{"id":81093,"date":"2019-07-22T11:29:51","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T18:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/?p=81093"},"modified":"2019-07-22T11:29:51","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T18:29:51","slug":"life-lessons-from-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/?p=81093","title":{"rendered":"Life lessons from plants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This month in southeastern New Mexico has reminded me of the tenacity of life by displays of brilliance in what many would consider an arid wasteland. I am grateful for each of these moments and their valuable lessons…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rain fell on the distant desert landscape as we hurdled down the highway surrounded a bunch of other over-sized work vehicles. I’ve acclimatized to the shock of existing in a booming oil and gas development town, something I had a hard time stomaching for months. My thoughts of wanting to leave have subsided, and I now see it as a personal mission to do what I can to protect this landscape from exploitation. It isn’t any easier to grasp, but I now collect seeds with a greater sense of responsibility, hopeful that they may be returned to the man-marred earth soon. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One of my absolute favorite plants, Hoffmannseggia glauca<\/em> or Indian rushpea. This plant’s pioneer nature is evidenced by its success in this freshly-developed sand and caliche road. It also gets it done with the rhizomes. Not even the mesquite stood a chance. Resilience and beauty, this plant has it all. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Unlike native plants, many invasives are bemoaned for their resilience. This Salt-cedar, Tamarix chinensis, <\/em>situated itself on the historic Pecos River Flume in Northern Carlsbad leaving numerous leaky cracks resulting in algae-slicked concrete below. I’m amused by the conflict between two of the largest catalysts of riparian ecosystem destruction captured in this scene. A humorous reminder that the wheel keeps turning. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Not all plants have the hardiness to persevere as diligently as Tamarix. Despite its looks, this cactus, Coryphantha robustispina ssp. scheeri,<\/em> is a BLM special status species due to its small range in SE New Mexico and a small portion of Texas. Because of oil and gas development in the region, it’s listed as endangered by the state of NM and a species of concern by the USFWS. This individual was found on accident when scouting for seeds to collect. It was a stone’s throw from a large well pad. I guess the lesson here is that we all need a little help sometimes…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I should end on a more positive note… This Yucca elata<\/em> is huge!! I stared at it with a child-like sense of wonder for a good minute. I’ll leave the interpretation of its lesson to the reader… <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I hope that everyone else’s internship is progressing positively. Mind the summer heat.

Desert wanderer
Alex <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This month in southeastern New Mexico has reminded me of the tenacity of life by displays of brilliance in what many would consider an arid wasteland. I am grateful for each of these moments and their valuable lessons… I hope … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7524,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81093"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7524"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81093"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81115,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81093\/revisions\/81115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}