Plant List 4
(8 plants this week)
Golden Poppy
(Eschscholtzia mexicana)
• Poppy family = Four petals, a lot of pollenmaking 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, ovalshaped 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
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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 beanpods 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