Although much of the scenery in desert environments is lacking in variety,
this scene was especially striking in the variety of colours combined with the
forms of clouds, rock, flowers, and the trail itself:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8628269586/in/photostream
and if you look closely enough you can find thriving communities of lichens
that are slowly eating away at the ancient ash flows:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8628269696/in/photostream
One of the many edible plants to be found is Canaigre, the leaves of which
add an interesting flavour to chicken and the stems can be used in place of
rhubarb:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8628269782/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8628269892/in/photostream
Amsonia was found along an extensive reach of one drainage:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8627113925/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8627113989/in/photostream
while only one isolated community of Wild Pennyroyal was to be found:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8627275841/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8627275907/in/photostream
There were scattered specimens of Owl Clover throughout the area:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8627114147/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8627114201/in/photostream
This plant can sometimes cover entire hillsides, rendering them a striking
magenta colour for a couple of weeks, and there is an area west of Phoenix
where a white variety (yet to be collected and recognized as a separate variety
by USDA) will have the same effect in a good year.
A few scattered specimens of Fendler's Desert Dandelion were found early
in the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8627114087/in/photostream
and towards the end of the day a good number of specimens of Rock Echeveria
were found:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8628269938/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8628269992/in/photostream
The highlight of the day was the encounter with a small community of
Paleface Delphinium. These plants are quite majestic and stand out when in
full bloom. This one specimen was about 30" (76 cm) tall:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8627330647/in/photostream
and there was a good opportunity to take a closeup of one of the flowers to
show the anthers and pistils:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/8627330741/in/photostream
I still have some photos remaining, but they involve sorting out the
minute details of some closely related species.
Chris
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