The monsoon season is wrapping up in Las Cruces. Our Fire Danger sign moved off of the extreme and over to mild for about one week. Sadly the meter is pointing back to the extreme again. Luckily, despite the heat, we can still spot those enigmatic creatures of the desert.

Nice catch by our neighbors!

The rain we did receive allowed us to amp our collection number up to 7 with members from Poaceae and Nyctaginaceae. The most difficult collection we’ve faced was Boerhavia coulteri, Coulter’s Spiderling. The entire plant is incredibly sticky and I was shocked that half of my collection was glued to my hand by the time that I finished. We have a few other collections lined up and are waiting for them to come to seed.

Sticky as a Nyctag!

My free time in New Mexico consists of running, hiking, patiently awaiting the start of hockey season, and checking out the local food festivals. I vacated briefly to California over Labor Day week and it is remarkable how different the environment and flora is compared to the desert. As we drove through Arizona I saw Saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea) for the first time. It’s bizarre to realize that this internship is about half finished. The first few months flew by and I expect the next few will move just as quickly.

The occasional guest in our bunkhouse.