Week 2 Utah Flora Field Notes

Question 1

Perennial meaning

Answer 1

comes back every year, can have dried parts

Question 2

Annual meaning

Answer 2

smaller, doesn’t come back

Question 3

Composite meaning

Answer 3

many such flowers grouped together in heads

Question 4

Ovate stem segments

Answer 4

Looks like your usual leaf shape

Question 5

Obovate stem segments

Answer 5

Has the shape of an upside down leaf

Question 6

Baileya multiradiata - Asteraceae - Sunflower Family
- Composite, yellow petals, heads on long stems, 3-5 lobes for the leaves, 3 humps on the end of the petals, fuzzy looking white hairs

Answer 6

Desert Marigold

Question 7

Larrea Tridentata - Zygophyllaceae Family
- Common desert plant, pointy tips of leaves (deer hooves), shiny looking leaves, medicinal purposes, toxic chemicals into soil to keep out other plants
- Opposite leaves (family characteristic), goat heads, 5 yellow petals when in bloom

Answer 7

Creosote Bush

Question 8

Opuntia polyacantha - Cactaceae Family (Cactus)
- Oval pads (leaves), jointed stems, long spines (cluster base with short spines), short spines designed to break off, whooly looking, old man with white beard, elliptic to obovate stem segments

Answer 8

Old Man Prickly Pear

Question 9

Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa - Cactaceae Family (Cactus)
- Jointed stems, glochids (tiny spines), cylindrical stems, more open, doesn’t branch as much, spines are the leaves
- 0-5 short bristlelike spines at areole margins, yellow/orange flowers when in bloom

Answer 9

Buckhorn Cholla

Question 10

Eriogonum inflatum - Polygonaceae Family (Buckwheat)
- Whooly knees, stick looking, tan/brown, swellings in the stems, insects sometimes live in the swellings
- Produces small yellow flowers that look like stars with a good amount of filaments

Answer 10

Desert Trumpet

Question 11

Tamarix chinenis - Tamaricaeae Family
- Not an actual seeder, angiosperm (flowering), invasive, riparian vegetation (closer to streams), helps minimize erosion but has other issues
- Branching, great for bird nesting, has little buds that look a little like berries, produces pink/white flowers (small)

Answer 11

Tamarisk/Saltcedar

Question 12

Datura wrightii - Solanaceae Family (Tomato/nightshade)
- Perennial, in cooler protected areas, hallucinogenic, big leaves for desert plant
- Big white flowers, spiny dry tomato for the fruit, flower shoots out of a capsule coming from the stems

Answer 12

Sacred Datura/Moonflower/Jimsonweed

Question 13

Ambrosia Dumossa - Asteraceae Family (Sunflower)
- Ambrosia family, burrow brush, composite, same family as desert marigold, wind deposit
- Lobe leaves, divided, minty smell, staminate and pistillate heads, squiggly looking leaves, heads on sides of stems

Answer 13

White Bursage

Question 14

Baccharis salicifolia - Asteraceae Family (Sunflower)
- Composite, riparian area (by water), salicifolia (willow leafed), all male or all female for the flower heads, dioecious (2 house)
- Staminate and pistillate florets, leaves and florets face more towards the sun, small white poofy flowers

Answer 14

Mule Fat

Question 15

Chilopsis linearis - Bignoniaceae Family
- Riparian plant, blooming, similar to willow leaves, linear leaves, narrow and long, fruit (pod), splits and lets seeds disperse with wind, splitting characteristic
- Light purple petals, petals that split out like a bearded dragon, yellow center with purple lines coming out of it on the bottom petal

Answer 15

Desert Willow

Question 16

Lycium andersonii - Solanaceae Family (Tomato)
- typical desert shrub, non-shading leaves to not get more sun, shrink leaves and branch more
- Succulent looking, stems taper out into a point/spine, flowers fused into a tube, small light purple flowers (spread out)

Answer 16

Anderson’s Box Thorn

Question 17

Yucca brevifolia - Asparagaceae Family (Asparagus)
- Mojave region, type of yucca, short leaved yucca, yucca moths for pollination, no nectar, moths lay eggs in the ovary of the flowers, fruit pod, higher elevation allows better ability for the caterpillar life-cycle
- Stiffer pointy leaves kind of like a pineapple, greenish flower that is thicker like a succulent

Answer 17

Joshua Tree