Written by Aleidys Lopez Romero This week our flora feature is the Arizona sycamore (Platanus wrightii). While this species was named after American botanist Charles Wright (1811-1885), this tree’s family…
Read more »
Written by Aleidys Lopez Romero This week we turn our attention to an important indicator of water and a sight for sore eyes on long Spring Seeker trips: the Fremont…
Read more »
When hiking through southeastern Arizona in the desert or woodlands, it’s a real treat to see the Arizona Fishhook Pincushion cactus (Mammillaria grahamii) growing cryptically under palo verde trees, creosote shrubs, or even under other cacti. Over the course…
Read more »
One of the first plants we teach our volunteers to look for when out Spring Seeking is deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens), a type of bunchgrass commonly found near water sources in the Sky Island region. This week, we’re here…
Read more »
When searching for water in the Sky Islands, finding a walnut tree can be a great indicator that you’re getting close to a spring, stream, or other water source! These…
Read more »
For this week’s Friday Flora Feature, we’re spotlighting Vitis arizonica, a grape species we often see while seeking water resources in the Sky Island region. Keep reading to learn how to identify this species when you’re…
Read more »
It is Friday, so let’s celebrate one of the most conspicuous, ecologically and culturally important plant species of the arid regions of North America—agave. It’s iconic for the Sky Island…
Read more »
I fell in love with bear grass in the gorgeous grasslands of the San Rafael Valley, where our Border Wildlife Study cameras were set up this spring. Bear grass punctuates the Southwest landscape at elevations between 2,700 and 6,500 feet as rosettes up…
Read more »
For this Friday Flora Feature, we’re exploring a rare herb-succulent found in the Arizona Sky Islands. Commonly called the Patagonia Mountain leatherpetal, Bartram’s stonecrop, or Graptopetalum bartramii Rose, G. bartramii belongs to the Crassulaceae (stonecrop) family. It is…
Read more »
Monkeyflowers are iconic desert plants found here in the Sky Island region and in much of the Western United States. Today’s Friday Flora Feature highlights the scarlet monkeyflower (Erythranthe cardinalis) and the seep monkeyflower (Erythranthe guttata). It’s all in the name..or is it? Biologists and nature enthusiasts tend to use scientific…
Read more »