Plant List 4 (8 plants this week)

Golden Poppy (Eschscholtzia mexicana) Poppy family = Four petals, a lot of pollen-making stamen & many ovaries Yellow-orange flower and long fruit Leaves are only slightly bigger than the main veins

Spiderling (Boehaavia coccinea) Four O’Clock Family = 5-lobed flowers in clusters Sticky unevenly heart-shaped leaves in pairs Sticky burrs are the fruit Sprawling on ground

Manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens) Heather Family (woody, 5-petals, blueberry is part of this family) Bush with reddish bark on younger branches Stiff tear-drop shaped leaves with pointed tip Whitish urn-shaped flowers, dark berries

Madrone (Arbutus arizonica) Heather Family (woody, 5-petals, blueberry is part of this family) Large tree with reddish bark/new branches Long leathery leaves (3-6”), dark green, sometime with teeth on the edge Urn-shaped flowers & reddish berries

Desert Globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) Mallow Family (see next section) Orange flowers with 5 petals and a fused tube of pollen-making stamen, about 1” across Large triangular leaves with wavy edges and covered with silver hairs

Other Mallow spp. Mallow Family = All mallow flowers 5 petals (distinct), and 5 sepals (green part below the flower Many pollen-making stamen fused into a tube Tip of the female part of the flower sticks up through the tube Fruit is a dry, sectioned circle

Hackberry (Celtis pallida) Elm Family Thick bush with thin veins and small, oval-shaped leaves (less than 1.5”) May have a few teeth, may not Branches zig-zag, thorns Tasty orange berries

Cottonwood, Fremont (Populus fremontii) Willow Family = woody (droopy) trees Toothed leaves almost as wide at the base as they are long (like an equilateral triangle) Tall with pale brown bark White, fuzzy fruit on female tree

Plant List 4 Gold Poppy (Eschscholtzia mexicana) Spiderling (Boehaavia coccinea) Madrone (Arbutus arizonica) Manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens) Desert Globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) Other Mallow spp. Hackberry (Celtis pallida) Cottonwood, Fremont (Populus fremontii)

Plant List 5 (7 plants this week)

Rattlesnake Weed (Euphorbia albomarginata) (Euphorbia family) Small, ground cover plant Four small white petals, purple inner portion to the petal Poisonous weed with milky sap

Limber Bush (Jatropha cardiophylla) (Euphorbia family) Flexible reddish stick, usually leafless “Sangre de Cristo” “Dragon’s Blood” Heart-shaped leaves during rainy season “Heart-Leafed Limberbush”

Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) (Euphorbia/Spurge family) Blue-green oval leathery leaves, often in pairs & vertical Male: small, yellow pollen flowers w/o petals Female: make dark oily “nut”

London Rocket* (Sisymbrium irio) Mustard family – 4 petals in a “cross” shape, seed pod with two layers Leaves with jagged edges from plant base Tiny yellow flowers on tip of long seed stalk Long seed pods

Shepherd’s Purse* (Capsella bursa-pastoris) Mustard family – 4 petals in a “cross” shape, seed pod with two layers Leaves with jagged edges from plant base Tiny pink flowers on tip of long seed stalk Heart-shaped seed pods

Desert Mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum) Mistletoe family – poisonous parasite plant with green branches and berries Very brittle, knobby twigs Found on legume trees (trees that make bean-pods like mesquite, acacia or palo verde) RED coloration (twig & berry)

Other Mistletoe (Phoradendron spp.) Mistletoe family – poisonous parasite plant with green branches and berries Very brittle, knobby, oval leaves Found many long-living trees Oak, hackberry, juniper, pine

Plant List 6 (7 plants this week)

Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata) Two fused leaves (smell like rain) on ribbed, grey-black branches Flower yellow with “teeth” like petals Fuzzy white fruit

Roots are extremely good at extracting water from the soil so that other plants cannot survive below it.

One of the oldest plants (12,000 years old), new shoots grow from the outer portions while the inner ones die (form a circle)

Goat’s Head (Tribulus terrestris)* Short, sprawling plant with many leaflets Pale 5-petal flower Five fruits with two horns each Resembling a goat’s head Also called Puncture Vine

Filaree (Erodium cicutarium)* Lavender 5-petal flower and a fruit that is long, green, and pointy Common “weed,” short and in disturbed soil Lobed leaves (with pointed tips), stems are reddish and hairy (Geranium Family)

Poison Ivy (Rhus radicans) Three pointed oval leaflets ( often the one at the tip is on a stalk, the two at the sides are not) Oil on leaves can cause skin to itch Leaf edge may be toothed or wavy (or may not)

Hopbush (Dodonaea viscosa) Waxy, narrow leaves, 2-4 inches long with a rounded tip Female plants make a 3 or 4 winged fruit, starts green and turns, yellow, then papery and white Evergreen bush found along waterways

Arizona Sycamore (Platanus wrightii) Large tree with white bark (sometimes with peeling pieces), loses leaves in the winter 5-fingered leaf (palmate) Fruits are dry brown balls that have fluffy seeds when broken apart

Note: Interbreeding between species is common Emory, Mexican White and Mexican Blue Oak are the most common in the area Oak (Quercus spp.) Many species with overlapping variation in leaves – often toothed or lobed and leathery Tree with rough grey bark (dense wood) Make acorns

Emory Oak Mexican Blue Oak White Oak