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This blog is predominately about camera trapping in California. We camera trap to save our souls and to teach primary school students about biology and conservation. We will also touch on other camera trapping news and musings, sets from afar, mediocre herpetology, sucky birding, and other natural history discussions.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Herp Holiday 2016 plants

Back in August I shared some pictures of the herps we saw on our Herp Holiday Extravaganza 2016. I'll share a few pictures of some of the plants and flowers we saw on our trip.

The downside to waiting so long to post photos, especially of plants is that I have forgotten most of the IDs and all that hard work of keying out IDs back in May have gone to waste. Oh who am I kidding, keying out plants on the desert trip almost always consists of asking Randomtruth "Hey man, what's this?" and "I know I asked you an hour ago, but what is this again?"

So I am going to do my best to re-ID these flowers, but I am not going to let a couple of unknown plants hold this post up for another 6 months.

Please feel to correct any IDs. [Thanks for the ID help Christopher Moore and Randomtruth]

Mojave2016-9095
Desert Willow
Chilopsis linearis

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Desert Willow
Chilopsis linearis
The Desert Willow flower has strong scent and and when trees are in full bloom like this one, the desert smells like a glorious perfume. Some say like the gentle scent of a high class lady in nearby Vegas.


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Apricot Mallow
Sphaeralcea ambigua
Apricot Mallow is probably my favorite of the regular desert flowers we see. I really need to get some seeds and see if I can grow it in the backyard.


Mojave2016-9138
Desert Senna
Senna armata

Yes, you can make a tea with Mormon Tea, and its natural ephedra will have you champing at the bit and hiking a little bit faster than your friends. This plant may or may not be a certain friend's favorite part of visiting the Mojave. Although as Christopher in the comments pointed out this isn't Mormon Tea which has cone shaped flowers.


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Brown-eyes Suncup
Chylismia claviformis

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Barrel Cactus
Ferocactus cylindcaceus

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Barrel Cactus
Ferocactus cylindcaceus

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Common Fishhook Cactus
Mammillaria tetrancistra 

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Wild Canterbury-bell
Phacelia campanularia

Mojave2016-9233
Palmer's Penstemon
Penstemon palmeri

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Palmer's Penstemon
Penstemon palmeri

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Desert Thistle
Cirsium neomexicanum
I have found a few images online of these same insects in this thistle. Not sure what the are, but maybe they specialize on this particular flower?

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Mojave-aster
Xylorhiza tortifolia

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Desert Indian Paintbrush
Castilleja chromosa

Mojave2016-9244

Mojave2016-9245
Buckhorn Cholla
Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa

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Buckhorn Cholla
Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa

Mojave2016-9249
Beavertail Cactus
Opuntia basilaris

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Silver Cholla
Cylindropuntia echinocarpa

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Hedgehog cactus
Echinocereus engelmannii

When RandomTruth saw the below flower we were walking along a dirt road listening to group of young coyotes go apeshit at the scene of mom or dad returning with an early dinner. These young 'yotes were howling, squealing, and making the kind of ruckus that made all the rabbits nervous.


RandomTruth was so excited to see this mound of dirt flower that at first I thought his screams of joy meant he's found a Heloderma. Imagine my disappointment when it was just a plant. Oh, but wait, this wasn't just a plant! Look at this glorious little turd flower!

Mojave2016-9258
Scaly-stemmed Sand Plant
Pholisma arenarium

Mojave2016-9261
Scaly-stemmed Sand Plant
Pholisma arenarium

12 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos!! I did want to make one note, though: I think the ID on the Ephedra is mismatched. Ephedra is a conifer and doesn't have flowers like the one in the photo. Again, lovely post and photographs!

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    1. Whoops, I meant to type "cone-bearing" instead of conifer. They are, of course, Gnetophytes :)

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    2. Yep. You are right. That was one I was doing by memory and didn't recheck. Whoops. Thanks for the heads up.

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    3. No problem. I didn't mean to respond and not give and ID, but it's been a while since I worked in the desert and my books weren't in the office. I think it was desert senna (Senna armata). HTH!

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    4. Yep, that sure looks like it. I hadn't had time to go back to the field guides so thanks for looking out.

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  2. Epilogue to the Purple Turd Sand Plant mini story -- the next day, two of the stalks(?) had vanished with no trace. And I do not remember any other humans wandering through... what critter would abscond with them as a prize!?

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  3. Well done. The Suncup was Camissonia claviformis, now Chylismia claviformis with the recent tax changes. The desert paintbrush too has changed, and is now Castilleja chromosa. Love the red pop of the fruits on that Mammillaria photo. Desert xmas card? :)

    My speculation on the disappearing sand plants is desert woodrat. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was a ground squirrel too.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the ID help as always. Do you think the woodrat ate the sand plant or did she just collect it to add to her collection of pretty things?

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    2. Totally food. "Sand food" is another name often given to these plants. I recently had to bisect one of the similar Orobanches for a collection, and it was dense but fleshy, like a morel mushroom. I would bet lots of animals prize them.

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    3. I figured food, but really wanted to think it was just because they are so damn pretty. That's cool about getting to dissect a similar species. Morel is a great comparison.

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  4. Wow. Looking forward to a future life farther south and more desert adventures. Guess I know who to contact re IDs.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Cindy. Do you have set plans to move closer to the desert or is a move more in the distant future?

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