Cholla Cactus

I have really enjoyed seeing the gorgeous pink blooms on the cholla cactus.  This seems to be blooming time for this cactus.  We went back up to Albuquerque to return Colter and Alli to the airport and saw these beauties there.

You definitely wouldn't want to mess around with this beast!

This name is pronounced "cho-ya."  There are many varieties, but the ones I've been seeing I believe are the Walking Stick Cholla or Cylindropuntia imbricata.    I found this photo showing a dried cholla stalk

Osha Trail

We took an evening walk on the Osha trail with Colter and Alli.  I used to walk this trail a lot when I lived in Cloudcroft, so it brought back sweet memories.  You can look back and see how Cloudcroft is a little village perched up on a mountain.

Further along, you get a good view of the Tularosa Basin below.  The air was hazy from dust and smoke, but you can still see a white layer, which is the White Sands area.

Lovebirds

I thought this following sight would be amusing to my Montana followers:  Yucca plant in the forest along with the scrubby oak trees, and Ponderosa pines!

This gooseberry bush was the only color we saw.  It is SO dry and not a flower one on this trail!

But we did see some wildlife--Horny-toads!  In the forest!

How to calm down a horny-toad--rub his belly!

Can't quite tell if he is a satisfied customer or not...

But he did like to rock climb!

I've gotten off-track!  I asked Warren what "Osha" was; there is an Osha Canyon as well as Osha Trail.  We found out it is the Spanish name for a plant!

Osha is also called Porter's Lovage, Licoriceroot, or Wild Parsley and is similar to Water Hemlock.  Its botanical name is ligusticum porteri.  We've been seeing it in bloom along the road up to Cloudcroft, and in the woods behind the Lanes' house.

New Mexico P's

Plume, Poppy, Prickly Pear, Pinon and Penstemon!

Apache Plume; the flower is like a little geranium, but then the seedhead
reminds me of the Prairiesmoke we have in Montana.

This is a pretty big shrub along the roadways here.

more Apache Plume--Fallugia paradoxa

Prickly Poppy

Prickly Pear cactus flower

Pinyon Pine--state tree in New Mexico

Scarlet Bugler--Penstemon centranthifolius

Century Plant and Purple Thistle

On a drive down the highway towards the desert basin, I found some more southwest plants to photograph.  We have been on the look-out for Century Plants--we had seen some in bloom across a canyon, too far away to get to.  Wilma finally located one right along the highway!  The plant takes a long time to bloom--not a century though!  Most things I found say around 10 years.

The upper blossoms are still in bud, therefore the peachy-orange color.

I also found this patch of Musk Thistle that was gorgeous in full bloom.  Lots of insect visitors like the purple flower!

New Mystery....Solved!

A new plant was discovered by your roving wildflower reporter, here in Cloudcroft.  This one was found in the woods behind the Lanes' home.

Is this a fungus? Some wierd pine sprout?  When I showed it to Wilma, she laughed and said she would show me some more in her "flower garden."  Now her garden is terraced steps into the hill between the house and the road that kind of form a retaining wall, but it is still all part of the forest floor environment.  She had these all over!

The darker color is last year's growth, and the new growth is yellowish buds.

She wasn't sure what it was, but it looked similar to something in her flower book called "Squawroot." The only problem was that it doesn't grow in the west.  I noticed that it was in the Orobanche family and similar to other Broomrapes that are saprophytic--they don't have chlorophyll; they get their nourishment from other plant roots in the soil.

Wait--this just in from my research department!   It has been identified!  This little wonder is known as Mexican Cancer-root, or Conopholis mexicana.  Thanks Lynn!!  Isn't she amazing!

Sometimes this is referred to as Ground Cone.  Last year's stalks blend right into the forest floor, looking like little pinecones.  The newer growth comes out in yellow buds that are a little more noticeable.  Here are a few more of this solved mystery.

new growth pushing up through the ground

Lynn also identified a previous mystery from our trip down here.  It's a gourd with blade-like leaves that grows all over New Mexico.  It's called Buffalo Gourd, or Cucurbita feotidissima.  I saw some really pretty ones today on an outing.

I am so fortunate to have such a capable research assistant to back up my finds!  :-)

More Flora Around Cloudcroft

My friend Lynn helped me clear up a couple of mystery flowers that I've posted before.  On the way south we saw this one which is called Horse-thistle or Silverleaf Nightshade.

And if I understand her right, this one is Hog Potato; it's in the Pea family.

Much of the forest around Cloudcroft is Ponderosa Pine and scrubby Oak trees. This is a look up the Lanes' street; their house is just about to the top of the hill on the right.

Oak and Pine

Here are some more plants I've found here and there around Cloudcroft; you would recognize this one from along roads in Montana.

last year's Teasel

this year's Teasel; I hope to see it in bloom before we go.

The wild Roses are blooming everywhere.  this one still had lots of dark red hips from last year.

New Mexico Vervain

This looks like Nine-bark, but I'm not sure

Maybe Nine-bark?

New Mexico Groundsel?

Yellow Salsify

Yellow Gromwell

We took Alli and Colter out in the Lane's jeep for a tour of the back roads around Cloudcroft and had a picnic.  Colter found a "Horny toad."

Mr. Grumpy is having a rough day!