Published by Daniel Mosquin on August 20, 2019
The Flora of North America describes the distribution of brown screw-moss as spanning western North America (including Mexico), western and southern South America, Europe, western Asia, Africa, some of the Pacific Islands (Hawaii, New Zealand), Australia, and Antarctica. It is therefore one of the relatively few multicellular species that can be found on all major […]
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on July 29, 2019
Brewer spruce or weeping spruce is native to the montane and subalpine forests of the Klamath Mountains of southwest Oregon and northwest California.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 […]
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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“.
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