There! I've pulled together the wildflower shots from Sunday's expedition to the desert next the Santa Maria River (elevation, roughly 1800 ft.). A few disappointments: none of the chia pix worked, my assorted field guides (the kind with pretty pictures) didn't help ID in too many cases, there were a lot of bad, throw-away images, and that lovely pale blue delphinium was nowhere in evidence.
Just to prove that this lush landscape is really desert, a scene-setting view that includes a saguaro cactus in the background (the straight-up fellow in the middle.) The poppies were in full bloom, perhaps edging toward the end of their reign. California poppies or Mexican gold poppies? Currently, there's a debate, with the wildflower folk leaning toward a broad category -- all California poppies.
The poppies are varied, some pure gold, many with a center that is more orangish. Over in California, the poppies are a definite orange.
The poppy growth pattern was somewhat spotty along the Santa Maria Road on the east side of the river; however, my experience has been that if you opt for the paved road on the west side of the river, you won't see many wildflowers. Probably a major soil difference -- on the east, the soil is mostly volcanic and on the west, it's more granitic and alluvial. BTW, tho the lower elevation desert is famous for fields of California poppies, they grow quite nicely up here in Prescott, with the added advantage of being perennial.
Here is one of several mystery plants; it might be a member of the waterleaf family. Pretty even without a name.
Another nameless yellow. I was inclined toward the caltrop family (did you ever step on one of those awful bullheads in your bare feet down in the Valley?) But this flower is bigger, maybe 3/4 to 1 inch across, and the center doesn't look right.
A bladderpod for sure. Those little spherical seed pods will pop if you squeeze them.
I guess the desert marigold is a later blooming plant. We only saw a handful. There are great stands of this un-marigold along SR 69 as you head toward Mayer, courtesy of the highway department, so I hunch it might be a plant of slightly higher elevations. I've seen them even at about 5000 ft. on the West Spruce trail.
Tiny yellow flowers adorn the fiddleneck.
If you look carefully at the clear yellow flower to the top right , you'll realize that it is quite different from all those poppies. We saw just one small stand of these yellow evening primroses.
Enough of the yellows. Lupines (the two tallish purple stalks) are a major desert wildflower although we saw many more alongside the highway in road cuts than down at river level. The little lavenders? Mysteries. You tell me!
The third of the big-three of Arizona desert wildflowers -- owl clover. Again, only a few specimens at this location.
The lavender blossom on the right is a phacelia; there are many varieties of phacelia here in Arizona.
Along the Orme Road as it nears I-17, you'll see clouds of this pretty pink flower. It might be a gilia. Again, the field guides didn't help me.
Another pair of smallish lavender mystery blossoms (above and below.) Both covered a swath of ground. The lower guy
might be a phacelia.
Nama? Whatever. As you can see, the plant forms a mat, with little pinkish-purple flowers.
We may have a Mojave desert star (above); the lower picture is of tackstem, which tended to grow in the shade of the palo verde trees or any other spot protected from the sun's heat.
The only tree trees blooming were willows in a stand at the rivers edge. We'll have to wait for the mesquite and the palo verde to blossom as well as the cactus. If you are planning a similar trip out the Bagdad Road for the wildflowers, I'd suggest you do it this weekend or perhaps next week. Unless we get a rain. Things are beginning to dry out.
We're lucky, here in Prescott, to have our own lonesome and reasonably private desert, free from encroaching highways or Phoenicians. Just get on Iron Springs and head west, toward Bagdad. Saturday, the dotter wanted a real Arizona sunshine fix; what could be better than a trip down to the Santa Maria River the day before her return to darkest Alaska. While she hiked, I looked for cacti. What I found:
Excellent, multi-branched saguaros, growing right near the river's edge. These are obviously very tall old trees, with even the limbs growing limbs! Note the evidence of our recent soaking rains -- the white fuzzy tops of the cactus below, preparing to blossom.
There were several types of opuntia within a short walk of the car. Your standard prickly pear above and its cousin, the beaver tail cactus below; the beaver tail has spectacular magenta blossoms. Did you know that the prickly pear is native to at least 45 of the 50 states and most Canadian provinces?
I'm not sure if these (above, below) are the same brand of cholla or near relatives. In any event, you do not want to tangle with one, though their blossoms, like most of our cactus, are beautiful in season. Cholla are also in the opuntia family.
More cholla. Unfortunately, those mean spikes are all that show up in the tangled mass of the little Christmas cactus, characterized by pencil thin branches and small, bright red fruit.
And yet another cholla. If you have heard the term, jumping cactus, meet one. Also known as teddy bear cactus, this is one plant to keep at a distance. Though they don't actually jump, those pretty joints quickly attach to anyone or thing that touches them and break off, the idea being to start a new teddy bear cactus elsewhere. In the southwest, one hears apocrophal tales of men who peed too close to such a cactus with a very painful aftermath.
This particular teddy bear cactus was collapsing, as the main stem died, shedding all those joints to start new plants.
The barrel cactus is a short, stout, unbranched plant. All but one of the barrels I saw yesterday was growing out from beneath a so-called nursery tree or shrub (below), which provides shelter from the hot, drying sun when a seed sprouts and the tiny cactus begins its slow growth.
The prickly pear (above) started in the shade beneath a nursery tree, spread and continues to spread. Seeing the barrels and optuntias 'neath trees and shrubs gave me the idea of inspecting the assorted palo verdes, mesquites and cat claws to see if I could find a young saguaro. I lucked out -- take a look at the adolescent cactus below. It is probably 30+ years old, by the way, which should give you some idea of the age of those saguaros at the beginning of this post.
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