We had the first rains of the “monsoon season” last week! I haven’t seen rain in two months so it was a very pleasant sight! The rain has brought an abundance of reptiles. Hopefully I will get to see a Gila Monster before the summer is over!

My knowledge of Arizona plants is expanding! I recognize several more plants than I did a month ago and I’m even starting to remember their Latin names! The past few weeks we have been scouting for Sporobolus airoides, Sporobolus wrightii, Muhlenbergia porteri, Bouteloua eriopoda, and Bouteloua gracilis. Hopefully with more rain things will start greening up and we will have an awesome collecting season.

We have also been working in the herbarium at the BLM office. The plants specimens are gorgeous! I’m still trying to figure out how to press a cactus without getting a million spines in my fingers! I guess it just takes practice!