Chris and I spent all yesterday afternoon exploring Tom’s Thumb which is the latest trail to open in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Exhausting but very exciting for me because the elevation and rocky terrain meant seeing plants I’ve only seen on the North State Trust Land. Besides all the common wildflowers seen on the lower trails, we also saw the following: Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), Wild Cucumber (Gila manroot), Desert Anemone (Anemone tuberosa), White Tidy Tips (Layia glandulosa), Lemmon’s ragwort (Senecio lemmonii), and one, as yet, unidentified yellow flower which I hope to know by the end of the day. Also seen were two types of ferns. There are probably others but two were most noticeable. One was Spiny Cliffbrake (Pellaea trucata) and, because of its texture, I’m guessing that the other is Lindheimer’s Lip Fern (Cheilanthes lindheimeri)
Tag Archives: wildflowers
miner’s lettuce and more!
During a hike to Dixie Mine this morning, we were treated to a plethora of wildflowers! It seemed to be just beginning so this coming weekend should be great. I’ve only posted a few but here’s a list of what we saw: Fiddleneck, Cryptantha, Comb Seed, London Rocket (an invasive), Desert Wishbone, Fairy Duster, Chuparosa, Storkbill Filaree, Microseris (silver puff), Blue Fiesta Flower, Bluedick, Phacelia, Gilia, Goldfields, Chia, Lupine, Mexican Poppies, Dainty Desert Hideseed, OWL CLOVER (lots), Buckwheat, Fleabane, Wooly Daisy, Desert Chicory, California Suncup, Golden Eye, Desert Marigold, Lacepod, Rattlesnake weed, Indian Mallow, Miners Lettuce and several other flowers that were just on the verge of blooming. All in all, a very fun morning 🙂
wildflowers
During our hike to Inspiration Viewpoint this morning, MANY wildflowers were spotted. The majority were seen about one and a half miles up but there were plenty of species in the first mile. All in all, I was very surprised at the number. Here’s a list: Fiddleneck, Filaree, Comb Seed, Lacepod, Chuparosa, Golden Eye, Cryptantha, Popcorn Flower, Blue Dick, Gilia (lots), Chicory, Phacelia, Blue Fiesta Flower (lots), California Suncup (1), Poppies (lots), Lupine, Fairy Duster and finally….a single Silverpuff at the ViewPoint!
The above photo was from last year on the same trail. Although I had my camera with me this morning, the hike was fast paced and if I was going to make the 7 miles round trip, I had to keep going!
photographing wildflowers
The next photo walk is Sunday March 8th. We will discuss tips for capturing wildflowers.
Click here for details.
I shot the above photos in my yard this morning. Our neighborhood borders the Preserve so you should be finding these on the trails now! The close-ups show two tips. 1. Fill your frame. 2. Use a large aperture. Below is an excellent video regarding photographing flowers! Her presentation is useful for both compact and SLR camera users.
camp creek falls
Update: After a little research, I found that we were at Camp Creek Falls yesterday. It used to be a very popular place for Jeep tours to bring visitors but the washes were closed to any motorized traffic a couple of years ago because of a devastating fire in the area. Closing to motorized will give vegetation a better chance of coming back and a bonus for photographers is that it’s no longer crowded.
what was blooming in the desert today?
The desert is blooming VERY early this year. I saw the following today.
Red Soldier Beetle
The best and most fun part of this Spring has been identifying flowers, plants and insects for my photo a day. This beetle turns out to be a common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva). Not so common to me but maybe they will be by this time next year. They apparently really like to eat New Mexico Thistles (shown) and find it a good location for a love connection 🙂
Paper Bag Bush
I spotted a Paper Bag Bush (Salazaria mexicana) on our hike yesterday morning. I’m always saying something is cool but this is the coolest! Each tiny little flower leaves behind a pod with a fruit (seed) inside. These pods puff up and look like blown up paper bags. Another common name for the bush is Bladder Sage but Paper Bag is the fun name 🙂
Acourtia wrightii
The most exciting find (thanks Chris!) this weekend was Acourtia wrightii commonly called Brownfoot or Perezia. The leaves and flowers looked almost identical to the Desert Holly I photographed last year but this plant was 2-3 feet taller. As it turns out, they are of the same genus: Acourtia. The dwarf version is Acourtia nana. This one and another were spotted on the Preserve near Brown’s Ranch. One was at the base of a Catclaw (ouch) and the other at the base of a Palo Verde.
The next day, we hiked the Cactus Trail at Granite Mountain and found several large specimens out in the open. Some were just starting to bloom and some were in full bloom as shown in the photos below.
Desert Straw
Brownplume Wirelettuce or Desert Straw are a couple of common names for Stephanomeria pauciflora.
The flower is a little over one half inch wide. The SuperMacro setting on my Canon S5 did a fantastic job of capturing a single flower.
We’ve seen these sub shrubs in the desert around us before but having flowers on them this year has made identification easier.
