Redwhisker clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra), at Garden Wash.
This is my current nominee for plant-with-the-best-common-name. It is a cleome, with sticky-fuzzy hairs on stems and leaves that leave a gummy, foul-smelling sap on your hands when handled. The scientific name is useful and descriptive. The genus name
Polanisia
refers to the unequal lengths of the flowers’ stamens, while dodecandra indicates that each floret has twelve stamens.
Mojave woodyaster (Xylorhiza tortifolia) at Garden Wash, San Pedro House. In the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, Cochise County, Arizona.
Untitled.
Pontia protodice, the checkered white.
Flaxflowered ipomopsis (Ipomopsis longiflora) in Garden Wash at San Pedro House.
This plant has reduced its foliage to adapt to xeric conditions. It is so delicate and wispy it’s almost invisible in the landscape, except when it flowers after rain.
The flowers are characteristic of plants pollinated by moths: a long salverform profile, with a whorl of petals for a landing platform, and a long, tubular perianth. Only a moth with an exceptionally long proboscis could reach the flower’s hidden nectar. Moth-pollinated flowers are also often pale-colored or white, and open at night when moths are active.
J’accuse!
Violet-crowned hummingbird (Amazilia violiceps) at an Ash Canyon feeder.
I try not to anthropomorphize, but I definitely see something like contempt and derision in that expression.
Today’s trail: Garden Wash at San Pedro House, San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, Cochise County, Arizona.
Sunrise. Smoke.
Dawn view of Mule Mountain and Escabrosa Ridge, seen from San Pedro House, Cochise County, Arizona.
Please click photo for an enlarged view.
Brunch.
Arizona mantis (Stagmomantis limbata) devouring a live, unidentified cicada, Sierra Vista, Arizona. This was taken during my morning walk today.
The annual cicadas are at the peak of this year’s emergence. Last night I measured their pulsating song at levels between 90 and 110 decibels, which is in the range of chain saws and low-flying jet planes. During the day only a few cicadas sing at once, but in the last hours before nightfall everyone wants to join in. It doesn’t last long, only an hour of so each evening, but while it lasts it is the sound of insanity.
Transmogrification.
Dithyramb 