DESERT & MOUNTAINS Created By: Amparo De Mollinedo Andrea Hernandez Carlos Jusdado

LOW DESERT SCRUB

CREOSOTE BUSH The most widely distributed shrub in the North American deserts -Shiny, waxy, dark green leaves and small yellow flowers -Can pull water out of extremely dry soil -Indians utilized it for firewood, glue, tea, and a general antiseptic

BURROWEED A small shrub that is widely distributed in the Mojave & Sonoran Deserts -Small, deeply-toothed light-gray leaves that are green just in spring -Most leaves are shed during the long dry periods revealing white, densely branched stems

OCOTILLO One of the most conspcuous and unusual desert shrubs -Long, unbranched, spiny stems radiate upward from the a single base -Stems can reach 20 feet in length -Red flowers at their tips provide crucial nectar for hummingbirds -Small green leaves are produced quickly after rain showers, but are shed soon after the soil dries (this cycle may occur several times a year)

BRITTLE-BUSH -Very brittle stems bearing silvery leaves and yellow, daisy-like flowers -The leaves produce a water soluble chemical that act as a germination inhibitor, that prevent annuals from growing around the plant’s perimeter -Indians utilize the resin from its woody stems as a chewing gum, incense, varnish, and as a pain reliever

CHUPEROSA -Appears throughout desert habitats at lower elevations -Often leafless when limited rainfall, but stems can photsynthesize -Grey-green stems and leaves with tubular red flowers to attract hummingbirds responsible for their pollination

JOJOBA -Medium-sized shrub found on dry rocky slopes at lower elevations -Gray-green leathery leaves are distinctly-vertically oriented -Separate male and female plants -Greenish flowers; brown fruit (similar to an acorn) were used to make a coffee-like beverage by Natives and early Californians -Oil from seeds has a commercial use (thermally-stable and lubricating)

MOJAVE YUCCA -On dry rocky slopes and mesas from the coast to Colorado desert -Rigid, long green leaves armed with sharp spines at their tips (called Spanish bayonet) -Distinct “trunks” grow up to 12 feet -Cream-colored flowers borne in clusters at ends of trunk -This long-lived species of yucca can flower many times, but not each year -Fibers that curl off of the leaf margins were used by Natives to make baskets, cloth, rope, thread -The fruits were eaten raw, flower heads & stems were cooked, and fleshy roots and stems used to make soap

DESERT PRICKLY PEAR -Stems are flattened, leafless pads with long white spines -Cactus is short, multibranched, and bears yellow flowers and red fruit

BEAVERTAIL CACTUS -Often confused with the desert prickly pear cactus -Spines are absent, but has areoles with small tufts of sharp bristles -The characteristic shape of the cactus pad that gives this species its name -This cactus produces magenta flowers in late spring and early summer

JUMPING CHOLLA -Characterized by its distinctly erect trunk -Short branches and numerous spines -The easily-detached stems fall to the ground where they can take root -Also called “teddy bear” cholla because of its brown color and fuzzy-looking spines.

SILVER CHOLLA -Intricately branched -Found in Mojave and Colorado Deserts in sandy or gravelly soils between 1,000 and 4,000 ft -Slender medium-green stems with pale sparsely scattered spines, hard to detach -Yellow/bronze flowers in spring

DESERT BARREL CACTUS -Large, single-stem round cactus with lengthwise “ribs” -Attains height of 3 – 4 ft and 1 ft in diameter -(Larger than the coastal species) -Long spines (up to 6 in long) -Yellow flowers at the top of the cactus in spring -Common at lower elevations on rocky or gravelly hillsides -Natives used the hollowed barrel as a cooking pot

DESERT WASH

PALO VERDE -Small-to-medium tree common along washes; lebume family -Green bark can photosynthesize when the tree is leafless in dry season -Covered with bright yellow flowers in spring -Bi-pinnate leaves and elongated seed pods

SMOKE TREE -Small tree of sandy desert washes at lower elevations -Intricate, spiny-tipped branches -Leaves absent most of the year, so grey-green bark carries on most photosynthesis -Masses of small, purple pea-like flowers cover it in early summer

MESQUITE -Most important plant to Southwest Natives; beans were ground in meals and wood used for housing, burning, bows and arrows, basketry -Narrow bipinnately compound leaves -Extremely deep root systems are able to reach water year-round

IRONWOOD -Medium-sized, legume tree found in desert washes with mesquite and catclaw -It has a simple pinnate, bluish leaf, elongate seed pods, and scaly bark -Small rose-colored flowers in spring -Extremely hard wood good for carvings, tool handles and arrowheads

DESERT WILLOW -Elongated, willow-like leaves, but it is neither a willow nor a legume, but rather a member of the tropical Bignonia family -Found in the washes with mesquite and catclaw -Different from other desert shrubs as it is leafless and dormant in winter -Pink flowers look like those of snapdragons -Seeds in long, silky pods -Wood used for bows & arrows

CATCLAW -One of several deeply-rooted shrubs/trees of the legume family found in sandy washes throughout the deserts of North America -Small, bi-pinnate leaves are shed in winter, recurved (“catclaw”) spines -Yellow flowers in late spring; seeds (in pods ~3 in long) are food for many animals

MOUNTAINS

BLACK OAK -This tall (~75 feet) tree forms a black-oak woodland at lower elevations, but is mixed with conifers at higher elevations -Unlike “live oaks,” the large (~4-8 inch) leaves of this oak are shed in winter -Acorns take two years to mature -Seriously depleted as fuel for gold smelters

JEFFREY PINE -Found from Oregon to Baja California, on well drained moist soils at Intermediate elevations (4,000 to 9,000 ft) -Attains 100 to 180 ft height and from 4 to 6 ft in diameter -Reddish-brown bark, deeply furrowed, irregular plates -Dense blue-green needles in bundles of three, 5 to 8 in long -Medium-size cones about 7 in long; scales have inward curved pickles -Natives made baskets out of small roots; Wood is commercially valuable

SUGAR PINE -From Oregon into Baja California -From the coast to 10,000ft -Cool slopes and canyons in mixed stands -Grow to about 200 ft high and 3 to 6 ft wide -Straight trunk and crown tends to flatten -Bark of young trees is grey but turns reddish- brown when older -Blue-green slender needles 3 in long -Cones attain 2ft long 5 in wide, most 16 long -Scales are brown-black inside with yellow-brown tip -Wood important for industry -Seeds eaten by the Indians

COULTER PINE -Central California to northern Baja California -In southern California found in warm slopes and ridges with oaks, incense cedar, yellow pine… -Resembles Digger pine but no branched trunk, larger cones -Cones: tip of scale darker than the base * -Seeds were a stale food for Indians

Coulter Pine Sugar PineJeffrey Pine

INCENSE CEDAR -From 1,500 to 8,000 ft from Southern Oregon to northern Baja California -Shady, cool northern and eastern slopes in mixed stands -Up to 90 ft tall and a trunk of up to 4 ft in diameter -Cinnamon-brown bark 2 to 3 in thick at base appears furrowed and ridged -Dark-green scale-like leaves arranged in pairs arranged in pairs -Tips of branches flattened, small cones in 3 pairs of scales mature in 1 season. Reddish wood for pencils

CYPRUS

Cones -Sugar Pine -Coulter Pine -Jeffrey Pine -Giant sequioa -Cyprus -Incense Cedar

Cones -Sugar Pine Coulter Pine Jeffrey Pine Giant sequioa Incense Cedar Cuyamaca Cyperus