mancillas's Identifications

This honey mesquite was found in the Organ Mountains along a trail with sandy soil. The area it is found is in a recreational area used by hikers. There is some disturbance from wild animals, insects and birds from the area. There is also a disturbance from the weather, as this plant is nearing death from the cold.

Honey mesquite is a thorny shrub. It has drooping seed pods. It is deciduous. The leaves appear to be opposite.

-Found in a unmanaged, urban area. Surrounded by shrubs and forbs.
-Extensive root system
-Pubescent
-Alternate leaf arrangement

• Compound leaves: even pinnately
  -Perennial shrub
  -Armature: spines
  -Bloom season Feb-Sep
  •Flower: Inflorescence are spikelike racemes 4-8 cm long. Green/Yellow
  •Fruit: linear indehiscent pods 10-20cm. Bone color when mature
  -Sandy loam soil

Habitat Notes

Habitat type

Desert region, side of canal

Side of elevated canal at a elavation of 3813ft

Sandy Clay soils

Frequent traffic and pruning of canal management

Large irrigation canal

Features Description

Growth form / habit
Perennial with Fibrous lateral roots

Leaf arrangement / leaf type
Opposite and rounded leaves
Armature
Thorns
Flower type small yellow and clustered

Fruit type long pods

No Pubescence

Habitat: desert scrub
Aspect, Slope, Elevation: hillside
Soils: Rocky/Sandy soils
Land Use: Public/BLM
Growth Form: shrub
Root System: long taproot with secondary roots
Leaf Arrangement: alternate
Leaf Type: compound
Armature: thorns
Fruit Type: pod

Habitat: can be found in arid environments, of the southwest deserts.
Growth form: Shrub
Leaves: are alternately arranged, and are pinnate with a ashy green look to them. They also have one to two thorns in the axils of the plant.

1) Habitat
A) shrub land
B)north, 6,000’
C)aridisols
D)none
E)BLM

2)Features Description
A) woody
B) bipinnately compound, leaflets are linear oblong
C)none
D)inflorescences are cylindric, spike like, stamens are conspicuously exerted
E)linear indehiscent pods
F)none

Habitat: sandy bottom lands, and rocky slopes. Soils were course with colluvial parent material.
Growth form: Perennial bunch grass
Leaves: blades are more commonly located towards the base of the plant, the leaves them self are narrow in width then long length with parallel venation. As the blade works it’s way to the base it begins to roll at the edges.
Inflorescence: Panicles with branches that do not taper towards the top, with florets that are rounded with awns.
Fruit: seeds are tiny and round, and heavily pubescent.

Habitat: This plant was found on a rocky slope at Aguirre Springs. It was scarce in the landscape.

Growth form: Perennial shrub or small tree.

Flowers: Catkin-like flowers, green, inconspicuous, hangs in clusters or "tassels." Flowers are dioecious.

Fruit: Purplish-blue, pea-sized fruit with 1 or 2 seeds.

Leaves: Opposite, simple, entire, thick, leathery, and evergreen. Similar light green color on both sides of leaves. Short petioles.

Habitat: This plant was found on a rocky slope in Aguirre Springs, directly below large bedrock slabs.

Growth form: Rock dwelling ferns. Small, sturdy, and evergreen.

Leaves: Densely covered in trichomes.

Spores: The sporangia are protected by leaf margins, which can curl over them. Found on the bottom of leaves.

Habitat type: hilly scrubland.

Elevation: grows between 1370-2590m

Soils: gravelly and located on a rocky hillside.

Land use: recreational.

Growth form: graminoid/grass.

Leaf arrangement/type: alternate, simple, with gray/green color.

Flower type/parts: inforescence: multiple flowers per spikelet, less than 1/4 inch awns, three awns, spikelets have 1 sterile floret and 1 fertile floret.

Fruit type: caryopsis.

Pubescence: sparsely pubescent on upper surface.

Roots: fibrous.

Habitat type: hilly scrubland.

Elevation: grows between 600-2300m.

Soils: gravelly and located on a rocky hillside.

Land use: recreational.

Growth form: shrub tree.

Leaf arrangement/type: alternate, simple, spinose, with a leathery texture and greenish-gray color.

Flower type/parts: greenish; plants unisexual with male and female flowers, female flowers solitary or in groups on spikes/male flowers with 4-7 stamens.

Fruit type: Acorn.

Pubescence: twigs are woolly when young/ fuzzy leaves.

Roots: taproot.

Habitat:
Found in the Bosque near the Rio Grande in a forest/riparian area. The elevation was 4,865 ft. with no slope. There was sandy soils and the area had little to no disturbance as it is used for recreational trails.
Feature Description:
Growth form/habitat- A perennial woody shrub.
Leaf arrangement/type- Alternate, simple, and oblanceolate leaves.
Armature- none
Flower type/parts- Dioecious; has yellow/brown staminate and pistillate flowers. 
Fruit type- Small seeds enclosed by 4-winged bracts.
Pubescence- none present
Roots- Has a taproot and small lateral roots.

Habitat:
Found along the Rio Grande in a forest/riparian area. The elevation was 4,900 ft. with no slope. There was sandy soils and the area had little to no disturbance as it is was along the bank of the river.
Feature Description:
Growth form/habitat- An annual clumping grass that prefers moist ground.
Leaf arrangement/type- Has basal leaf blades that are alternate and linear.
Armature- none
Flower type/parts- Densely flowered; monoecious. Spiklets are pedicellate with 1 fertile floret. Has glumes, lemmas, palea with 3 stamens, 2 styles, and 2 stigmas. 
Fruit type- Caryopsis
Pubescence- none 
Roots- Has fibrous roots.

Habitat:
Found in the Bosque near the Rio Grande in a forest/riparian area. The elevation was around 4,860 ft. with no slope. There was sandy soils and the area had little to no disturbance as it was along a walking trail.
Feature Description:
Growth form/habitat- A sod-forming perennial grass.
Leaf arrangement/type- Leaf blades are alternate and simple.
Armature- none
Flower type/parts- Dioecious with pistillate panicles producing up to 20 spiklets. The spiklets are unisexual and gave up to 18 flowers. Can also have staminate spiklets and lemmas, glumes, and palea.
Fruit type- Awnless caryopsis
Pubescence- Occurs at the sheath base.
Roots- Has adventitious/fibrous roots and rhizomes.

Habitat: Dense growing, erect, slender stemmed trees, forming a thicket, in a sandy riparian area along the Rio Grande rivers edge.

Growth form: dioecious shrub, rhizomatous, perennial

Inflorescence: catkin

Flowers: greenish yellow catkins, unisexual, apetalous, staminate scales, glabrous or hairy, pubescent on both sides with a sparsely pubescent ovary.

Fruit: capsule, located in catkins, splits into 2 halves

Leaves: simple, alternate, blades linear to lanceolate, yellowish green to silvery pubescent, becomes glabrous.

Habitat: Densely growing, tall, erect, leafy, growing in a wet, sandy, riparian area along the Rio Grande rivers edge.

Growth form: rhizomatous, perennial, subshrub. Readily propagates by the nodes of old stems, stolons, and rhizomes.

Inflorescence: contracted panicles

Flowers: off-white to purplish, 3-10 florets, long silky hairs on rachilla, lanceolate glumes, glabrous.

Leaves: blades lanceolate, linear, mostly flat and glabrous

Habitat: Evergreen shrub found growing in a riparian area along the roadside, in sandy-gravelly soil right above the Rio Grande river.

Growth form: dioecious perennial shrub.

Inflorescence: panicle of spicate branches

Flowers: tiny, green or yellow-green, unisexual, 5 ovate calyx lobes, 5 stamens, pistillate flowers subtended by 2 bracts. Male and female flowers occur on separate plants. Staminate flowers are yellow.

Fruit: achene and enclosed in 4 winged bracts.

Leaves: alternate, sessile, simple, entire, oblong to obovate or lanceolate, thick, gray-green, become glabrous.

Habitat Notes
Habitat type / Plant community: shrubland
Elevation: 1247 meters
Soils: Dune land; Parent material: Sandy eolian sands

Features Description
Growth form / habit: Tree with green bark
Leaf arrangement / leaf type: Twice-pinnate, leaflets 2-8mm long
Fruit type: pods

-Found in a urban, unmanaged plot surrounded by other shrubs and forbs. Growing intertwined another shrub
-Sandy loam soil
-Perennial shrub
-Alternate stem segments grey/purple/green
-Armature: spines
-Tap root
-Bloom early spring-early summer Mar-Oct
•Flower yellow/green/red 5-8mm long. Yellow filaments, anthers, and style. Green stigma
•Fruit yellow/red/purple
•Seeds yellow 3-4.5 mm

Habitat: This plant was found on a rocky slope of a dry ridge inhabited mostly by scrub oak and juniper trees. The area was lightly grazed by cattle, mule deer, and elk. The soil was poor and rocky.
Elevation: 7,200 ft.

Growth form: perennial shrub. Deep, fast growing root system.

Leave arrangement: Alternate, simple, sessile.

Leaf type: Linearly, narrow oblanceolate. Acute apices. Margins entire.

Flowers: Heads form round topped terminal arrangements. Perfect, discoid flowers. 15-31 phyllaries in 3-5 rows. 5 florets per head.

Fruits: Cypselae. Dull white pappi bristles.

-Habitat type / Plant Community: Found growing in an urban area on the NMSU campus within the Chihuahuan Desert Native Plant Garden located near Foster Hall; species is common in desert shrub and desert grasslands. Plant communities include Wheeler sotol, Lechuguilla, agave, yucca, and Opuntia species.
-Aspect / Slope / Elevation: Flat ground, ~3,900 feet above sea level.

-Soils: Usually shallow, rocky, and of granitic or limestone origin and are frequently underlain by caliche.
-Disturbance: High due to it being in an urban area - on the NMSU campus.

-Land Use: Commercial
-Growth Form / Habit: Perennial Shrub
-Leaf Arrangement / Leaf Type: Green leaves; simple, alternate; pinnately venation. Leaf abscission occurs under water stress. Leaves are 1-2 cm in length, 2-8 mm in width, obovate, on terminal long growth or axillary short shoots, and the tips can be notched or rounded.
-Armature: Spines
-Flower Type / Parts: Perfect flower (Bisexual). Individual flowers have 5 sepals encircling a fused tube of 5 petals, colored red or orange, actinomorphic, and contain ~10+ stamens.
-Fruit Type: 3-valved capsules that contain flat, papery-winged seeds.
-Inflorescence: Narrow terminal panicles 5-20 cm long
-Litter: Quite a bit present.
-Roots: Shallow with some laterals branching from the primary taproot just beneath the soil surface.

-Habitat Type / Plant Community: Found within a riparian area near an irrigation ditch and agricultural crop fields. Common along lakes, rivers, and marshy areas. Plant communities include Bermudagrass, Field Sandbur, and Broadleaf Cattail.
-Aspect / Slope / Elevation: Flat ground. ~5,300 feet above sea level.
-Soils: Sandy, Sandy Loam, Clay Loam, Medium Loam; Moist Soils; tolerates mostly any soil type but heavy clay.
-Disturbance: Mild to significant due to it being along a trail that individuals use to walk their dogs along an irrigation ditch within an urban area.

-Land Use: Agricultural/Recreational
-Growth Form / Habit: Perennial Tree
-Leaf Arrangement / Leaf Type: Simple; alternate; triangular leaves that are grayish green to bright green in color. Reticulate leaf venation. Distally flattened petiole. Leaf blade is broadly triangular-ovate, with a leaf base that is cordate to truncate or broadly cuneate. Leaf apex is acuminate. Buds are somewhat large. Performed blade margins are coarsely crenate-serrate at midblade; crenate-serrate neoformed blade margins; rounded/graded teeth on each side of leaf.
-Flower Type / Parts: Dioecious, imperfect; (30-)40-80 stamens (yellowish or reddish in color). Male flowers are more conspicuous than the female flowers. Discs saucer-shaped, not apparently oblique, entire. Anthers are truncate. 2-4 platelike stigmas. Ovary is ovoid and contains 3-4 carpels.
-Fruit Type: 3-4 valved capsules that are ovoid, glabrous, and contain 30-60 seeds per capsule.
-Pubescence: The small seeds contain white cotton-like hair that aid in dispersal.

-Litter: Some plant litter present.
-Roots: Extensive shallow roots that contain a taproot and lateral roots; production of shallow adventitious roots when growing in a flooded environment.

-My dog is seen in the picture for scale.