Natural History Wanderings

Boyce Thompson Arboretum submitted the following update and photo slideshow:

Wildflower tour guide Cass Blodgett reports: “Saguaros are in bloom, and Palo Verde trees, too! What else is new and notable this week at BTA? Robust yellow monkeyflower along Queen Creek, at the trail’s narrowest pinch-point where the chain link fence is all that prevents you from tumbling down into the creek. Look for one vivid red Twining Snapdragon flowering and woven into that chainlink fence, too.

Cactus flowers are more numerous and showy – and this is the final week to see the endemic “Boyce Thompson” subspecies of colorful magenta Strawberry Hedgehogs; watch for yellow-to-peach colored blooms on native prickly pears, too, and vivid red flowers on the chollas are soon-to-follow.

The cactus garden still has an impressive crop of Desert Marigold (bright yellow) and pretty patches of Prickly Phlox (pale blue). As you walk above Ayer Lake watch for native bright green Hopbush covered in bright yellow seed pods. Wolfberry  (or “Tomatillo”) fruits are unusually thick on those shrubs this year, one look at these ripe fruits and you’ll see where that shrub got its common name. Walk along the shaded riparian corridor beside Queen Creek and enjoy thickets of blue-flowered phacelia that border the trail.

And here are 10 great reasons to walk the High Trail this week: Bush Penstemon (Keckiella antirrhinoides) are blooming strong and bright yellow shortly after you start the trail from the suspension bridge (east) end; watch for Red Mint, Miner’s Lettuce, Larkspur (Delphinium parishii), Desert Phlox, and Perezia (that’s new this week). You’ll see great views of Elderberry trees (Sambucus mexicana) with white flower-clusters along Queen Creek down below; White Ratany along the trail, and for a special treat you can get up close to a patch of Mariposa Lilies growing right on the trailside.  And the 10th is a delicate pink-flowered Taper-tip Onion which is a first sighting in the park (at least for me).  Come see the blooms. [http://ag.arizona.edu/bta]

May 3, 2012: EDITORS NOTE daily hours at Boyce Thompson Arboretum have returned to the summer schedule, open daily at 6:00a.m. and closed daily at 3:00 p.m. from May-through-August.

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