Reticule.
Most of the willows in Garden Wash were covered with these lacy coccoons, each supported by a tangle of willow leaves. I think they are housing the pupae of geometer moths. Arizona does infestation remarkably well. There were thousands of these in the trees.
Grass again.
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.
Washout.
Today’s trail: Garden Wash at San Pedro House, San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, Cochise County, Arizona.
Dithyramb 