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

http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/biohires/a/harar2-br14653.JPG

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