With about 40 SOS collections under my belt, I’m feeling much more familiar with the plant diversity here in New Mexico. While the grasses (in particular, beautiful Sporobolus!) are going strong now, one collection from the past few months stands out to me as extra special.

My fellow intern, Ella, and I travelled further south than usual from our home base of Santa Fe to the Bosque del Apache national wildlife refuge, where we had been tipped off to the existence of a large population of Asclepias subverticillata (horsetail milkweed). While it was hard for me to imagine what a field of Asclepias in full fruit might look like, my imagination was soon stretched by the actual existence of this plant in quantity!

We proceeded to spend the rest of the morning and afternoon moving about in the seasonally dry wetlands, locating large patches of the fluffy milkweed. The day was warm, and much more humid than I had grown used to. Tiny mosquitoes whined around, and bits of milkweed fluff found their way up my nose and in my mouth.

Periodically packing the fluff in my collecting bag down with my hand, I smashed it into a compact shape to overcome its natural dispersal mechanism, and eventually collected enough seeds and fluff for a small pillow.

In the midst of collecting, I was thrilled to finally find a monarch caterpillar, munching away on its favorite plant!

Laura Holloway

Santa Fe (New Mexico State Office), BLM