PLANT IDENTIFICATION

TREES

Catclaw Acacia Bipinnately compound leaves Brown, curved spines

Catclaw Acacia Fruit: bean-like Flower: yellow, elongated

Whitethorn Acacia Leaves: Bipinnately compound Spines: Straight, white Bark: Reddish

Whitethorn Acacia Flower: yellow, spherical

Desert Ironwood Leaves: Simple pinnately compound Flowers: Purple Spines: dark, thin, slightly curved

Desert Ironwood

Velvet Mesquite My knee for scale Leaves: Large, bipinnately compound Relatively large leaflets and flowers

Velvet Mesquite Fruit: bean-like Flowers: yellow, long

Foothills Palo Verde Leaves: Bipinnately compound 4+ pairs of leaflets/“leaf” Spines: none along branches Bark: green

Foothills Palo Verde Fruit: bean-like Flower: yellow, with white, upper banner petal

Blue Palo Verde Leaves: bipinnately compound 3 or fewer pairs of leaflets/“leaf” Spines along branches Bark: Green Spine Spine

Blue Palo Verde Flower: yellow, with yellow, upper banner petal

Shrubs

Fairy Duster Leaves: Bipinnately compound Fine, dark green leaflets Spines: none Bark: whitish

Fairy Duster Flower: unique

Desert Mistletoe Parasitic Appear as clumps in trees most commonly Phainopepla is main vector

Jojoba Leaves: simple, vertical Dioecious Nuts appear on females in spring and summer

Jojoba Nuts produce high quality wax that is liquid at room temperature Instead of sperm whale oil

Brittlebush Leaves: simple, entire, triangle-shaped Flowers: yellow (like lots of other plants

Brittlebush Yellow, like many other plants

Limberbush Leaves: simple, heart-shaped Bark: red Flexible limbs

Limberbush Flowers: small, white

Ocotillo Multiple arms Flowers: red, tubular Spines: straight, stout Drought deciduous

Triangle-leaf Bursage Leaves: simple, toothed, triangle-shaped

Triangle-leaf Bursage Burrs in fall

Ratany Non-descript plant most of year Flowers: purple Fruit: spined Hemi-parasite

Ratany

Creosote Bush Leaves have a single pair of leaflets Yellow flowers developing into white seed pods

Creosote Bush Creosote bush gall and midge

Desert Broom Leaves more like twigs

Desert Broom Leaves more like twigs

Burroweed Finely divided leaves Flowers: yellow turning to white Last year’s flower stalks remain for long time

Burroweed

Canyon Ragweed Leaves: simple, long, triangle-shaped with toothed margin Usually occurs in washes and canyons

Canyon Ragweed Flowers: nondescript

Sotol (Desert Spoon) Rosette of leaves Leaves have spines along edges but not at tips

Cacti

Saguaro

Saguaro Seed 2000 seeds/fruit 100 fruits/year 100-150 years = 20 million+ seeds in lifetime, But only one survives to replace individual in stable population

Saguaro Seedlings Grow under nurse plant Grow ½” first year Grow 1’ in 15 years Grow 10’ in 40 years (mature)

Saguaro Fruit is edible Flower: white, large, blooms at night and closes forever the next day

Southwest (or Fishhook) Barrel Cactus Spines: long, hooked Fruit: yellow

Southwest (or Fishhook) Barrel Cactus Flowers: yellow, orange, or red usually Plant usually leans

Hedgehog Cacti Multiple heads Spines not as dense as pincushion cacti

Prickly Pear Cacti Pads Flowers: many colors Fruit: purple when ripe

Fishhook Pincushion Cactus Very dense spines Ring of pink flowers near top Spines: longest with hooks

Chain-fruit (or Jumping) Cholla Fruit stay attached and form chains. Flowers: often pink

Chain-fruit (or Jumping) Cholla http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plmay98.htm Blown up 350x; overlapping scales on spine make pulling out the spine very difficult

Teddybear Cholla Fruit are single and do not form chains.

Teddybear Cholla Spines: tend to be more dense than chain-fruit cholla

Staghorn Cholla Spines less dense and arms more spreading than chain-fruit or teddy-bear cholla

Christmas Cholla One spine per areole Red fruit in winter Thin segments