Well, imagine my horror (it is Halloween, after all) when I discovered that on Wednesday I mistakenly posted a photo I called snakeweed! You see, there are TWO densely-clustered yellow-blooming plants around this part of the desert at the moment and I photographed one while describing the other. So, to make up for my laxity and error, lets start over. (Ahem!) Hi there. Here at the Arboretum - the excellent Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior, Arizona - the desert is awash in gold because, dear friends, we have two (count em - TWO) native plants that are in full bloom. The first plant pictured below is the turpentine bush (Ericameria laricifolia - but it used to be called Haplopappus laricifolius, which we can all admit is more humorous to say aloud.) The turpentine bush has a thick woody stem and its flowers are very densely clustered and deep golden yellow. The second photo shows snakeweed (Gutierrezia sp.), which doesnt have such dense flower clusters...nor a thick woody stem. Also, the flowers are a bit more yellow than gold. As you can see, snakeweed splays out from its base, whereas turpentine bush stays somewhat erect. Anyway, I hope that clears up any grave concerns you have over these devilishly tricky plants to identify. It was a treat to go to such great length to correct my previous ghoulish mistake. Have a great Halloween! (tstone)
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 14:07:41 +0000