We\u2019re used to praying for rain in Southern New Mexico, and even though it\u2019s been a sporadically wet spring, the summer is hot and dry no matter how you cut it, and the plants are usually accordingly sad and crispy this time of year.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>As a result, our seed collecting activities have been limited to scouting populations using forensic botany.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n We have found excellent candidate populations of <\/span>Bouteloua gracilis, Ipomopsis longiflora, Bouteloua curtipendula, Thymaphylla acerosa, Sporobolus airoides, Muhlenbergia arenacea <\/span><\/i>(Sand Muhly)<\/span>, M. porteri <\/span><\/i>(Bush Muhly)<\/span>, <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Sporobolus flexuosus<\/span><\/i>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Much to my surprise, we have also found a big, happy candidate population of <\/span>Pleuraphis jamesii <\/span><\/i>(James\u2019 Gallleta grass).<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I had been unaware that it occurred this far south, (usually what we find around here is the rather closely related <\/span>Pleuraphis mutica \u201c<\/span><\/i>Tobosa grass\u201d).<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I had my doubts about finding adequate populations of <\/span>Setaria leucopila<\/span><\/i> because, although fairly common, I have never seen it in any great density.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Sure enough, though, we found a population that shall do nicely for an SOS collection.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Oh me of little faith\u2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>We have found a lovely population of<\/span> Ipomopsis longiflora<\/span><\/i>, but I\u2019m afraid there will be some strategizing necessary\u00a0since our reconnaissance indicates that the fruit capsules explosively dehisce almost immediately upon maturation.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Jeanne, my co-intern,\u00a0called up a contact that she\u2019d worked with on a restoration project involving a super rare species of Ipomopsis<\/em> endemic to New Mexico (<\/span>I. espiritus-sanctus<\/span><\/i>, \u201cHoly Ghost Ipomopsis) to get some information on how to collect seeds.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His suggestion was to bag the plant and catch the seeds that way.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I am hoping we don\u2019t have to go this route for seed collection, but time will tell. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n We have had luck finding <\/span>Aristida purpurea <\/span><\/i>(purple threeawn)<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>from geographic regions not yet collected, but my mentor is after specific varieties (var. <\/span>perplexa <\/span><\/i>and var. <\/span>longiseta<\/span><\/i>).<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>However, thus far we have not found populations of either variety in sufficient quantity for collection.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But we have found good populations for <\/span>Aristida <\/span><\/i>pansa <\/span><\/i>which may make for a viable substitution.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Anyway, we\u2019ve seen a lot of beautiful but stark New Mexico landscapes.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I do love working in\u00a0these open\u00a0lands where there may be no signs of humanity for miles and miles, except for maybe the infamous spaceport in the northern part of the county.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Overall, <\/span>I have been impressed by the diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints in the Las Cruces field office.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And yet, there definitely seems to be a positive and generally fun work environment here.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I hope next time I update y\u2019all, there will be a lot more<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u2018nitty gritty\u2019 plant collections to report on (may the skies open up on us with delicious rain…).<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>In the meantime, please enjoy some random photos of our adventures and some cool plants we\u2019ve found along the way!<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n David Morin<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Las Cruces Field Office, Bureau of Land Management<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Coryphantha longispina<\/em>.\u00a0 A poor photo of a cute cactus.<\/p>\n Helenium microcephalum<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n I keyed this critter to H. microcephalum<\/em>, an unusual DYC found in a dry stock tank.<\/p>\n Creosote\u00a0(Larrea tridentata<\/em>)\u00a0anyone?\u00a0 We’ve got it; seemingly as far as the eye can see.\u00a0 This is hotter than it looks.\u00a0 Trust me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rangeland\u00a0assessment team hard at work.\u00a0 The Rio Grande valley is in the distance…<\/p>\n Ipomopsis longiflora<\/em> with mesquite and Broom Snakeweed.<\/p><\/div>\n We shall be collecting from this site, provided A)\u00a0we get rain and B) we can find a reasonable way to harvest the seeds.<\/p>\n Oryx scat.\u00a0 I did see some oryx, but was too slow with the camera.\u00a0 Hence, I’ll leave you with a photo of the next best thing.<\/p>\n My advisor, P. J. Alexander overlooking tank training grounds at the McGregor allotment.\u00a0 The military gets to do training on this allotment for some\u00a0reason.\u00a0This is as good a photo as I’ll ever get of Patrick.\u00a0 He’s odd\u00a0about getting his picture taken.\u00a0 I did, however, get his blessing to share this photo….<\/p>\n Mostly crispy\u00a0Sporobolus airoides<\/em>.\u00a0 When the rains\u00a0come, this will be a target\u00a0collection site.<\/p>\n Penstemon ambiguus<\/em>.\u00a0 A very cool, shrubbish,\u00a0and unusually low dwelling Penstemon in NM.\u00a0 There are two like that that I know of, of about\u00a070 plus Penstemon\u00a0species in the state.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Houstonia rubra<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n A cool rubiacid from the coffee family!\u00a0 And one that I’ve rarely seen in flower.\u00a0 Rubiaceae is a huge\u00a0tropical family, but\u00a0with few taxa in the deserts of the southwestern US.\u00a0 Also, a bit of Physaria fendleri<\/em>, a hip yellow <\/span><\/span>flowered mustard.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After an intensive week of training at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Jeanne and I returned to yet more training at the Las Cruces NM BLM office.\u00a0 This included safety, UTV, diversity, NEPA, CPR, and various other trainings associated with\u00a0 … Continue reading ![\"DSCF4424\"](\"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/DSCF4424.jpg\")
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