Published by Daniel Mosquin on May 27, 2019
Like the Opuntia aurea in the previous entry, Peteria thompsoniae is also a species of the American Southwest. It is commonly known as spine-noded milkvetch; the spines are readily apparent in another of Andrey’s photographs: Peteria thompsoniae.
Read More | 6 Comments
Published by Daniel Mosquin on May 24, 2019
Golden prickly-pear is narrowly-restricted to a small area of southern Utah and northern Arizona. Perhaps the easiest place to observe this species is within Utah’s Zion National Park if the iNaturalist observations of Opuntia aurea are any indication.
Read More | 8 Comments
Published by Daniel Mosquin on February 27, 2019
Here is a memory from 2017’s bloom in the Californian desert within Joshua Tree National Park. I’ve heard this year is also turning out to be an exceptional one.
Read More | 13 Comments
Published by Daniel Mosquin on January 25, 2019
Halophytes, or salt-tolerant plants, are found in a number of environments: seashores, mangrove swamps, salt marshes & swamps, and, as in today’s photographs, saline semi-deserts. Two halophytic grasses, saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) and alkali-grass (Puccinellia nuttalliana), make an appearance in the images. The top image primarily features saltgrass with perhaps some alkali-grass in the upper right […]
Read More | 9 Comments
Published by Daniel Mosquin on January 16, 2019
Calocedrus decurrens, or incense-cedar, has broad habitat requirements. Within its range from Oregon to Baja California, it is most often found in hot and dry sites with poor soils. However, the tallest individuals typically occur in “sunny, well-watered sites such as riparian areas in canyons or near subalpine lakeshores“.
Read More | 10 Comments
Published by Daniel Mosquin on December 19, 2018
The common name–worm moss–is an appropriate name for Bryoandersonia illecebra, as the resemblance is uncanny. Bryoandersonia illecebra is endemic to eastern North America. Although it has a wide distribution across this part of the USA (especially in the southeast), it is quite rare in Canada and “expected” in northeastern Mexico (from link above). Worm moss, […]
Read More | 2 Comments
Published by Daniel Mosquin on September 6, 2018
Although first collected in 1894, Adiantum shastense wasn’t described as a distinct species until 2015. It is native to the “mesic forests of the Eastern Klamath Range, close to Shasta Lake, on limestone and metasedimentary substrates”, where a number of locally-endemic species have been recognized in the past few decades.
Read More | 12 Comments
