Budding Identities

Now that the flowering/budding is in full swing Steve has been able to name another batch of plants and we have a few new ones for the list!

 Herniaria hirsuta ssp. cinerea, hairy burstwort, a member of the carnation family, though you couldn't tell from these flowers!

Draba cuneifolia, whitlow grass 

Same as above but further along in the flowering process, still no open blooms yet!

Silene antirrhina, sleepy catchfly, this is a tentative ID but once confirmed, we will have another species on the lookout list crossed off! 

Same plant as above though these have not begun to bolt yet.

Sonchus asper.  Another tentative ID and new to list if it is confirmed!

Unique leaves for a mustard but young to call, for now it is looking like 

 Descurania

Likely Plagiobothrys arizonicus, but possibly 

P. pringlei no flowers yet

 Tentatively Monolepis nuttalliana, poverty weed, which is another new one for the list!

poverty weed

Suprisingly, the trays are not yet done producing, a change in the watering schedule and the increasing sunlight has triggered more germination this top seedling is similar to those of another tray but the last two appear new to the seed bank species.

Flowers and Fruits to come!

Buds galore!

Despite the brutal weather we have endured, the greenhouse has stayed a pleasant 75 degrees or warmer. The plants are loving it and most have begun to put out buds!

Some of the buds are very small but fear not, if you can't spot them... the flowers will open soon and will not be missed by my camera!

Overall the trays filled out nicely but germination rates have slowed, it may be time to dial back the watering and just let what came up, grow up. 

Here's a couple more plants of interest to me, hope you all like them!

This is not a washed out photo, this plant really has that glow appearance, very cool!

Until next time!

The First Flower!

At last a flowering plant and decent fruit already as well....
This post will need a quick taxonomy edit by Steve but it looks to me to be a mustard although the leaves are missing the typical lobes. Whatever it may be (new or previously collected) sure is nice to see something flowering in the greenhouse in the middle of winter!

Flower and Buds

Developing Fruit

Leaves

Looking more like a Cholla by the day

Carrots growing like a weed and will hopefully be the next to flower!

Liverworts have come to life all over the trays from what seemed like lifeless dirt. 

The moss covers some trays like a green shag carpet...It's amazing what water can bring to life in the desert soils

Some plants have gone from seedlings to looking more like the real thing,spring flowers may be just around the corner in the greenhouse!

Identification Part 2

Steve Jones was by the greenhouse this weekend and was able to give another batch of seedlings their proper names! Here's what we found with descriptions by Steve.

Gilia sp., most likely G. flavocincta (lesser yellowthroat gilia)  

Lotus sp.  I suspect L. humistratus,  L. salsuginosus, or hopefully L. strigosus, which we don't have on the checklist yet.

Another one for the Bean family TBD

Opuntia or Cylindropuntia (jointed cacti - prickly pear or cholla), way too early to tell which

 The wiry blue-green leaves are a Mexican poppy (Eschscholzia californica ssp. mexicana); the wide leaves with it are hairy bowlesia (Bowlesia incana)

 Think this might be canyon bursage, Ambrosia ambrosioides. 

 Encelia farinosa, brittlebush.

 Claytonia perfoliata, miner's lettuce 

Most likely Stylocline micropoides. 

Columnar cactus - could be anything from a fishhook cactus to a saguaro

The rest are yet to be ID'd but are certainly different from we have seen thus far. Stay tuned for more nomenclature as told by Steve!

   

Time to mow the brome!

With germination rates rising it was time  to cut back some of the most abundant and already collected species to make room for the new! Red Brome had some trays completely filled and needed serious mowing. Fiddleneck, Filaree and Encelia were among the other species to be removed because they were simply getting too large. Once the forests were cleared Steve and I could see new seedlings yet to be identified and also two cacti seedlings that had popped up!

 Proof for the doubters that Cacti have leaves!

The first mushrooms to emerge, anyone have a guess to their ID? 

 A new curly grass emerging in a few of the sites trays.

Mexican Poppy in the Marcus landslide trays.


Coming soon, Steve's identification part 2!