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Surprise Agave Spike
One of the agaves in our yard has begun to send up a flowerstalk. I had expected this plant to grow much larger and live for several more years, but the high elevation and relatively harsh environment may have triggered an early bloom. This is Agave colorata, native to the Pacific coast of Mexico but…
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Moon Turtle Mandalas
The circular turtle shell is a motif that I have used in several drawings, the most detailed of which is the scratchboard Tsunami Turtle. The first time I used it, I painted the Dark Moon Tortoise Mandala in forest fire charcoal, charred bone, and silver metallic powders. It’s been holding a collection of white chalcedony “moon pebbles”, though now I’m drilling…
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Acuna Cactus
Over the weekend we visited a remote locality for the rare Acuna Cactus, Echinomastus erectocentrus var. acunensis. After driving for several miles down a 4WD road and hiking up a steep, rugged hill, we reached the hidden cactus garden. The other variety of this species, var. erectocentrus (Needlespine Cactus), grows near our house and is…
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Nature Book Review #5: A Cactus Odyssey
Fifth in an occasional series of natural history book reviews. I choose special favorites that I own and use regularly, but they might not be readily available in your local bookstore or library. Books reviewed here can be purchased through Amazon.com by following the links from my Southern Arizona Desert Botany homepage. A Cactus Odyssey: Journeys in the Wilds of…
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Ferns under the Saguaros
We spent the past two days hiking on a couple of popular trails in the Rincon Mountains near Tucson. It’s unusual for us to hike where there is a trail at all, and even rarer that we go to the busy trailheads near town, but at this time of year, cold weather and short days limit…
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Nature Book Review #4: Lichens of North America
Fourth in an occasional series of natural history book reviews. Books reviewed here can be purchased through Amazon.com by following the links from my Southern Arizona Desert Botany homepage. LICHENS OF NORTH AMERICA, by Irwin M. Brodo, Sylvia Duran Sharnoff, and Stephen Sharnoff. 2001, Yale University Press, 828 pages, hardbound. This is certainly one of the most beautiful and…
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Healing Impy
Impy, our seven year old “Black Cat #1” , got very sick a couple of weeks ago. He has already used up several of his nine lives – he was a rescued stray who had lived outside for several months before we trapped him in 2003. He arrived with an abscessed bite wound on his shoulder that needed surgery, and…
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Texas Desert Fern Photos
I recently reviewed Roy Morey’s book, Little Big Bend. Mr. Morey has sent me some of his beautiful Texas fern photographs and given me permission to use them to create a new online guide to Trans-Pecos Xerophytic Ferns. This page is very similar to my online guide to Arizona Xerophytic Ferns. Although incomplete, this expansion will…
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