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| Phoenix Mountain Preserve Trail |
Hiking along the trail tonight, I saw this pretty little Cholla, getting his foothold on life on the rocky mountain slope. These desert plants are what I grew up with, and are as familiar to me as Spanish Moss is to someone in Louisiana! I started taking photos of the familiar ones, and next thing you know, I'm thinking BLOG!
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| Cholla - the fuzzy kind. Looks friendly but it ain't. |
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| Ocotillo |
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| Palo Verde |
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| Greasewood, or Creosote |
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| Desert Sage |
This is what we call the "jumping cactus." Doesn't REALLY jump, but if your finger or some other part gets close to it, thorns jab into you from all directions and you can try to pull it off -- but you won't be able to. And they hurt like hell. There's another kind of cholla that's not quite as pretty.
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| Prickly Pear |
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| The Barrel and the Saguaro |
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| Barrel Cactus |
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| Another Pretty Hedgehog |
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| The Other Kind of Cholla |
This is the lovely Ocotillo. They usually bloom at the tops with pretty orange flowers in the springtime.
This is a Palo Verde Tree. There are two kinds of this one also -- the Green, like this one, and the Blue, which isn't as leafy.
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| Mesquite Tree |
The Greasewood bush is what gives off the lovely Sonoran Desert fragrance after a rain. My friend Charlie Merritt told me this plant has cancer-curing abilities, but it would be a bitter pill to swallow. It doesn't taste very good. But curing cancer might be worth having your tongue turned inside out.
I am allergic to this plant (Sage) especially when it is blooming. I've got a couple of these here in the yard that my Mom planted.
The Prickly Pear would be familiar to any resident of the American West, either in the north or the south. It grows a red or purple fruit that makes great jelly, if you want to go to the trouble.
The Barrel and the Saguaro are two of the more common cacti around here. The state bird of Arizona is the Cactus Wren -- and it makes its home in that hole on the side of the Saguaro Cactus. No critter will bother it there...
Here's another view of the Barrel Cactus. They bloom also and are very pretty when they do. There is another type of Barrel that is more golden, like the Cholla or the Hedgehog. But it's a "Nursery" cactus -- you don't see them "wild" around here.
Like the golden fuzzy Cholla, the Hedgehog is another pretty one. This one has a little Sage bush for a desierto companero!
This is the uglier of the Cholla Cactus relatives. This one has no "pretty" to go with the nasty pricks.
Lastly, here is a lovely Mesquite Tree. These are good for some nice desert shade on a hot day, and we use the wood for smoky flavor for your grilled chicken or steak. Makes great barbecue!
