PLANTIDENTIFICATION
TREES
Catclaw Acacia• Bipinnately
compound leaves• Brown, curved
spines
Catclaw AcaciaFruit: bean-likeFlower: yellow, elongated
Whitethorn Acacia• Leaves: Bipinnately
compound• Spines: Straight, white• Bark: Reddish
Whitethorn Acacia• Flower: yellow, spherical
Desert Ironwood • Leaves: Simple pinnately
compound• Flowers: Purple• Spines: dark, thin, slightly
curved
Desert Ironwood
Velvet Mesquite • Leaves: Large, bipinnately
compound• Relatively large leaflets and
flowers
My knee for scale
Velvet Mesquite • Fruit: bean-like• Flowers: yellow, long
Foothills Palo Verde• Leaves: Bipinnately
compound• 4+ pairs of leaflets/“leaf”• Spines: none along
branches• Bark: green
Foothills Palo Verde• Fruit: bean-like• Flower: yellow, with
white, upper banner petal
Blue Palo Verde• Leaves: bipinnately compound• 3 or fewer pairs of leaflets/“leaf”• Spines along branches• Bark: Green
Spine
Spine
Blue Palo Verde• Flower: yellow, with yellow,
upper banner petal
Shrubs
Fairy Duster• Leaves: Bipinnately
compound• Fine, dark green leaflets• Spines: none• Bark: whitish
Fairy Duster• Flower: unique
Desert Mistletoe• Parasitic• Appear as clumps in
trees most commonly
• Phainopepla is main vector
Jojoba• Leaves: simple, vertical• Dioecious• Nuts appear on females in
spring and summer
Jojoba• Nuts produce high quality
wax that is liquid at room temperature
Instead of sperm whale oil
Brittlebush• Leaves: simple, entire,
triangle-shaped• Flowers: yellow (like lots of
other plants
Brittlebush• Yellow, like
many other plants
Limberbush• Leaves: simple, heart-
shaped• Bark: red• Flexible limbs
Limberbush• Flowers: small, white
Ocotillo• Multiple arms• Flowers: red, tubular• Spines: straight, stout• Drought deciduous
Triangle-leaf Bursage• Leaves: simple, toothed,
triangle-shaped
Triangle-leaf Bursage• Burrs in fall
Ratany• Non-descript plant
most of year• Flowers: purple• Fruit: spined• Hemi-parasite
Ratany
Creosote Bush• Leaves have a single
pair of leaflets• Yellow flowers
developing into white seed pods
Creosote Bush
Creosote bush gall and midge
Desert Broom• Leaves more like
twigs
Desert Broom• Leaves more like
twigs
Burroweed• Finely divided leaves• Flowers: yellow turning to white• Last year’s flower stalks remain
for long time
Burroweed
Canyon Ragweed• Leaves: simple,
long, triangle-shaped with toothed margin
• Usually occurs in washes and canyons
Canyon Ragweed• Flowers: nondescript
Sotol (Desert Spoon)• Rosette of leaves• Leaves have spines
along edges but not at tips
Cacti
Saguaro
Saguaro• Seed• 2000 seeds/fruit• 100 fruits/year• 100-150 years =
20 million+ seeds in lifetime,
• But only one survives to replace individual in stable population
Saguaro• Seedlings• Grow under nurse
plant• Grow ½” first year• Grow 1’ in 15
years• Grow 10’ in 40
years (mature)
Saguaro• Fruit is edible• Flower: white,
large, blooms at night and closes forever the next day
Southwest (or Fishhook) Barrel CactusSpines: long,
hooked
Fruit: yellow
Southwest (or Fishhook) Barrel Cactus• Flowers: yellow,
orange, or red usually
• Plant usually leans
Hedgehog Cacti• Multiple heads
• Spines not as dense as pincushion cacti
Prickly Pear Cacti• Pads
• Flowers: many colors
• Fruit: purple when ripe
Fishhook Pincushion Cactus• Very dense spines
• Ring of pink flowers near top
• Spines: longest with hooks
Chain-fruit (or Jumping) Cholla • Fruit stay attached and form
chains.• Flowers: often pink
Chain-fruit (or Jumping) Cholla
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plmay98.htm
Blown up 350x; overlapping scales on spine make pulling out the spine very difficult
Teddybear Cholla
Fruit are single and do not form chains.
Teddybear Cholla • Spines: tend to be
more dense than chain-fruit cholla
Staghorn Cholla• Spines less dense and
arms more spreading than chain-fruit or teddy-bear cholla
Christmas Cholla• One spine per areole• Red fruit in winter• Thin segments
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