Pocket Guide to the FLORA OF THE JORNADA PLAIN Eighth Edition Kelly W. Allred Range Science Herbarium New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New Mexico 2014 Photos by Russ Kleinman, used with permission. Front Cover: Pectis angustifolia Torrey Back Cover: Bryum lanatum (P. Beauvois) Bridel © Copyright 2014 by Kelly W. Allred All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the written prior permission of the author. Available at lulu.com Contents Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 How to Use this Guide .................................................... 3 Abbreviations .................................................................. 4 Identification Groups ........................................................................ 5 Spore Plants Key to Ferns, Horsetails, Spike-mosses, and True Mosses ................ 7 True Mosses ...................................................................................... 8 Spike-mosses .................................................................................. 14 Horsetails ........................................................................................ 15 Ferns ............................................................................................... 16 Seed Plants Key to Woody Plants ....................................................................... 18 Key to Grasses and Grass-like Plants .............................................. 23 Key to Forbs .................................................................................... 24 Family Treatments of Seed Plants ................................................... 32 Literature Cited ............................................................................. 153 Appendix: Special Identifying Features ........................................ 154 Index ............................................................................................. 157 Changes in the 8th Edition ............................................................. 163 INTRODUCTION This field guide is intended as an aid in the identification of the plants of the Jornada Plain. This region lies at the southern end of the Jornada del Muerto (Journey of the Dead One) in Doña Ana County. The area is bounded on the west by the Rio Grande and on the east by the San Andres Mountains. The manual includes the entire Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (formerly the College Ranch) of New Mexico State University (63,000 acres / 25,500 ha), and the plains area of the USDA Jornada Experimental Range (152,000 acres / 61,500 ha), but not the foothills of the San Andres Mountains. Elevations range from 3,990 feet (1216 m) at the Rio Grande to 5,835 feet (1779 m) at the peak of Summerford Mountain. Annual precipitation averages approximately 8-9 inches (200-230 mm), with about half falling in July, August, and September. Average temperatures vary from 80°F (27°C) in June to 40°F (4°C) in January. The vegetation of the Jornada Plain is characterized by honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), snakeweeds (Gutierrezia species), and soaptree yucca (Yucca elata) on sandy soils, creosote-bush (Larrea tridentata) on gravelly hills and uplands, and tarbush (Flourensia cernua), tobosa (Pleuraphis mutica), and burrograss (Scleropogon brevifolius) on the clay flats. On the uplands and hills of the Doña Ana Mountains, the steep, rocky terrain is dominated by sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri), ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), and mariola (Parthenium incanum). Statistical Summary of the Flora Families Genera Species Spore Plants 8 20 28 Seed Plants 75 305 523 Total 83 325 551 1 The predominant plant families are the Asteraceae with 99 species, the Poaceae with 88 species, and the Fabaceae with 40 species. Thirty-six exotic species (marked with *) are present in the flora. Only one endemic species (marked with +) is known from the area, a little moss of gypsum sinkholes, Fissidens littlei. This is its only known occurrence in the world. Edition 1 (1988) was printed as Bulletin 739 of the Agricultural Experiment Station, New Mexico State University. All subsequent editions have been issued from the Range Science Herbarium: edition 2 in 1997, edition 3 in 2000, edition 4 in 2003, edition 5 in 2005, edition 6 in 2009, a reformated, pocket-sized 7th edition in 2011, and now edition 8 in 2014. Nomenclature and classification have been updated in this edition in accordance with “Flora Neomexicana I : Annotated Checklist” (Allred 2012). Many of the plants of this area are illustrated in “Flora Neomexicana III: An Illustrated Identification Manual” by Allred & Ivey (2012). Many forbs may be found in "A Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers" by Niehaus, Ripper, and Savage (1984), and in “National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Western Region” by Richard Spellenberg (2001). All of the grasses are figured in "A Field Guide to the Grasses of New Mexico” by Allred (2005). The mosses of the area are poorly known and this enumeration comes mainly from Little's (1937) "Bryophytes of the Jornada Experimental Range, New Mexico." Illustrations and descriptions of mosses may be found in Conard and Redfearn’s “How to Know the Mosses and Liverworts” (1979). 2 Many thanks to the numerous students and colleagues who suggested changes, corrections, and additions, particularly John Anderson for his numerous suggestions and continuous encouragement over many years, as well as Ed Fredrickson, Jamie Lamitt, Chris MaGlone, Kirsten Romig, Cathie Sandell, Richard Spellenberg, and Justin Van Zee. How to Use This Guide Confronted with an unknown plant, the user of this field guide should follow the following procedure to assure a correct identification. 1) Study the population of the plant you are trying to identify. Note variation in height, hairiness, flower color, etc. Take the time to examine a few plants in detail, noting such things as the arrangement, vein pattern, angle, or color of the leaves; the shape, color patterns, and arrangement of the flowers; the development and opening of fruits. Are the plants annual or perennial? Do they spread by rhizomes or stolons, or are they tufted? What type of habitat do they seem to prefer? 2) Determine to which of the major identification groups (p. 5) your plant belongs: ferns and allies, cacti, woody plants, grasses and grass-like plants, or forbs. These are readily recognized groups of plants for most persons, and the brief description for each group will help you recall them. 3) Turn to the correct group and work through the identification keys to the families. The keys will present you with alternative statements about the plants, i.e., leaves alternate or leaves opposite. Choose the statement that best fits your plant, keeping in mind variation in the population. This will lead you to 3 another pair of contrasting statements, and so on until you reach a family name. 4) Now find the family treatment. The families are arranged alphabetically following the family identification keys for each major identification group. Usually there will be a key to the genera, which are arranged alphabetically within each family, and then a key to the species for each genus. As you work through the keys to the species you will eventually arrive at a final determination of the plant you are attempting to identify. The full scientific name (bold) will be followed by a COMMON NAME (UPPER CASE), a brief description of the species, an indication of preferred habitats, and flowering times. Synonyms, in italics, will be placed [within brackets]. At the end are specialized species codes used by ecologists and range scientists in recording field data. Abbreviations Used in the Keys and Text * = exotic + = endemic ± = more-or-less, somewhat LTER = taxon code used by Long Term Ecological Research personnel USDA = taxon code used by United States Department of Agriculture personnel 4 IDENTIFICATION GROUPS Determine to which of the following groups your plant belongs. A brief description of each group is given. Then turn to the page for that group and begin using the family identification key. SPORE PLANTS FERNS, HORSETAILS, SPIKE-MOSSES and TRUE MOSSES (p. 8) These herbaceous plants reproduce by spores borne either on the underside of the leaf (ferns), in cones at the tips of the stems (horsetails), in axils of the leaves (spike-mosses), or on capsules raised above the leaves (true mosses). None of these plants produce flowers or seeds. Ferns produce often broad, dissected or compound leaves that unroll like a fiddle-neck. Horsetails have stiff, erect, hollow stems that are markedly ribbed and the leaves are reduced to small whorls of brownish scales. Spike-mosses and true mosses are low, mat-like plants with tiny scale-like leaves, often found on rocky cliffs and crevices and as cushion-like mats on the soil under creosote and tarbush. SEED PLANTS CACTI (p. 68) These are spine-covered plants with succulent stems. Green leaves are usually absent. Spines are borne in obvious patches on the stems. The flowers are showy and have numerous waxy petals and inferior ovaries. Family Cactaceae. (continued next page) 5 WOODY PLANTS (p. 18) Trees, shrubs, and sub-shrubs with obvious woody stems that persist year after year. These plants reproduce by seeds, but a few species do not have true flowers. GRASSES AND GRASS-LIKE PLANTS (p. 23) These herbaceous (non-woody) plants