mancillas's Identifications

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.

Habitat Notes
Habitat type/Plant community: growing along a forest road in Upper Karr Canyon
Slope: South facing
Elevation: 8,675
Soils: Loam
Disturbance: Moderate disturbance
Land Use: Recreational area
Features Description:
Growth form/habit: biennial forb
Leaf arrangement/leaf type: alternate, simple
Armature: None
Flower type/parts: not present. In the second year, it creates a single, erect flowering stem. Flowers are densely arranged on a spike-like terminal inflorescence. Very short lived.
Fruit type: not present. Produces two hairy, egg-shaped capsules containing seeds.
Pubescence: Present on the leaves, creating a wooly appearance.
Roots: Deep taproots with fibrous lateral roots
Mainly grass and rocks with a few pine needles making up the plant litter around this little guy.

1. Habitat Type: Chihuahua Desert, Dona Ana Mountains. Elevation: ~4,000 ft . Disturbance: low to moderate. Land use: National Monument, Recreational use for hiking, mountain biking, horse back riding. Growth form: shrub-like. Has multiple stems with no main branch. Bark is deeply furrowed. Leaf arrangement: obovate, long with rounded or notched leaves. Appear after rain. Not present during time of year. Armature: spines present. Flower type/parts: not present during time of year. Red flowers found in dense panicles. Pubescence: not present.
   Overall, this species is quite tall. No leaves or flowers were present during this time of year. There is litter present on the ground in the background of pictures, more than likely this year's leaves. The roots are shallow. No reproductive characteristics are present.

Habitat: This plant was found in the Guadalupe mountain range roughly 7 miles east of Pinon, NM. This plant was growing in a soft area near the highway, safe from grazing domestic herbivores.

Growth Form: perennial grass (graminoid)

Flowers: N/A

Fruit: Seeds are tufted and can travel long distances by wind.

Leaves: The "blades" in this photo are long senesced, but leaves are typically slender and protective in nature.

Pubescence: "hairy" nodes

Habitat: desert scrub
Aspect, Slope, Elevation: hillside
Soils: Rocky/Sandy soils
Land Use: Public/BLM
Growth Form: shrub-like; cactus/Succulent
Root System: shallow root system
Leaf Type: Modified leaves: spines
Armature: spines
Flowers: typically yellow to red
Fruit Type: fleshy, purple fruit

Note: pads show some signs of stress (purple perimeter)