in the Brassicaceae, the Mustard Family.
It has the spicy smell of a mustard.

Blooming in the lower meadow is:

40. Bahia absinthfolia. Sageleaf Bahia.

I've seen this in April south of T or C, but

never until June does it bloom here!

At the edges of the meadow and among the pinyon and juniper tree, there is:
41: Agastache pallidiflora. Mountain Hyssop (sometimes called Giant Hyssop). This is a member of the mint family. You can see last years talks in the foreground, pale and dried.

The paintbrushes are back! This one, growing beneath

a pinyon, has found a beautiful home. I counted

this last year, this is #18. Castilleja applegatei.

Indian Paintbrush, a member of the snapdragon family,

Scrophulariaceae.

That's all for this week! Late Saturday night, just before midnight, the Summer Solstice will happen in our time zone! We are quickly headed to the longest day of the year!

Hidden Blooms

The ubiquitous "they" still say that this is not an early monsoon season,
but to those of us living in the Sandias it sure feels like it is.

The rains have brought us some hidden blooms. Two more for the One Hundred Species Challenge.

35. Penstamon breviculus. Shortstem pestamon.
We almost stepped on this one in the high meadow.

36. Escobaria vivipara (var. neomexicana). Pincushion ball cactus (also called Coyphatha or Mamillaria varieties).

We are walking very carefully in the high meadow these days. Both dogs routinely jump over the cacti or go around them, as they have learned. So have we.

Happy Summer!

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

This week, it's a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Outdoors and indoors.

Two more of the 100 Species Challenge, and getting the guest room together--which is what I am doing when I am not teaching, preparing to teach, or doing the regular chores that keep the household from falling apart!

First, we go outside for two more of the 100 Species Challenge!

33. Bouteloua dactyloides: Buffalo grass.

Here mixed with weeds and Blue Gramma grass. (counted last September).

34. Atriplex canescens: Four wing salt-bush. Here, it is a brighter spring green than I have seen in June for a very long time. This is likely due to the very strange monsoon-like afternoon rains we have been getting for the past two weeks.




Now, we go back inside to check on the progress of the Library/Guest Bedroom.



Shayna is excited to “help” as I unpack books and order them on the new bookshelves. These books have been packed for three years, and I feel like I am greeting old, half-forgotten friends with every box.






I brought my rocker in from our bedroom, where it was looking crowded into a corner. We got an inexpensive mattress and box springs for the bed, and the bedcovers were one of those sets on clearance at a Big Box store. The set came with the sheets, shams, and decorative pillows, as well as the bedspread. A good deal indeed, I picked it up last January.



I teach this afternoon and evening, a full three classes, so I must get to preparations for a long day on hard floors! (I did get the sandals . . . and that’s another blog entry).


My small “t”, “c” and “h” are not working on blogger, although they work fine in Word. So I am writing in Word and using copy-paste. That’s enough of that for now!

One Hundred Species is Back!

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Although the weather lately is acting like the Monsoon a month early,

the ubiquitous "they" say that there is

not enough moisture in the atmosphere for it.

Instead, we have an "entrenched depression pattern." Whatever "it" is, we have been getting rain nearly every day for the past week, and we are expected to get seven more days of it.

This is unusual, but we'll take it!
With the flowers blooming and the plants loving it, it's time again for the One Hundred Species Challenge.


30. Oenothera missouriensis: Missouri Evening Primrose.
This showy flower is not a primrose, and it opens in the morning, fading in the hot New Mexico afternoons. It is growing among:

31: Stipa tennuissima: Thread grass.

And here is another false primrose:

31: Oenothera albicaulus: Prairie Evening Primrose. On the blooms in silhouette, you can see the very inferior ovary (way below the calyx) these plants have. This one does seem to open in the evening, after the heat of the day.

Last, we have a non-native ornamental, growing in front of the native Opuntia (Cholla), that was counted last summer on Ragamuffin studies.

32: Aloe aristatus: One of approximately 500 different aloes, this one hales from somewhere in the Pacific regions.








If I am ever going to identify up to 100, I think I need to look at animals as well!

One Hundred Species: Grasses and Wildflowers

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

And still more for the Hundred Species Challenge!

24. Bouteloua curtipendula, Side Oats Gramma.

This is a very pretty grass!

25. Agoseris glauca, Mountain Dandelion

There are just a few of these on the slope

behind the house.

26. Oryzopis hymenoides, Indian Rice Grass

This was a species that we processed as part of the decomposition project at the Long Term Ecological Research Station. The samples were taken from the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. The work was done at the labs in Albuquerque.

27. Erigeron neomexicanus,

New Mexico Fleabane

Some people also call this a purple daisy.

28. Lactuca canadensis, Wild Lettuce.

The leaves are edible when young, but the stem contains a bitter, milky latex that ruins cow's milk.

This one is growing among:

29. Phlox divaricata, White Phlox or Sweet William.

I think that these are volunteers left over from the previous owner's gardening.

Happy plant hunting where you are!

More Fall Wildflowers!

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

The flowers are blooming into fall! Here are five more for the One Hundred Species Challenge.

19. Chrysothamnus nauseosis, rabbitbush.

This shrubby plant grows where the land has been overgrazed in the past...
and in the xeriscaped gardens of Albuquerquians--despite the rather strong smelling leaves that gives it the species designation.

20. Ratibida pinnata, Prairie Coneflower.

This makes a wonderful, tummy-soothing

annise flavored tea, and the natives

also make a saffron color dye from it.

The cones have a wonderful smell that is very

strong in the heat of the afternoon.

21. Giallardia grandiflora, blanket flower or fireweed.

This is native to our dry, sandy soils, but has become a popular garden flower in the north and east. The rays open up spiral fashion.

22. Asclepius verticella, Whorled Milkweed.

These are already out of flower,

and have gone to seed.

The leaves and stems contain a

milky latex that is poisonous

to most animals, but Monarch butterflies

eat them exclusively, and thus

become bitter tasting to birds.

The genus name is taken from

the Greek god of healing, Aesclepius.

Geranium richardsonii, Cranesbill.

In our mountains, Cranesbills tend to be more purple
or blue than pink. They have a long bill-like
seed pod that bursts open when it dries out and can
shoot the seeds over 20 feet. The cultivated
geranium is in the same family (Geranaceae), but it
is not in the Geranium genus, but is instead a Pelargonium.

Late Summer Flowers: One Hundred Species

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

This week I did some more searching out and photographing plants for the 100 Species Challenge. The first entry can be seen here, and the second, here. The numbered list for the first seven plants is found in the second post.

14.Solanum americanum, Black Nightshade or American Nightshade.
This poisonous plant is similar to the Horse Nettle, but the leaves are more ovulate and the stems are not spiny. The Nightshade Family (Solanaceae) includes tomatoes, tomatillas, and potatoes. Fruits in this family are often poisonous until they are ripe.

15. Yucca glauca (var.), Yucca or Soap Yucca.

Yuccas are succulents in the Agave family,

but they flower every year when the

conditions are good. Some agaves only

flower once in a lifetime.

16. Opuntia polyacantha, Prickly Pear Catus.

This cactus, a relative of the Cholla featured last week, is native to the New World, like all cacti. However, the Prickly Pear was brought to the Middle East, where it grows in the deserts as an invasive species. It is known in Hebrew as the "sabra." Native Israelis are also called Sabras because, like the cactus, they are prickly on the outside but sweet within.

17. Ipomoea purpurea, Common Morning Glory.

The morning glory family also includes the Sweet Potato and the Wild Potato Vine (aka Man of the Earth). This one is climbing up on an amaranth weed.

18. Castelleja ssp., Indian Paintbrush or Prarie Fire.

The species of this plant are often difficult to tell apart.

This species is the only type that I have seen in our area.

We usually call it the Scarlet Indian Paintbrush.

It is one of my favorite New Mexico flowers!

One Hundred Species Challenge!

NEARLY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

While I was teaching reading this summer, Sarah over at Homeschooling the Doctorate, began the 100 -Species Challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to compile a list of 100 species of plants that can be found within walking distance of home. The rules to the challenge can be found at the link above.

I informally started my list a few Nearly Wordless Wednesdays ago, in a post called August Wildflowers at Sedillo, but I did not number the list, so I will do that first:

1. Helianthus neomexicanus, New Mexico Sunflowers

2. Erigeron compositus, Cutleaf Daisy

3. Physalis ixocarpa, Tomatilla

4. Melitotis Officialis, Sweet Clover

5. Bouteloua gracilis, Blue Grama Grass

6. Gilia aggregata, Scarlet Gilia

7. Sphaeralcea var., Globemallow

I am intending to do at least two Nearly Wordless Wednesday Posts per month that include pictures of the plants I have identified. This is going to be fun because although botany was the foundation of my field in my biological studies, it has been years since I have even opened my plant collections. Although I often identify plants by sight as I walk, many of them I remember only to the family or genus level.

8. Quercus gambelii--Gambel's Oak, often called Scrub Oak, it is often very difficult to tell scrub oak apart at the species level. Scrub oak is very promiscuous--that is the separately identified 'species' often cross, producing hybrids. Plants often refuse to obey the rules of species definition!

9. Pinus ponderosa var. scopularum, Ponderosa Pine. At our elevation of approximately 7500 feet, there are a few Ponderosa's scattered among the Pinyon and Juniper trees. In our mountains, we are at the ecotone, or transition zone, between the Pinyon-Juniper Woodland and Ponderosa Pine Forest. At the top of the ridge behind our house, Pondersa Pines are the dominant trees.







10. Juniperus scopulorum, Rocky Mountain Juniper. In this stand of Juniper, the Rocky Mountain Juniper spiecies is the one that is bluish in color. RM Juniper also has a weepy growth habit, and these are ways to tell it apart from...

11. Juniperus monosperma, One-seed Juniper. This is the green Juniper shrubs behind the Rocky Mountain Juniper. One-seed Juniper has a stiffer habit.

These two are different species and not merely varieties of Juniper, and are therefore legitimately counted separately. However, plants just don't obey the species definition rules very well at all! They are far more profligate than are animals.

12. Linum usitatissimum, Common Flax. Flax plants are considered to be the plants upon which civilization was built. Linum ssp. are found all over the world and have been used by human beings from prehistory to today.

13. Opuntia clavata, Devil Cholla or Club Cholla. There are actually 20 different species of Cholla (genus Opuntia) that grow in the Americas. Cacti are New World Plants, and plants that look like cacti but are native to the Old World are products of convergent evolution--they are not actually related to cacti. O. clavata is native to the Chihuahuan desert and surrounding mountains of central New Mexico.

It is the plant to the left in the picture. The Cholla is growing next to a young pine.