Arizona (Southern) 2005 - A Spring Awakening!
White Thorn Acacia ; Acacia constricta
This small tree is a common landscape plant in the Phoenix area. I liked the little puffball flowers. :)
Brittlebush flowers close-up.
Englemann's Hedgehog Cactus; Strawberry Hedgehog; Echinocereus engelmannii
Cave Creek, AZ March 30, 2005 I knew I was in Arizona a bit early for cactus blooming, so I was thrilled to find the bright pink beauty along a trail at Thunderbird Park. The pistils are a brilliant green which greatly contrasts with fuschia petals. The numerous stamens are loaded with pollen and attract bees. map...
Camp Verde, AZ can be seen far in the distance. "Verde" means green in Spanish, it may be a bit greener than some of the other areas if there has been a lot of rain.
Cave Creek State Recreation area with a garden of beautiful wildflowers.
Cave Creek State Recreation Area
. This park is north of Phoenix. It is popular with hikers and horse riders. I'm glad places like this are protected from the rampant development that is spreading out from the city.
Desert Trumpet; Eriogonum inflatum
March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ This is one of the strangest looking plants I've seen. Typical of a desert plant, it doesn't have large leaves on the stem, what leaves it does have grow in a basal rosette near the ground. The flowers are tiny and yellow.
Fairy Duster; Calliandra eriophylla
Pea Family March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ The genus name means "beautiful anthers." I was excited to see these unusual flowers, they are related to the Mimosa.
Fremont's Pincushion; Chaenactis fremontii
Cynda was so patient to stop along the highway when I spotted something new. I found these growing along Highway 87 as we drove north to Payson.
Sphinx moth
Mexican Poppy; Eschscholzia californica mexicana
March 30, 2005 - Glendale, AZ These pretty poppies can carpet hillsides in lovely gold.
Agave leaf
Cave Creek, AZ March 29, 2005 Brittlebush was the most prevalent plant, it carpeted the valley and hillsides in the valley with gold. It was quite fragrant when in full bloom.
Staghorn Cholla; Opuntia versicolor
Cactus Family March 30, 2005 - Glendale, AZ I found this pretty Cholla flower blooming along the trail at Thunderbird Park, a city park in Glendale.
Cave Creek has several types of cactus and ocotillo (oh-co-TEE-yo). There is Saguaro (sah-wahr-oh), Staghorn Cholla (choy-ah), Teddybear Cholla, and the long, spindly Ocotillo visible in this picture.
Mint Family March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ I don't know if this is the source of the Chia seeds that are planted on the Chia Heads(TM) in those irritating "Ch-ch-ch-chia" commercials at Christmastime! It is interesting how the flowers bloom in the spiky-looking balls at the top of the plant.
Desert Anemone; Anemone tuberosa
March 31, 2005 - Payson, AZ I found these pretty pale pink flowers blooming at Tonto Natural Bridge State Park in Payson.
Desert Marigold; Baileya multiradiata
This plant has lovely golden-yellow flowers. It can be toxic to goats, sheep, and cattle if eaten. The toxin is hymenoxon, which can cause vomiting, incoordination, muscle tremors, and prostration.
Desert Wishbone Bush; Mirabilis bigelovii
Four-O'clock Family March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ This plant was blooming when I saw it in the morning at the beginning of the hike, three hours later the flowers had closed.
Fiddleneck; Amsinckia intermedia
March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ This is a very common wildflower in the Sonoran desert. Fiddleneck is harmful to pigs, cattle, and horses is eaten.
Broad-leaved Gilia; Gilia latiflolia
March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ These are very pretty little blue flowers. I found them blooming along the trailside in the park.
I had to be careful hiking on the trail at Cave Creek due to the numerous kinds of cacti! No squatting down for a closer look or to get a better picture here! Photo by Cynda
Narrow-leaved Popcornflower; Cryptantha angustifolia
March 31, 2005 - Tonto Natural Bridge State Park
Blackfoot Daisy; Melampodium leucanthum
Aster Family April 1, 2005 - Sedona, AZ
Barrel Cactus ; Ferocactus wislizenii
March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ Unfortunately, I was too early to see these plants in bloom, they have a pretty "crown" of flowers.
Cactus spines Opuntia sp. The long white spines are not what cause the problems for the unwary hiker, it's the tiny brown glochids that stick into the skin and cause so much pain.
On March 29 Cynda and I went hiking at Cave Creek State Recreation Area. I enjoyed seeing the many different types of cactus that grew along the trail. map...
Teddybear Cholla; Opuntia bigelovii
March 30, 2005 - Glendale, AZ As one of my field guides stated, "This is one Teddybear you wouldn't want to hug!" The plant looks almost fuzzy from a distance, but it shows its true character up close! It was not yet in bloom.
Desert Chicory; Rafinesquia neomexicana
March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ
Desert Tobacco; Nicotiana trigonophylla
March 30, 2005 - Glendale, AZ I found these flowers blooming along the trail in Thunderbird Park. My guess would be that these are moth or butterfly-pollinated flowers. Like the "Evil Weed" cigarette tobacco, one of the (unfortunately!) main cash crops of Tennessee, this wildflower contains the toxins nicotine and pyridine. Do those two chemicals and insecticides sound familiar?! Why anyone would intentionally want to inhale a deadly poison (along with about 4000 other chemicals) is beyond my comprehension!
March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ
Flat-top Buckwheat; Eriogonum fasciculatum
Buckwheat Family March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ
Gregg Ceanothus; Ceanothus greggii
March 31, 2005 - Tonto Natural Bridge State Park
Paleface Larkspur ; Delphinium parishii
March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ
Ocotillo; Fouquieria splendens
Hummingbirds are attracted to the red flowers of the Ocotillo. This plant was growing in the front yard of a home in my friend's neighborhood.
Bladderpod Mustard; Lesquerella gordonii
Mustard Family April 1, 2005 - Sedona, AZ
close-up March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ
Barrel Cactus spines
The winter rains of 2004 - 2005 caused an explosion of desert wildflowers in the Phoenix area. I visited my friends Cynda and Alan in late March 2005. I went with the hopes of seeing some of the spectacular blooms and I was not disappointed! I documented 79 different wildflowers, 68 were new to me.
Chuparosa; Hummingbird Bush; Beloperone californica
March 30, 2005 - Glendale, AZ Since hummingbirds are attracted to red flowers, these flowers are among their favorites.
Desert Lavender; Hyptis emoryi
March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ
Desert Trumpet; Eriogonum inflatum
March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ
Brown-eyed Evening Primrose; Camissonia claviformis
March 31, 2005 - Tonto Natural Bridge State Park
Fremont's Barberry; Berberis fremontii
March 31, 2005 - Tonto Natural Bridge State Park
This moth had a few people in a Sedona garden a bit confused, they thought they were photographing a really small hummingbird! :) I said I had never seen a hummingbird with antennae!
Coulter's Lupine and Desert Marigold along Hwy. 87.
March 29, 2005 - Cave Creek, AZ This composite has all disk flowers.