One Saguaro for you, Glen Coco! You go, Glen Coco!

That’s why the Nolina parryi is so big—it’s full of secrets!

Greetings from Needles, Ca—The Heart of the Mojave! (At least, that’s what all the signs say.)

Needles is also the home of Snoopy’s brother Spike, but we don’t talk about that.

My main project for the next five months is monitoring rare and sensitive plant species throughout the 3.2 million acres of desert within the NFO. The idea is to identify areas where endangered species (or species that are rare in California but common elsewhere) are present so they can be protected.  This mainly involves identifying favorable habitats, scouting for current populations, adding GIS plot points when a positive ID is made, and some pretty epic views.

Horse Thief Camp in the Kingston mountains

Whipple Wash

Amboy Crater

The view from the top of Amboy Crater!

A few of the rare California species we’ve found so far include hairy blazingstar (Mentzelia hirsutissima), Coves’s cassia (Senna cassia), and saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea).

Hairy blazingstar (Mentzelia hirsutissima)

Hairy blazingstar (Mentzelia hirsutissima)

Sometimes we get the opportunity to assist others with their projects. Earlier this week, we met up with some Northwestern University/Chicago Botanical Gardens graduate students near Prim, NV where they were searching for Walker’s sun cup (Chylismia walkeri tortilis), a member of the Onagraceae family and…

We found it!

Walker’s sun cup (Chylismia walkeri tortilis)

Walker’s sun cup (Chylismia walkeri tortilis)

It was a lot of fun to meet up with other members of the Chicago Botanic Garden clan! I’m looking forward to more collections and collaborations in the coming field season.

Jessica Samuelson

Needles BLM Field Office