SAXIFRAGACEAE -- Saxifrage Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Heuchera parvifolia Alumroot
Size: Color: 20 - 60 cm Greenish white
Description: Notes: Stemless perennial herb. Leaves basal. Petioles The genus Heuchera was named by Carl 2 - 12 cm long, with gland-tipped hairs of Linneaus for Johann Heinrich von Heucher unequal length. Leaf blade kidney-shaped to (1677-1747), a German physician and professor heart-shaped 10 - 55 mm long, 15 - 65 mm of medicine, who actually seems to have had wide, 5 - 9 lobed, with wavy-toothed margins, nothing to do with these strictly North American mostly glabrous. Floral stalks leafless, 20 - 60 plants. Plants of this genus are well adapted for cm long, with gland-tipped hairs. Flowers life on cliffs, often growing beautifully from a solitary or in groups of 3 from axils of soil-free crack. Alumroot blooms from May lanceolate bracts scattered along top of floral through August between 7000 and 10000 ft. stalk. Floral cup glandular, top-shaped, 2 - 4 mm long, topped by 5 triangular sepals about 1 mm long, with stalked glands. Petals 5, between sepals, oblanceolate about 2 mm long, narrowed at base. Stamens 5, sometimes New Mexico Native malformed, short. Styles 2. Fruit a 1-beaked capsule 4 - 7 mm long.
403 SAXIFRAGACEAE -- Saxifrage Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Heuchera pulchella Sandia alumroot
Size: Color: 10 - 20 cm Pink
Description: Notes: Stemless perennial herb. Leaves basal on hairy Sandia alumroot has been identified as a rare petioles 3 - 6 cm long, blades broadly oval to plant by the New Mexico Rare Plant Technical round or heart-shaped, palmately 3 - 7 lobed Council. Its range is apparently restricted to the with broadly toothed margins, glabrous above, Sandia and Manzano Mountains. Like all alum with gland-tipped hairs below. Floral stalks roots, this plant’s roots contain tannins with a leafless, 10 - 20 cm long, with gland-tipped bitter taste that makes the mouth pucker as hairs. Flowers 15 or more, on short curved would alum. Sandia alumroot blooms from July stalks scattered along one side of the top of the into September between 7000 and 10000 ft. main floral stalk. Floral cup with dense gland- tipped hairs, bell-shaped, purplish-pink, topped by 5 sepal lobes 1 - 2 mm long. Petals 5, lanceolate, very narrow at the base, longer than sepals. Stamens 5, equal to or longer than sepals. Styles not much protruding, stigmas 2.
New Mexico Native
404 SAXIFRAGACEAE -- Saxifrage Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Saxifraga bronchialis Spotted saxifrage
Size: Color: 3 - 15 cm White
Description: Notes: Perennial herb forming a mat, root covered with The genus name Saxifraga comes from the persistent, papery leaves. Leaves crowded and Latin saxum, “rock” and frango, “to break”. overlapping at base of flowering stalks, sessile, Early herbalists felt that saxifrages were useful rigid, 4 - 12 mm long, 1 - 3 mm wide, narrowly for breaking up stones in the kidneys and lanceolate, spine-tipped, glabrous, with smooth urinary tract. In a modern context, the tendency but hairy edges. Stem leaves similar, alternate, of the plants to occupy cracks in rocks, may few, scattered, 2 - 6 mm long. Flowers perfect, make it appear that the plants cracked the rock. in loose, branched clusters at top of flowering The species name bronchialis refers to the stalk 3 - 15 cm long. Sepals 5, triangular to branched flower clusters. Spotted saxifrage can ovate, 2 - 3 mm long, mostly glabrous. Petals 5, form broad mats with many beautiful, delicate, spreading, narrowly ovate to elliptic, 3 - 6 mm spotted flowers. It blooms from mid-June long, 3-nerved, spotted. Stamens 10 mostly through August between 7000 and 10000 ft. shorter than petals, filaments 4 - 5 mm long. Styles 2, free. Fruit a 2-beaked capsule 4 - 6 mm long.
New Mexico Native
405 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Castilleja integra Foothills paintbrush
Size: Color: 10 - 30 cm Red, rarely yellow
Description: Notes: Erect to ascending hemiparasitic perennial herb, Plants of the genus Castilleja are hemiparasites, stems often several. Herbage whitish with short that is, plants which contain chlorophyll and to long woolly hairs. Leaves alternate, sessile, photosynthesize food, but also tap into the roots linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2 - 6 cm long, of other plants to obtain moisture and extra often folded, margins smooth. Leaves changing nutrients. Typically in the Manzanos, they to bracts above. Flowers sessile, dense on upper parasitize oaks and grasses. The actual flower is stem, each subtended by a red to orange bract. green. The colorful parts of paintbrushes are the Bracts broadly rounded, sometimes with 2 lobes leaf-like bracts below each flower and the near the top, with long hairs and gland-tipped flower calyx which holds the flower. Foothills hairs. Calyx tubular, yellowish becoming red paintbrush blooms from June into August and glandular towards top, symmetrically cleft between 5000 and 10000 ft. into 4 lobes. Corolla green, 25 - 30 mm long, protruding, 2-lipped, the upper long, arching, enclosing the 4 stamens, the lower lip very New Mexico Native short, 3-lobed.
406 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Castilleja miniata Scarlet paintbrush
Size: Color: 25 - 70 cm Red
Description: Notes: Ascending to erect hemiparasitic perennial herb, Like other paintbrushes, scarlet paintbrush is stems few to several, often branched. Herbage hemiparasitic (see Castilleja integra). This glabrous or with short, straight hairs, paintbrush is recognizable by the fact that the particularly above. Leaves alternate, sessile, upper leaves and flower bracts are often with smooth edges, linear or narrowly dissected into narrow lobes. The species name lanceolate 3 – 7 cm long, the uppermost often 3- miniata literally translates from Latin as lobed. Flowers sessile, dense on upper stem, “painted with red lead”, in reference to the each subtended by a red, lanceolate, hairy, bract brilliant color of the floral bracts. Scarlet with 1 or 2 pairs of lateral lobes. Calyx 20 – 30 paintbrush blooms from June into September mm long, hairy, tubular, with 4 linear to between 7500 and 11000 ft. lanceolate lobes cleft more deeply in front than in back. Corolla green, 25 – 44 mm long, protruding, 2-lipped, the upper long, arching, enclosing the 4 stamens, the lower small with incurved teeth. New Mexico Native
407 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Cordylanthus wrightii Birdbeak, clubflower
Size: Color: 10 - 35 cm Lavender
Description: Notes: Erect hemiparasitic perennial herb, stems The genus name Cordylanthus comes from the solitary, branched. Herbage with gland-tipped Greek kordyle, “club” and anthos, “flower” in hairs or mostly glabrous. Leaves alternate, 1 - 3 reference to the club-like appearance of the cm long, pinnately or palmately divided into 3 - asymmetrical flower. The genus has 20 species 5 thread-like segments. Flowers 2 - 8, sessile, native to the western United States. New in dense clusters at branch ends, each cluster Mexico has 3 varieties and the Manzanos one. subtended by 1 or more leaf-like bracts 10 - 25 The plants are hemiparasitic (see Castilleja mm long. Each flower subtended by 1 narrowly integra) on at least 8 other plants. Birdbeak lanceolate, green bract 15 - 25 mm long. Calyx blooms from mid-July into September between green, 15 - 20 mm long, split to the base inside 5000 and 7500 ft. forming a lanceolate sheath shallowly 2-lobed at the top. Corolla 16 - 24 mm long, tubular, with 2 lips, these often folded together, the upper somewhat arched, enfolding the 4 hairy stamens, the lower almost equal, swollen. New Mexico Native
408 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Mimulus glabratus Smooth monkey-flower
Size: Color: 10 - 50 cm Yellow
Description: Notes: Reclining to ascending perennial herb, stems The genus name Mimulus comes from the Latin rooting at lower leaf nodes. Herbage mostly mimus, “mimic” with the diminutive ending, glabrous. Leaves opposite, on petioles below, -lus, thus meaning “little mimic”, probably sessile above, broadly ovate to round, 12 - 25 because the flower “mimics” the face of a mm long, with 3 - 5 veins all originating from monkey. Monkey-flowers are typically water the base, leaf margins toothed, wavy or smooth. loving, often growing directly in water, but Flowers solitary in both axils of upper leaf pairs, there are certainly xeric species. The stems of on stalks 15 - 30 mm long. Calyx bell-shaped, 5 smooth monkey-flowers tend to lie on the - 12 mm long, 5-angled, pleated, 5-lobed, the 4 ground and root from the lower parts, forming lateral lobes extremely short. Corolla tubular, 1 dense patches. The flowers bloom from May - 2 cm long, strongly 2-lipped, the upper 2- into July between 4000 and 7500 ft. lobed, bent backwards, the lower 3-lobed, bent down, the central lobe with 2 hairy ridges, but not closing the throat. New Mexico Native
409 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Mimulus guttatus Common monkey-flower
Size: Color: 5 - 50 cm Yellow with red spots
Description: Notes: Annual or perennial herb, stems stout or slender, The species name guttatus means spotted. The hollow, erect or reclining, simple or branched. flower and its supporting cup are commonly Herbage with short hairs or almost glabrous. spotted with red. The flower’s ovary is attached Leaves opposite, on petioles below, sessile to a stalk tipped with a pair of flat scales above, broadly ovate or obovate to round, 2 - 5 (stigmas) to gather pollen. If touched, the scales cm long, 1 - 4 cm wide, with irregularly toothed visibly fold together. When a bee enters the edges. Flowers on stalks 1 - 3 cm long loosely flower, it contacts the stigmas first, depositing clustered at top of stem with leaf-like bracts. foreign pollen. The stigmas then close Calyx bell-shaped, 6 - 16 mm long, 5-angled, preventing the flower’s own pollen from pleated, with 5 triangular lobes, one much larger contacting them as the bee goes deeper into the than the rest. Corolla tubular, 1 - 2 cm long, flower, thus avoiding self-pollination. Monkey- spotted with red, strongly 2-lipped, the upper 2- flowers bloom from June into August between lobed, bent backwards, the lower 3-lobed, bent 5000 and 10000 ft. down, the central lobe with 2 hairy, swollen New Mexico Native ridges closing the throat.
410 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Orthocarpus luteus Yellow owl-clover
Size: Color: 10 - 30 cm Yellow
Description: Notes: Erect hemiparasitic annual herb, stems The genus name Orthocarpus comes from the unbranched, with gland-tipped hairs and longer Greek orthos, “straight” and Karpos, “fruit”, in non-glandular hairs. Leaves alternate, sessile, reference to the symmetrical, unbent, ellipsoidal linear to linear-lanceolate, 1 - 4 cm long, with fruit, which was used by early nineteenth gland-tipped hairs, margins smooth below, century botanists to distinguish owl-clover from becoming bract-like and 3-lobed above. other genera. The species name luteus is Latin Flowers in a dense cluster along upper stem, for “bright yellow”. The common name is mixed with 3- to 5-cleft bracts 10 - 15 mm long. seemingly related to the rather obscure Calyx tubular, 5 - 8 mm long, unequally cleft perception that the oddly shaped flower nestled into 4 lobes. Corolla tubular, 9 - 12 mm long, in its bracts resembles an owl nestled in the with short hairs, 2-lipped, the upper hooded, branches of a tree. Yellow owl-clover is erect and straight, beak-like, 2.5 - 4 mm long, hemiparasitic (see Castilleja integra). It blooms the lobes united enclosing the 4 stamens, the in July and August between 6000 and 9500 ft. lower as long as the upper, puffed outward, New Mexico Native sack-like, minutely 3-toothed.
411 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Pedicularis centranthera Dwarf lousewort
Size: Color: 4 - 7 cm Purple
Description: Notes: Erect hemiparasitic perennial herb, stems The genus name Pedicularis comes from the unbranched. Herbage glabrous. Leaves Latin pediculus, “little louse”, in reference to an exceeding stems, alternate, the lowest thin, old superstition that animals consuming the sessile, linear, with smooth edges, the upper on plant would become infested with lice. The petioles, pinnatifid, 6 - 15 cm long, segments common name combines louse with the Middle ovate, edges doubly toothed, crinkly. Flowers English ending -wort, “plant”. The species on stalks 1 - 4 mm long, in a dense cluster at name centranthera comes from the Greek prefix stem end, the cluster subtended by leaf-like centr-, “spurred” and anthera, “anthers”. The bracts and individual flowers subtended by a anthers at the top of the stamens taper to a sharp reduced bract. Calyx tubular, 15 - 20 mm long, point on one end. Dwarf lousewort is with 5 unequal lobes 6 - 9 mm long with hairy hemiparasitic (see Castilleja integra). It blooms margins. Corolla tubular, strongly 2-lipped, the from late March into June between 6000 and upper curved, hooded, 10 - 18 mm long, 9000 ft. enclosing the 4 stamens, the lower 9 - 15 mm long, with 3 broadly rounded lobes. New Mexico Native
412 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Pedicularis procera Gray’s lousewort, fernleaf lousewort
Size: Color: 50 - 120 cm Pale yellow with red streaks
Description: Notes: Synonym: Pedicularis grayi. The species name procera is Latin for “very Erect hemiparasitic perennial herb, stems stout. tall”. The scientific name Pedicularis procera Herbage glabrous. Stem leaves alternate, 15 - was assigned by Asa Gray in 1862. Gray cited a 30 cm long, upper leaves on short petioles, publication by the Finnish/Crimean botanist pinnatifid, with toothed segments, becoming bi- Christian von Steven (1781 - 1863) in 1823 of a pinnatifid below; basal leaves on long petioles, specimen from the Russian botanist Michael bi-pinnatifid with toothed margins. Flowers in a Friedrich Adams (1780 - 1832). In 1904, Aven dense hairy, cylindrical cluster 10 - 35 cm long, Nelson of the University of Wyoming changed interspersed with linear, smooth-edged bracts. the name to P. grayi, arguing that Adams had Calyx 10 - 12 mm long with 5 linear lobes 3 - 5 given Steven a “very tall” Pedicularis, but had mm long. Corolla tubular 25 - 36 mm long, not seriously suggested procera as a species strongly 2-lipped, the upper curved, hooded, 9 - name. In recent times, the return to the use of 16 mm long, enclosing the 4 stamens, the lower original citations has reestablished Gray’s bent downward, 7 - 12 mm long, with 3 broadly original name. P. procera blooms in July and rounded lobes with wavy margins. August between 7000 and 10000 ft. New Mexico Native
413 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Penstemon barbatus ssp. torreyi Scarlet penstemon
Size: Color: 30 - 100 cm Red
Description: Notes: Ascending to erect perennial herb, stems 1 to Penstemon is a large and complicated genus of few. Herbage mostly glabrous. Basal and about 250 species ranging from Alaska to lower stem leaves 3 - 8 cm long, 12 - 25 mm Central America. Penstemon and Erigeron tie as wide, oblanceolate, smooth-edged, with the third largest genera in New Mexico with 42 petioles. Upper stem leaves opposite, pairs separate species (behind Astragalus with 72 widely spaced, linear, 3 - 8 cm long, 1 - 8 mm species and Carex with 63). The species name wide, sessile. Flowers 1 - 4 from each axil of barbatus is Latin for “bearded”, referring to the upper leaf pairs, on slender ascending stalks. commonly hairy throats of the flowers. Like Calyx 4 - 6 mm long, with 5 lanceolate to ovate many red-flowered species, Scarlet penstemon segments. Corolla tubular 26 - 32 mm long, is a hummingbird favorite. It blooms in June strongly 2-lipped, the upper straight, 2-lobed, and July between 6000 and 9000 ft. the lower bent backwards, 3-lobed. Lower tube throat glabrous or with a few white hairs. Fertile stamens 4, protruding. Sterile staminode New Mexico Native not protruding.
414 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Penstemon fendleri Fendler penstemon
Size: Color: 20 - 50 cm Violet to blue
Description: Notes: Erect perennial herb, stems few. Herbage Fendler penstemon is a tough, hardy plant. It is glabrous, with a waxy coating. Basal leaves superbly adapted for arid conditions with its thick, smooth-edged, lanceolate to elliptic, on thick, waxy, almost succulent leaves. It occurs short petioles. Stem leaves opposite thick, in the dry plains flanking the Manzanos, smooth-edged, lanceolate, sessile or bases particularly to the south. The floral tube of the somewhat wrapping the stem, reduced upward, Fendler penstemon is narrow with little changing to bracts above. Flowers 1 - 3, on inflation, unlike the other penstemons in the short stalks, from axils of bracts, forming area. Blooming occurs from late April into June whorls. Calyx 4 - 7 mm long, with 5 ovate between 5000 and 8000 ft. lobes with papery margins. Corolla tubular, 15 - 25 mm long, 2-lipped, the upper 2-lobed, bent backwards, the lower 3-lobed, bent backwards, the tube narrow, with purple lines in the throat. Fertile stamens 4, not protruding, anthers not New Mexico Native hairy. Sterile staminode densely yellow, hairy at tip.
415 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Penstemon inflatus Inflated penstemon
Size: Color: 10 - 60 cm Blue with white
Description: Notes: Erect perennial herb, stems 1 to several, This slender and graceful penstemon is common microscopically hairy. Leaves glabrous, slightly in the Manzanos. It is the only blue, white- waxy; basal and lower stem leaves on petioles throated penstemon in Central New Mexico. Its to 3 cm, lanceolate, 3 - 8 cm long, 5 - 18 mm range extends from the Manzano and Sandia wide; stem leaves opposite, sessile, narrowly Mountains through the Sangre de Christo range lanceolate to linear 2 - 9 cm long. Flowers in to the Colorado border. Two closely related clusters of 2 – 4, each cluster on a stalk sister species are rare and have very restricted subtended by a linear bract, the bracts in ranges, P. oliganthus only around Mt. Taylor opposite pairs on upper stem. Calyx 3 - 10 mm and P. pseudoparvus only in the San Mateo and long, with 5 lanceolate lobes, somewhat Magdalena mountains of Socorro County. P. glandular. Corolla tubular, 17 - 27 mm long, 2- inflatus blooms from early June through July lipped, the upper deeply 2-lobed, bent back, the between 7500 and 10500 ft. lower distinctly 3-lobed, bent back. Stamens 4, included. Sterile staminode yellow hairy for half its length. New Mexico Native
416 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Penstemon jamesii James penstemon
Size: Color: 10 - 40 cm Lavender, pink or white
Description: Notes: Erect perennial herb, stems 1 to several, It appears that the James penstemon was somewhat hairy below, with gland-tipped hairs discovered in New Mexico. The first specimen above. Leaves with short hairs or glabrous, was collected by Dr. Edwin James (see edges smooth or toothed; basal leaves on Cryptantha cinerea) on July 30, 1820 from the petioles, linear to lanceolate, 2 - 8 cm long, 5 - Don Carlos Hills about 25 miles south of Des 10 mm wide; stem leaves opposite, linear to Moines, NM, in western Union County. The lanceolate, 2 - 10 cm long, 5 - 15 mm wide, flowers of this penstemon tend to grow on one sessile. Flowers on short stalks, in clusters of 2 side of the stem. The abrupt and strong inflation - 5 along one side of upper stems, with leafy, of each flower implies pollination by bees. glandular bracts. Calyx with 5 lanceolate lobes James penstemon blooms from early May 8 - 12 mm long, with gland-tipped hairs. through June between 5000 and 7000 ft. Corolla tubular 25 - 35 mm long, with gland- tipped hairs externally, abruptly inflated, 2- lipped, the upper 2-lobed, projecting, the lower New Mexico Native 3-lobed, bent backwards with long white hairs at the base. Staminode yellow hairy.
417 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Penstemon strictus Rocky Mountain penstemon
Size: Color: 30 - 70 cm Purple (rarely white)
Description: Notes: Ascending to erect perennial herb, stems 1 to The much inflated flowers of Rocky Mountain few. Herbage glabrous. Basal and lower stem penstemon indicate bee pollination. Individual leaves on petioles, oblanceolate 5 - 15 cm long, flowers can receive more than 100 bee visits per 5 - 16 mm wide, with smooth edges. Upper day. To attract pollinators, the flowers produce leaves opposite, lanceolate to linear, 4 - 10 cm nectar. In bee pollinated flowers, the nectar long, 2 - 7 mm wide, sessile, often folded. volume is low, the sugar concentration high, and Flowers on erect stalks in groups of 1 - 3 the rate of replenishment fairly rapid. In scattered along one side of upper stem. Calyx 3 hummingbird pollinated flowers (see Penstemon - 5 mm long with 5 ovate lobes. Corolla barbatus), the nectar volume is several times tubular, 24 - 32 mm long, inflated on the that of bee pollinated flowers, the sugar bottom, 2-lipped, the upper 2-lobed, projecting, concentration low, and the rate of replenishment the lower deeply 3-lobed, bent back. Stamens 4, significantly slower. Rocky Mountain protruding, anthers long-hairy. Sterile penstemon blooms from June into August staminode included, with a few long hairs or between 7000 and 10000 ft. glabrous. New Mexico Native
418 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Penstemon virgatus Wandbloom penstemon
Size: Color: 20 - 80 cm White to pink or lavender
Description: Notes: Erect perennial herb, stems 1 to several. The species name virgatus is Latin meaning Herbage with very fine, short hairs. Leaves long, slender, rod-like in reference to the opposite, sessile, narrowly lanceolate to linear, 2 narrow, dense, one-sided grouping of the flower - 12 cm long, often folded. Flowers on stalks in clusters, giving a wand-like appearance. The clusters of 2 - 4 subtended by a pair of bractlets, wandbloom penstemon was first discovered in each cluster on a stalk subtended by a linear New Mexico. John Milton Bigelow (1804- bract, the bracts in opposite pairs on upper stem. 1878) and Charles Wright (see Solidago Flowers on one side of stem. Calyx 3 - 4 mm wrightii) with the Mexican boundary survey, long with 5 ovate to elliptic lobes with papery, collected it near Santa Rita in 1851. ragged margins. Corolla tubular 15 - 25 mm Wandbloom penstemon blooms from June long, inflated, 2-lipped, the upper 2-lobed, through August between 7000 and 8500 ft. projecting, the lower 3-lobed, bent back, sometimes slightly hairy, with purple guidelines. Stamens 4, sometimes protruding. Sterile staminode glabrous. New Mexico Native
419 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Penstemon whippleanus Whipple’s penstemon, dusky penstemon
Size: Color: 20 - 60 cm Rose purple
Description: Notes: Ascending to erect perennial herb, stems This species is named for Amiel Weeks clustered. Herbage glabrous below, with gland- Whipple (1816-1863) commander of the Pacific tipped hairs and spreading white hairs above. Railroad Survey along the 35th parallel 1853- Basal leaves well developed, on long petioles, 54. It was first collected by staff botanist John lanceolate to ovate, 4 - 9 cm long, 1 - 3 cm Milton Bigelow (see Penstemon virgatus) in the wide. Stem leaves opposite, lanceolate, 2.5 - 6 Sandia Mountains on October 10, 1853. The cm long, sessile. Flowers hairy, on stalks, in 2 - dull purple color, the hairy exterior, and the 5 congested clusters of 2 - 4 flowers each long forward projecting lower lip of the flower scattered on upper stem. Calyx 7 - 10 mm long make it easy to recognize. Whipple’s with 5 lanceolate, pointed segments. Corolla penstemon blooms from late June through tubular 20 - 30 mm long, abruptly inflated, 2- August between 7500 and 10000 ft. lipped, the upper spreading, 2-lobed, the lower projecting, longer than upper, 3-lobed, with long hairs. Stamens 4, included. Staminode white, New Mexico Native yellow hairy at the tip.
420 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Scrophularia montana Figwort
Size: Color: 50 - 150 cm Greenish brown
Description: Notes: Erect perennial herb, stems 4-angled, with Centuries ago, the genus was named toothed edges, branched above, with short hairs. Scrophularia because the roots of the plant were Leaves opposite(sometimes whorled), with used to treat scrofula, a tuberculosis of the toothed edges, each pair perpendicular to the lymph glands which produces nodules in the one below, on petioles shorter than 2 cm, neck. The surface of the root has nodules lanceolate, 8 - 15 cm long, with fine gland- similar in shape, so the ancients reasoned that it tipped hairs. Flowers small, stalked, in loosed would be an effective treatment. This use of branched clusters at stem ends. Calyx 2 - 4 mm plant resemblance to a medical condition as a long with 5 ovate, glabrous lobes. Corolla 6 - guide for treatment was an important part of 10 mm long, the tube urn-shaped, 2-lipped, the herbal medicine known as the Doctrine of upper 2-lobed, flat, projecting, the lower 3- Signatures. S. montana only occurs in New lobed, the 2 lateral lobes projecting, the central Mexico. It blooms from late June into bent backwards. Stamens 4, not protruding. September between 7000 and 10000 ft. Sterile staminode a rounded, fan-shaped scale. New Mexico Native
421 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Verbascum thapsus Woolly mullein
Size: Color: 50 - 150 cm Yellow
Description: Notes: Stout, erect, biennial herb, stems solitary. The common name, mullein, comes from the Herbage densely woolly with forked or star- Middle English moleyne, the old French moleine shaped hairs. Basal leaves on petioles, obovate and ultimately from the Latin mollis, “soft”, in to oblanceolate, 6 - 50 cm long, in a rosette. reference to the leaves. The plant arrived in the Stem leaves alternate, oblanceolate, gradually Southwest with the Spaniards. The Spaniards, becoming smaller above, sessile with leaf bases like the Greeks and Romans before them, extending down stem. Flowers almost sessile, dipped the stalks in tallow and used them as densely clustered at top of stem. Calyx 5 - 10 torches, giving rise to the Spanish name mm long deeply parted into 5 lanceolate lobes. candelaria. The plants are biennial. The first Corolla with a very short tube, disk-shaped, 12 - year only a rosette of velvety basal leaves 30 mm across, with 5 slightly irregular lobes. appears. The second year the tall, stout, Stamens 5, filaments of lower 2 glabrous or flowering stalk appears. Mullein blooms from sparsely hairy, filaments of upper 3 yellow June into September between 6000 and 8500 ft. hairy. Introduced*
422 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Veronica americana American brooklime
Size: Color: 10 - 35 cm Blue violet
Description: Notes: Glabrous, aquatic, perennial herb, stems American brooklime is a slender, rather small ascending to erect, reclining at the base and plant which grows in running water or in muddy rooting at lower nodes. Leaves opposite, on or moist areas near streams. It is similar to short petioles, ovate to lanceolate, 15 - 40 mm another Veronica found in streams, water long, 7 - 25 mm wide, edges round toothed to speedwell (see Veronica anagallis-aquatica). smooth. Flowers perfect, on stalks 5 - 10 mm Brooklime is generally smaller, both in stature long subtended by a linear bract, in loose and the size of parts. The leaves of brooklime clusters of 10 - 25 on stalks from leaf axils. are carried on short stalks, those of water Calyx 2 - 5 mm long, with 4 distinct segments. speedwell are attached directly to and wrapping Corolla 5 - 10 mm across, with a very short around the stem. The floral clusters of tube, unequally 4-lobed, the upper lobe largest, brooklime are smaller and fewer flowered than lateral lobes equal, the lower lobe smallest. those of water speedwell. American brooklime Stamens 2. Pistil 1, style 1. Fruit a capsule 2 - blooms from late May into August between 4 mm long, 3 - 5 mm wide, slightly notched, 5000 and 9000 ft. with a style 1.7 - 3 mm long.
New Mexico Native
423 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Veronica anagallis-aquatica Water speedwell
Size: Color: 10 - 60 cm Blue or pale violet
Description: Notes: Glabrous, aquatic, perennial herb, stems The species name anagallis-aquatica comes branched or simple, ascending to erect. Leaves from this plant’s resemblance to plants of the opposite, elliptic, 2 - 7 cm long, 5 - 25 mm terrestrial genus Anagallis (Pimpernel) in the wide, sessile below, sessile and wrapping the Primrose Family. For hundreds of years, plants stem above, edges somewhat saw-toothed. of the genus Veronica have been reputed to Flowers on up-curving stalks 4 - 8 mm long in have curative powers, which is the genesis of stalked clusters from leaf axils. Calyx 3 - 6 mm the common name speedwell. The prefix speed-, long, with 4 lanceolate lobes. Corolla with a however, is not related to rate, but refers to an very short tube, disk-shaped, irregularly 4- archaic verb, meaning to cause to succeed or lobed, the upper the largest, the lower the prosper. Water speedwell is similar to smallest, with purple lines. Stamens 2. Pistil 1, American brooklime. For discussion see style 1. Veronica americana. It blooms from early June into September between 5000 and 8500 ft.
Introduced*
424 SCROPHULARIACEAE -- Figwort Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Veronica peregrina var. xalapensis Purslane speedwell
Size: Color: 5 - 25 cm White
Description: Notes: Ascending to erect annual herb, stems branched The species name peregrina is Latin for at the base, with gland-tipped hairs. Leaves “foreign”. The name was assigned to this opposite, sessile, narrowly oblong to species by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in his Species oblanceolate, 5 - 20 mm long, 0.5 - 5 mm wide, Plantarum. The flowers of plants in the genus mostly glabrous, edges smooth or with a few Veronica are very tiny, with a short tube and 4 faint, irregular teeth. Flowers perfect, on short unequal lobes, the upper lobe the largest, the 2 stalks with gland-tipped hairs, each stalk lateral lobes about equal, the lower the smallest. subtended by a mostly glabrous bract, these The large upper lobe is actually a fusion of 2 alternately placed along a glandular stalk at lobes. Fusion of petals is common in the stem end. Calyx 3 - 6 mm long, with narrowly Figwort family. The flowers contain only 2 lanceolate lobes, these with a few gland-tipped stamens. Purslane speedwell blooms from early hairs along edges. Corolla 2 - 3 mm across, May into August between 6500 and 9000 ft. with a very short tube and 4 unequal lobes. Stamens 2. Fruit obcordate, 3 - 4 mm long, with gland-tipped hairs.
New Mexico Native
425 SOLANACEAE -- Potato Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Chamaesaracha coronopus Five-eyes, false nightshade
Size: Color: 10 - 40 cm Creamy white
Description: Notes: Perennial herb, much branched from the base, The genus name Chamaesaracha comes from stems reclining to ascending. Herbage with a the Greek chamae, “on the ground”, and sparse covering of branched or star-shaped Saracha, a tropical American genus of the hairs. Leaves alternate, linear or narrowly Solanaceae. The species name coronopus is lanceolate, 1.5 - 6 cm long, 2 - 6 mm wide, with attached since the leaves of this species wavy-toothed margins. Flowers perfect, mostly resemble leaves common in the mustard genus solitary, on stalks 1 - 3 cm long, from leaf axils. Coronopus (Coronopus didymous occurs in Calyx bell-shaped, 5-lobed, 2.5 - 4 mm long, New Mexico). Five-eyes blooms from May into densely hairy. Corolla broadly bell-shaped, 6 - July between 3500 and 7000 ft. 10 mm wide, 5-angled, with 5 white, velvety appendages filling the throat. Stamens 5, anthers yellow. Fruit a berry 4 - 8 mm thick, firmly wrapped by the calyx.
New Mexico Native
426 SOLANACEAE -- Potato Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Lycium pallidum Pale wolfberry
Size: Color: 50 - 200 cm Greenish white
Description: Notes: Upright shrub, stems much branched, spiny, Pale wolfberry produces berries resembling tiny mostly glabrous. Leaves alternate, oblanceolate tomatoes. Birds and rodents enjoy them. Early to spatulate, 1 - 4 cm long, glabrous, waxy, native Americans also consumed the berries, clustered in bundles. Flowers perfect, on stalks although they are tasteless. The plants are 4 - 10 mm long, solitary or in groups of 2 or 3 commonly found around old ruins, apparently from leaf axils. Calyx tube cup-shaped 2.5 to 4 cultivated accidentally or intentionally. The mm long, with 5 lanceolate lobes up to twice as species name pallidum, “pale”, is in reference to long as the tube. Corolla funnel-shaped, the the whitish, waxy coating of the stems and tube 10 - 18 mm long, with 5 lobes 3 - 5 mm leaves. Pale wolfberry blooms from late April long. Stamens 4 or 5, protruding. Pistil 1, style into July between 4500 and 7500 ft. 1. Fruit a reddish, glabrous, ovoid to almost round berry, 8 - 12 mm in diameter.
New Mexico Native
427 SOLANACEAE -- Potato Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Physalis hederifolia var. cordifolia Ivy-leafed ground cherry
Size: Color: 30 - 70 cm Light yellow with brown center
Description: Notes: Synonym: Physalis hederaefolia var. fendleri. In plants of the genus Physalis, the herbaceous Erect to reclining perennial herb, stems cup (calyx) which supports the flower continues branched, leafy. Herbage densely covered with to grow after the flower is fertilized, forming a simple, forked, or star-shaped hairs, not large papery sack around the fruit. The genus glandular. Leaves alternate, ovate to lanceolate, name comes form the Greek physa, “bellows” edges smooth or wavy-toothed. Flowers or “bladder”, in reference to the inflated sack. perfect, radially symmetric, mostly solitary, on Ivy-leafed ground cherry blooms from July somewhat stout, drooping stalks 5 - 10 mm long through September between 4500 and 7500 ft. from leaf axils. Calyx bell-shaped, 7 - 10 mm long, with 5 short, triangular lobes. Calyx grows much larger with developing fruit. Corolla broadly funnel-shaped, 12 - 15 mm across, somewhat 5-angled, the limb often bent backwards. Fruit a fleshy berry 8 - 10 mm in diameter, completely enclosed by the papery calyx. New Mexico Native
428 SOLANACEAE -- Potato Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Physalis longifolia var. longifolia Common ground cherry, longleaf ground cherry Size: Color: 30 - 60 cm Yellow with brown center
Description: Notes: Synonym: Physalis virginiana var. sonorae. The fruit of a ground cherry is a berry, wrapped Erect to ascending perennial herb, stems usually in a papery sheath (see Physalis hederifolia). single, branched above, glabrous or lightly hairy Perhaps the most useful ground cherry is the above. Leaves alternate, lanceolate or elliptic- tomatillo, Physalis ixocarpa, used in Mexican lanceolate, 3 - 8 cm long, tapering to the petiole, cooking and salsas. P. ixocarpa is native to margins smooth to somewhat wavy-toothed. Mexico, but has become established in a few Flowers perfect, radially symmetric, mostly New Mexico counties. P. longifolia blooms solitary, on stalks 1 - 4 cm long from leaf axils. from July through September between 3500 and Calyx 6 - 10 mm long, bell-shaped, with 7500 ft. triangular lobes 3 - 4 mm long, 10-nerved, these often hairy. Calyx grows much larger with fruit. Corolla broadly bell-shaped, 10 - 20 mm across, somewhat 5-lobed. Fruit a fleshy berry 8 - 10 mm in diameter completely enclosed by the papery calyx. New Mexico Native
429 SOLANACEAE -- Potato Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Solanum elaeagnifolium Silverleaf nightshade
Size: Color: 20 - 100 cm Lavender or white
Description: Notes: Erect perennial herb, stems somewhat woody at The species name elaeagnifolium comes from the base. Herbage silvery, densely covered with Greek meaning “with foliage like Elaeagnus”. star-shaped hairs, and lightly to heavily with Elaeagnus is the genus of Russian olive, whose short bristly spines. Leaves alternate, narrowly leaves are similar to those of nightshade. The lanceolate to oblong, 3 - 15 cm long, 5 - 15 mm plants have deep roots and tough stems and are wide, with smooth to somewhat wavy margins. considered a noxious weed. The leaves and Flowers perfect, on stalks, in few-flowered berries are poisonous. A few ounces of ripe loose clusters near stem or branch ends. Calyx berries can kill a cow or a person. Silverleaf 5-angled, bell-shaped, 5 - 8 mm long, with 5 nightshade blooms from June into October linear lobes. Corolla broadly funnel-shaped, 20 between 3500 and 7500 ft. - 30 mm wide, 5-lobed, the edges bent backwards. Stamens 5, filaments short, anthers yellow, 7 - 9 mm long, protruding, surrounding the style. Fruit a round berry 9 - 15 mm in diameter, yellowish to reddish, black in age.
New Mexico Native
430 SOLANACEAE -- Potato Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Solanum jamesii Wild potato
Size: Color: 10 - 40 cm White
Description: Notes: Ascending to erect perennial herb, stems The cultivated potato, Solanum tuberosum, one branched, bushy, glabrous or with scattered of the world’s most important food crops, like hairs especially among flowers. Leaves all potatoes, is indigenous to the New World. alternate, 7 - 15 cm long, odd-pinnate with 7 - Six other varieties are cultivated in the Andes. 11 lanceolate to oblong-elliptic leaflets, the end There are almost 200 wild species in 16 leaflet largest, up to 5 cm long. Flowers perfect, countries in North, Central, and South America. on stalks 1 - 2 cm long in loose, branched The United states has only 3, all in the clusters of 3 - 10 near stem end. Calyx bell- southwest. Wild potato blooms from July into shaped, 4 - 8 mm long, irregularly 5-lobed, September between 5000 and 7500 ft. mostly glabrous. Corolla broadly bell-shaped with 5 lanceolate lobes forming a star-shape 12 - 25 mm across, sometimes bent backwards. Stamens 5, filaments short, anthers long, yellow, surrounding the style. Fruit a glabrous berry about 1 cm in diameter.
New Mexico Native
431 SOLANACEAE -- Potato Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Solanum rostratum Buffalo bur
Size: Color: 20 - 70 cm Yellow
Description: Notes: Spreading annual herb, stems much branched. The genus name Solanum comes from the Latin Herbage densely covered with star-shaped hairs solamen, “quieting”, in reference to the fact that and straight yellow bristles. Leaves alternate, 4 several species contain narcotic chemicals. The - 15 cm long, 3 - 7 cm wide, irregularly once or entire family contains highly toxic members twice pinnatifid, with broad, rounded, somewhat (nightshades, buffalo bur), hallucinogenic crinkly lobes. Flowers perfect, on ascending members (Datura), pharmacologically active stalks in a slender cluster of 5 - 15, the axis members (belladonna), as well as many elongating in fruit. Calyx bell-shaped 4 - 5 mm important food crops such as bell peppers, long, 5-lobed, hidden in spines. Corolla tomatoes, potatoes, and chile. Buffalo bur flattened, funnel-shaped, 20 - 25 mm across blooms from late June into September between with 5 broad lobes. Stamens and style 4000 and 7000 ft. protruding, hanging down. Stamens 5, with short filaments, 4 yellow and equal, 1 longer, greenish, curved. Fruit a berry enclosed by the bristly calyx. New Mexico Native
432 TAMARICACEAE -- Tamarisk Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Tamarix chinensis Salt cedar
Size: Color: 200 - 400 cm Pink
Description: Notes: Synonym: Tamarix ramosissima Salt cedar is not a native species. It is generally Shrub or small tree, bark reddish brown. considered to be a noxious weed. It has an Leaves alternate, sessile, scale-like, about 1 mm extensive and deep taproot. The plants spread long, lying flat against the stems. Flowers on rapidly, forming dense colonies which can short stalks in dense, slender, cylindrical, survive fires, bulldozing and most other efforts stalked clusters 2 - 6 cm long, 5 - 7 mm wide at eradication. They are salt tolerant and scattered along branches. Sepals usually 5, extensive water users. Salt cedar blooms from obovate, 1 - 2 mm long. Petals usually 5, May into August between 3000 and 7000 ft. obovate, 1 - 2 mm long, alternating with sepals. Stamens 5. Pistil 1, stigmas 2 - 5. Fruit a capsule 3 - 4 mm long.
Introduced*
433 URTICACEAE -- Nettle Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Urtica dioica ssp. gracilis Stinging nettle
Size: Color: 50 - 150 cm Greenish white
Description: Notes: Synonym: Urtica gracilis. The stinging hairs on this nettle contain formic Erect perennial herb, stems with stinging hairs, acid, the same acid which produces the sting of otherwise hairy to almost glabrous. Leaves an ant bite. When the hairs break the skin, they opposite, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 3 - 15 can cause significant discomfort. Stinging cm long, 2 - 8 cm wide, edges coarsely toothed, nettles prefer moist ground and can be found petioles 1 - 6 cm long. Petioles and leaf veins occasionally in the Manzanos near more with stinging hairs. Flowers tiny, unisexual, in consistent streams. They bloom from late June dense, narrow, elongate clusters from leaf axils. into September between 6500 and 8500 ft. Clusters on a plant all male, all female or some of each.
New Mexico Native
434 VALERIANACEAE -- Valerian Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Valeriana arizonica Arizona valerian
Size: Color: 10 - 30 cm White to pink
Description: Notes: Unpleasant smelling glabrous perennial herb. The genus name Valerian comes from the Latin Basal leaves on petioles, ovate to elliptic, 2 - 5 valere, “to be strong”. Plants of the genus have cm long, 1 - 3 cm wide, smooth-edged, been assumed to have medicinal properties for sometimes with an opposite pair of small lobes many centuries. Mithridates, king of Pontus (a somewhat separated from blade. Stem leaves province bordering the Black Sea), listed reduced, pinnatifid, in 1 - 3 opposite pairs. valerian as a treatment for poisoning in the 1st Flowers perfect, in several stalked clusters at century B.C. Modern herbalists still actively stem end. At flowering, segmented calyx small, seek valerian for the sedative effects of the root. rolled inward, greatly elongating in fruit, Arizona valerian blooms from early May developing numerous plumose bristles around through June between 6000 and 8500 ft. the rim. Corolla trumpet-shaped, 10 - 15 mm long, with 5 lobes 1.5 - 2.5 mm long. Stamens usually 3, protruding. Style 1, protruding, stigma 3-lobed.
New Mexico Native
435 VALERIANACEAE -- Valerian Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Valeriana edulis Edible valerian, kooyah
Size: Color: 30 - 100 cm Yellowish white
Description: Notes: Foul smelling, glabrous perennial herb. Basal This plant has an unpleasant, musty smell. leaves thick, linear to obovate, tapering to Even herbarium specimens retain the aroma. petiole, 7 - 40 cm long, 7 - 50 mm wide; some The species name edulis is Latin for “edible”. basal leaves with forward pointing lobes. Stem This designation is questionable. Some native leaves opposite, sessile, reduced, in 2 - 6 pairs, Americans baked and ate the roots. The pinnatifid with 3 - 7 narrow segments. Male common name “kooyah” is from the Shoshonee and female flowers on separate plants with some name for the plant. Early botanical explorers perfect flowers. Flowers in numerous stalked who shared this food apparently found it barely clusters on upper stem. At flowering, endurable. It also carries the common name segmented calyx small, rolled inward, greatly tobacco root. It blooms from mid-June into elongating in fruit, developing 9 - 13 plumose August between 5000 and 10000 ft. bristles around the rim. Corolla tubular, 5- lobed, 2.5 - 3.5 mm long in perfect and male flowers, about 1 mm long in female flowers. Stamens 3, barely protruding.
New Mexico Native
436 VERBENACEAE -- Verbena Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Glandularia bipinnatifida Dakota vervain, pink vervain
Size: Color: 15 - 30 cm Rose pink
Description: Notes: Reclining to ascending perennial herb, stems 4- Dakota vervain is primarily pollinated by angled, branched from the base, with coarse, butterflies. The flowers have long, narrow tubes stiff hairs 1 - 2 mm long. Leaves on petioles, with nectar at the bottom. Only insects with opposite, 1 - 6 cm long, 1 - 6 cm wide, twice very long tongues can reach the nectar. In pinnatifid or 3-cleft into pinnatifid segments, Spanish, the plant is called moradilla (the with stiff hairs lying flat above and below. diminutive of morado, violet), meaning “little Flowers sessile, in dense clusters at stem ends. violet one”. Dakota vervain is a very persistent Calyx tubular, 8 - 10 mm long, 5-angled, bloomer, blooming for months or sometimes unequally 5-toothed, with stalked glands and starting a new blooming cycle with sufficient hairy veins, subtended by a bract about as long moisture. It blooms from late March sometimes as calyx. Corolla tubular, trumpet-shaped, into October between 4000 and 8000 ft. hairy, 1.5 times as long as calyx, with 5 lobes. Stamens 4, in 2 unequal pairs, the upper pair each with a red gland on the anthers. Style 1. Fruit of 4 1-seeded nutlets. New Mexico Native
437 VERBENACEAE -- Verbena Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Verbena bracteata Weed verbena, prostrate verbena
Size: Color: 10 - 50 cm Light blue to lavender
Description: Notes: Annual or brief perennial herb, stems several, The stems of weed verbena lie flat on the reclining to ascending, with sparse, spreading ground, but the flower clusters at the branch hairs. Leaves opposite, with stiff hairs lying ends curve upward. Each flower has a long, flat, petioles with broad, flat edges, blades 1 - 4 narrow bract beneath it giving the cluster a cm long, irregularly toothed and parted, 3-lobed, shaggy appearance. The active blooming region the middle large, the 2 lateral pinnately set, is a narrow ring which gradually moves upward small. Flowers sessile, in long cylindrical as the cluster lengthens. Numerous species of clusters at stem ends. Calyx 3 - 4 mm long, verbena are popular in decorative gardens. The tubular, hairy, 5-toothed, subtended by 1 verbena family is not limited to garden flowers. lanceolate bract 5 - 15 mm long. Corolla It also contains the extremely dense hardwood trumpet-shaped, the tube 3 - 5 cm long, with 5 tree, teak. Weed verbena blooms from May into spreading lobes. Stamens 4, in 2 unequal pairs, September between 3500 and 7500 ft. not protruding. Style 1, short. Fruit of 4 1- seeded nutlets. New Mexico Native
438 VERBENACEAE -- Verbena Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Verbena macdougalii Spike verbena
Size: Color: 30 - 100 cm Purple
Description: Notes: Erect perennial herb, stems 2 to several, This species was named for Daniel Trembly sparingly branched. Herbage densely covered MacDougal (1865-1958), one of the great with long, soft, spreading hairs. Leaves pioneers in the science of plant physiology. opposite, sessile or with short petioles, oblong- MacDougal, probably more than any other elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, 4 - 10 cm long, 1.5 - individual, was instrumental in the 4 cm wide, with irregularly toothed edges. popularization of the evolutionary theories of Flowers sessile, in dense cylindrical clusters at the Dutch botanist De Vries (see Oenothera stem end or from upper leaf axils. Calyx coronopifolia). MacDougal was one of the tubular, 5-angled, 4 - 6 mm long, unequally 5- early directors of the Desert Research toothed, subtended by a bract as long or longer Laboratory founded by the Carnegie Institute in than the calyx. Corolla trumpet-shaped, 5 - 7 Tuscon, Arizona(now part of the University of mm wide, the tube barely surpassing the calyx, Arizona). New Mexico vervain blooms from unequally 5-lobed. Stamens 4 in unequal pairs, June through August between 6500 and 8000 ft. not protruding. Style short. Fruit of 4 1-seeded nutlets. New Mexico Native
439 VIOLACEAE -- Violet Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Viola canadensis Canada violet
Size: Color: 15 - 30 cm White
Description: Notes: Ascending to erect perennial herb, stems 1 to Violets have 5 petals: a pair at the top usually several, finely hairy. Basal leaves 3 - 5, on long without hairs, a lateral pair often hairy at the petioles, heart-shaped, 3 - 10 cm long, 2 - 7 cm base, and a larger bottom petal, generally hairy wide, pointed at the apex, margins with shallow at the base and marked with guidelines and pointed to rounded teeth, glabrous or finely having a hollow extension at the base (spur) hairy on veins below. Stem leaves alternate, extending beneath the flower. The spur similar to basal. Stipules lanceolate, 8 - 15 mm contains nectar to entice pollinators, although long, papery. Flowers on stalks 1 - 4 cm long the showy spring flowers actually produce little from upper leaf axils. Sepals 5, lanceolate, seed (see next page). Canada violets are the pointed, 4 - 6 mm long. Petals 5, unequal, the only white violets in the Manzanos. They lower with a basal spur, hairy and yellowish at bloom from early May into July between 6500 the base inside, with purple lines. Two laterals and 10000 ft. with yellowish hairy base. Top 2 yellow at base. Stamens 5.
New Mexico Native
440 VIOLACEAE -- Violet Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Viola sororia var. affinis Bog violet
Size: Color: 5 - 20 cm Purple
Description: Notes: Synonym: Viola nephrophylla var. arizonica. Violets have 5 unequal petals (see previous Stemless perennial herb. Leaves on glabrous page). The beautiful spring flowers, however, petioles 3 - 20 cm long arising from root crown, do not produce much seed. Later flowers are blades ovate to heart-shaped or kidney-shaped, small, with rudimentary petals and only 2 2 - 6 cm long and wide, not pointed at apex, stamens, never opening, rather wrapped by 5 margins with shallow pointed or rounded teeth modified leaves (sepals). These secondary and hairs, surfaces often sparsely hairy. flowers self-fertilize. Commonly self- Stipules 5 - 12 mm long, smooth edged. fertilization produces stunted or functionless Flowers solitary on leafless stalks as long or seeds, but in the case of violets, the secondary longer than leaves. Sepals 5, lanceolate, 5 - 7 flowers develop abundant and viable seed. Bog mm long. Petals 5, unequal, the lower with a violets bloom from May through July in moist, basal spur 2 - 5 mm long and a whitish base, 2 shady environments between 6500 and 9000 ft. laterals with white bases, 2 uppers purple. Stamens 5.
New Mexico Native
441 VITACEAE -- Grape Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Parthenocissus vitacea Thicket creeper, woodbine
Size: Color: Long vine Greenish
Description: Notes: Clambering to weakly climbing woody vine The genus name Parthenocissus comes from the with few-branched tendrils having tips without Greek parthenos, “virgin” and cissus, “ivy”. adhesive disks. Leaves alternate, on long Virgin’s ivy became virgin’s creeper and petioles, with 5 elliptic to obovate or ultimately Virginia creeper, the name of a close oblanceolate leaflets all originating from the relative of thicket creeper which is cultivated all same point at the tip of the petiole, 3 - 12 cm over the United States as a decorative vine. long, 2 - 6 cm wide, edges coarsely toothed, Both creepers have magnificent bright red lustrous green above, pale and sometimes thinly foliage in the fall. The berries contain a potent hairy below. Flowers in 2-branched clusters quantity of oxalic acid and can be toxic. opposite from leaves, each branch again Thicket creeper blooms in May and June diversely branched. Calyx small, cup-like, between 4500 and 7500 ft. shallowly 5-lobed. Petals 5, spreading or bent backwards. Stamens 5. Fruit a dark blue to black waxy berry with thin flesh. New Mexico Native
442 VITACEAE -- Grape Family
Scientific Name: Common Name: Vitis arizonica Canyon grape
Size: Color: Vine 200 - 600 cm White
Description: Notes: Clambering woody vine, much branched, with Although astringent, the fruit of canyon grapes shreddy bark. Leaves alternate, heart-shaped to is edible and certainly heavily consumed by ovate-heart-shaped or kidney-shaped, 3 - 12 cm birds and animals. The great Harvard botanist, long, 4 - 14 cm wide, palmately veined and Asa Gray, began study of grape tendrils in 1858. lobed, coarsely toothed, surfaces cottony to Charles Darwin extended Gray’s work in a almost glabrous when young, more or less paper in 1865. The tendrils do not simply grow glabrous in age. Tendrils opposite leaves, out and coil in one direction around a support. branched, often coiling. Male and female Rather, the growing tip attaches and the tendril flowers on separate plants, in branched clusters begins coiling at the middle, forming 2 reversed opposite leaves. Calyx vestigial. Petals 5, coils proceeding in both directions. Canyon distinct, but stuck together at the tip. Male grapes bloom from early May into June between flowers with 5 tall stamens and a vestigial pistil. 5000 and 7500 ft. Female flowers with a well-developed pistil and 4 short functionless stamens. Fruit a juicy berry New Mexico Native 6 - 10 mm in diameter.
443