UPDATED 11/7/2014

INDEX PJ COUNTRY PLANTS SMALLER PLANTS Amaranth Broom Snakeweed Buckwheat (wild) Cattails Cholla Evening Primrose Mormon Tea Indian Paintbrush Indian Ricegrass Prickly Pear Prince’s Plume Yucca BUSHES Mountain Mahogany Rabbitbrush Serviceberry Threeleaf Sumac TREES Juniper Netleaf Hackberry Oak Pinion Ponderosa HERBARIUMS & PLANT LISTS PLANT SOCIETIES BOOK SOURCES Note: The plants in this section are an informal introduction to common plants to demonstrate the real plant diversity in the area. Some people think the high desert is “just a desert” or “only a monoculture” filled with just a few simple types of plant life. This kind of thinking makes it too easy to justify blading large areas for construction purposes. We can use plant life already there in conjunction with human building and other activities to make the whole area feel fresh, alive and attractive. Please see professional botanical resources (ie, book sources, herbariums and plant societies listed below) for more in-depth information. You can click on most of these photos for a larger and more detailed view. PLANT & RESOURCE SECTION SMALLER PLANTS Amaranth (Pigweed) back to index pj country plants Broom Snakeweed Gutierrezia sarothrae back to index pj country plants Cattails back to index pj country plants Cholla Opuntia spp (O. whipplei - whipple cholla/yellow flowers)and O. imbricata )cane cholla -magenta flowers common in area see pp 174-175 Dunmire & Tierney) back to index pj country plants Evening Primrose Oenethra spp. back to index pj country plants Wild Buckwheat Eriogonum spp. (Several different species in area with different colored flowers, one of which is E. umbellatum) back to index pj country plants Indian Paintbrush Castilleja integra (Different species in area) back to index pj country plants Indian Ricegrass back to index pj country plants Mormon Tea or Joint Fir Ephedra sp. (There are different species in the area, two most common are E. torreyana and E. viridis - the difference between the two can be discovered by the plant color and number of bracts (bright green and 2 for E. viridis, olive green and 3 for E. torreyana) along the joints (See p. 92 of Elmore’s Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Uplands listed below). There are male and female plants with different bloom styles. Some get as big as bushes). back to index pj country plants Prince’s Plume Stanleya Pinnata Mustard Family Prickly Pear Opuntia spp. (Different species in area - O. phaeacantha, O. polycantha, O. erinacea, etc.) Yucca Yucca spp. (Y. baccata - banana yucca, Y. glauca, Y. angustissima - fineleaf yucca) LARGER BUSHES AND TREES BUSHES Mountain Mahogany Cercocarpus betuloides and Cercocarpus montanus are two common species in the area. New Mexico Olive Foresteria Neomexicana Rabbitbrush Chrysothamnus nauseosus is the larger golden rabbitbrush or often seen along roadways and is on e of the most common rabbitbrush species in the area. Serviceberry A typical representative in the area is Utah Serviceberry/Amelanchier Utahensis Threeleaf Sumac, squawbush Rhus trilobata TREES Trees can range from bush-like to full blown trees Netleaf Hackberry Celtis Reticulata Juniper Juniperus monisperma (one-seed Juniper) and J. scopulorum (Rocky Mountain Juniper) and Juniperus osteosperma (Utah Juniper are common junipers. Locally also known as cedar - cedar is actually a different species. (See pp. 21-22 Roadside Plants of Northern New Mexico listed below) Oak Quercus gambelii is a common species in the area, although there are others. (See a listing of several area oaks on p. 23 and p. 111 (Q. gambelii) in Elmore’s Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Uplands listed below). Pinion Pinus edulis Ponderosa Pinus ponderosa HERBARIUMS, PLANT LISTS & OTHER HELPFUL INFO (Much of this is also found in the Schools - Environment, Etc. Section) Colorado State Herbarium http://herbarium.biology.colostate.edu/ Fort Lewis College Herbarium http://faculty.fortlewis.edu/mccauley_r/Herbarium/index.htm New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center (ASC) (see notes on NMSU-ASC below) http://irrigationmanagement.nmsu.edu/index.html http://www.xericenter.com/main.php San Juan College Herbarium http://www.sanjuancollege.edu/pages/425.asp Southwest School of Botanical Medicine - Michael Moore’s Plant Lists http://www.swsbm.com/HOMEPAGE/GenusIndex.html PLANT SOCIETIES (Link below takes you to a list of plant groups in the NATURE GROUPS, etc. section) Plant Societies BOOK SOURCES Carter, J., Underwood,W.J., Leggitt.M. (1997). Trees and Shrubs of New Mexico. New Mexico: Mimbres Publishing. Dunmire, W., Tierney, G. (1997). Wild plants and native peoples of the four corners. New Mexico: Museum of NM Press. Elmore, F. H. (1976). Shrubs and trees of the southwest uplands. Arizona: Southwest Parks and Monuments Association. Hughes, P., Tierney, G. (1983). Roadside plants of northern new mexico. New Mexico: Jene Lyon. Little, E. L. (1980). The audubon society field guide to north american trees. New York: Knopf

Environment PJ Country Plants