As published in the Abiquiú News in 2022
See what is blooming in Abiquiú in
April, May, June, July, August, September and October
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Pink, White, Blue/Purple, Yellow/Green, Red/Orange

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October 14, 2022

The last blog for this season is one of the several species of sagebrush that grow in our area.  They all tend to grow in colonies, covered in silvery hairs and have tiny, inconspicuous yellow flower heads crowded along the stem. Bigelow’s Sagebrush looks like a miniature Big Sagebrush but it only grows one to two feet wide and high with a rounded compact shape, compared to Big Sagebrush which can spread several feet high and wide. The silvery-green leaves are up to one inch long and have three teeth or a point at the tip. They are pleasantly aromatic when crushed. It is unique from other sagebrush by sometimes having a few ray flowers in its flower heads. Specific uses of Bigelow’s Sagebrush by Native Americans are unknown but the closely related Big Sagebrush was used by many tribes to treat colds, coughs, pneumonia, rheumatism, fevers and diarrhea. It was commonly burned as a smudge to cleanse the air, for ritual purification, and to promote good health. It was also an important source of soap/disinfectant, and food (seeds), and was used to start a fire and for weaving mats and clothing. Source.

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October 7, 2022

Tasselflower is a shrubby plant growing one to three feet tall. It has distinctive large triangular leaves with pointed tips and nodding, tassel-like, cream colored flower heads. Flowers are up to 2 inches long and have no petals, only disk flowers. It blooms from July through October at elevations up to 10,000 feet. Traditionally, leaves were used medicinally as an antirheumatic, a liver medicine, to treat flatulence, overeating, headaches, and influenza. The seeds are said to be poisonous by one tribe but were also made into a meal to improve cakes by the same tribe. The plant was used ceremonially and the branches used to make brooms. Source.

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September 30, 2022

Although this lovely flower is blooming in the landscaping at Abiquiu Lake Visitor Center, Desert Willow is a native in southern New Mexico and Arizona growing at elevations below 5,500 feet. It would usually bloom in May/June but good summer rains can produce a second bloom. It is a shrub that can grow to be a 30-feet tall tree. Its leaves are long and narrow and willow-like but it is not related to Willows. The orchid-like, trumpet-shaped flowers are up to two inches long and showy, pink with yellow ridges and purple stripes inside. The brown seed pods are 8 inches long and narrow. Traditionally, the Havasupai used Desert Willow in basketry; Hualapai used it to make cradleboards. It is anti-microbial and anti-fungal; curanderas in Mexico use it to treat coughing, indigestion, and skin and vaginal infections. Source.

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September 23, 2022

Lemonscent is usually inconspicuous but when summer rains come at just the right time this fast-growing annual can produce mats of yellow in deserts, grasslands, woodlands, and along roadsides. It is a low-growing compact plant usually an inch or two high but can be eight. The leaves are narrow and dotted with glands which give off a strong smell of lemons when they are crushed. The flowers are less than ½ inch across and grow in clusters at the tips of the stems with eight pointed bright yellow petals. The Hopi, Zuni, and Havasupai Indians have used Lemonscent as a wild food plant for centuries. Dried and crushed plants can be sprinkled on chicken while cooking, thrown into a stew, added to cornbread or other bread recipes for zest, or added to your favorite tea for a lemony treat. Source.  

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September 16, 2022

Anyone suffering with a runny nose, itchy eyes and sneezes should know that Ragweed could be the cause, not COVID-19. Ragweed pollen is considered the number one cause of hay fever in the late-summer and fall. Each plant can produce over a billion grains of pollen per season which occurs from mid-August until frost. This Ragweed is one of several species of Ragweed that grow in our area. It grows to 3 feet high, erect or sprawling, with deeply lobed hairy leaves. Although weedy in appearance, on closer inspection the flower structure is interesting. Male flowers hang from the top portion of the stem like little umbrellas with a dark stripe and can look yellowish due to the color of the pollen-laden stamens. Female flower heads below are spiny burr-like structures in the leaf axils. The fruits are very spiny and painful to touch. Native Americans used an infusion of the plant for menstrual obstructions, and the ground root was placed in the tooth for toothache. The ash of the leaves was used in ceremonies. The scientific name, ambrosia, is Greek for food of the gods, while acanthicarpa means having thorny fruits, hardly food for the gods. Source.

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September 9, 2022

This brilliantly colored Morning Glory is a native of Mexico and Central America and has escaped to the wild from cultivation in the USA. It can grow to 10 feet long, creeping, climbing and twining around other plants, fences and trees. The leaves are heart-shaped or have three to five lobes and the stems are covered with brown hairs. The flower is trumpet shaped and up to 2½ inches across with five petals that are usually blue, purple, pink, or some combination of these colors, with a white throat. The flowers open in the morning and close in the afternoon. Native American use is not recorded but it is used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine as an anthelmintic, diuretic and laxative, and in the treatment of various mental disorders. Source.

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September 2, 2022

Ragleaf Bahia grows to three feet tall in an open, airy form. Stems are reddish, spreading and leafless. Flowers are about one inch across. The ray flowers overlap and are rounded and slightly notched. The leaves are mostly at the base of the stem and divided into fine lobes. Traditionally, an infusion of the plant was used as a cathartic, emetic, contraceptive, to ease menstrual pain, and for headache, rheumatism and arthritis. Source.

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August 26, 2022

Narrowleaf Four O'Clock grows to 40 inches tall in clumps with an open spreading habit. Leaves are long, narrow and grayish-green up to 4 inches long. Funnel-shaped flowers are ½ inch across with showy stamens and range from white to pink to purple, growing in clusters of three. The leaves and stems are covered in fine hairs. Each small cluster of flowers is surrounded by a bell-shaped involucre which is pale green, sticky-hairy and sometimes purple-tinged. In fruit this inflates and becomes papery and veined and one inch across, resembling a tiny umbrella which gives it another common name, Umbrellawort; wort is an old English name for plant. Traditionally, fruits and seeds were used for food; an infusion of roots was used to treat painful urination, stomach disorders, coughs, and burns. It was also used ceremonially as a life medicine and for good luck in trading or hunting. Source.

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August 19, 2022

This tiny wildflower has a very big name, which for me conjures up a character in a fairy tale. Shaggy Dwarf Morning Glory grows 4 to 6 inches high, erect and spreading, with densely hairy greyish-green leaves. The tiny lavender blue flowers are funnel-shaped and less than ½ inch across with a large, white, 5-pointed star in the center. The flowers close in the evening and remain closed on cloudy days. The plants are wider than they are tall. Shaggy Dwarf Morning Glory can be found blooming in May and after the monsoons. The Navajo sometimes used this plant as a snuff to induce sneezing. Source.

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August 12, 2022

Drummond's False Pennyroyal grows with many branches from a few inches to 15 inches high covered in hairs. Leaves are narrow and smell of mint when crushed. Tiny flowers grow from the leaf axils and are no more than ½ inch long. Flowers are rose-pink to pale lavender with purple streaks and a white throat. Traditionally, it was used as an analgesic; taken for influenza; and the leaves used to flavor soup. Source.

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August 5, 2022

Goldenrods, the Solidago genus, are differentiated by their tiny yellow flowers growing in clusters, usually on one side of the stem, or in a pyramid, and their leaves. Velvety Goldenrod grows 6 to 32 inches high in colonies from a basal rosette of leaves that are sometimes still present at flowering time. The leaves get progressively smaller higher up on the stem. Each leaf has three prominent veins running from the base to near the tip. Flowers grow on one side of the branch and have 6 to 12 petals. Flower heads can be pyramid-shaped with many arching branches or have only one branch. The name Solidago means "to make whole" and its healing properties are used to treat problems with the kidneys, urinary tract, skin, allergies, and the cardiovascular system. Source. Traditionally, Native Americans used it to treat burns, sores and wounds, for toothaches, and as a hair wash to prevent hair loss. Source. Goldenrod is an excellent source for a dark yellow dye.

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July 29, 2022

The Field Sowthistle looks like a very tall Dandelion. It grows to 3½ feet tall with hairless stems that produce a milky juice when broken. Most of the leaves are on the lower part of the stem and have prickly teeth along the edges. Flowers grow in an open branched cluster of several flower heads at the top of the stems, not all open at the same time. Flower heads are up to two inches across. It is considered a noxious weed in some states. The leaves, flowers and roots are edible. These are best consumed when the plant is young because the older it gets the more bitter it becomes. Leaf spines need to be removed. Source. Native Americans took an infusion to calm nerves and hunters sucked the milk from branches to imitate the sound of a fawn nursing, to draw the doe nearby. Source.

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July 22, 2022

Plants in the Cryptantha genus are commonly known as Catseyes. The whole plant is covered with rough silvery hairs. They produce nutlets that vary in size, shape and color and are used for identification. James’ Catseye blooms throughout the season growing to 12 inches high branching from the base. It has tiny flowers with five white petals and a yellow center. They grow in S-shaped clusters, like a scorpion tail, that elongates as it matures. It produces four shiny, smooth nutlets that are bow-shaped. Traditionally, the plant was given to newborn infants for prenatal snake or toad infection, a poultice of the plant was applied to snakebites and sores. It was also used ceremonially as a life medicine. Source.

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July 15, 2022

A strongly aromatic shrub growing over 3 feet tall with leaves divided into narrow, rolled leaflets. It has an overall broom-like appearance. Flowers grow in a long cluster lacking petals but with long, showy yellow stamens. Seed pods are small and yellowish with dark polka dots. It was used medicinally by the Hopi, Tewa and the Ramah Navajo as a toothache remedy. It was also used for basketry and kachina masks. Roots were made into hooks and used to secure packs on burros during salt expeditions. Source.

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July 8, 2022

Bracted Vervain has creeping, hairy stems growing to 18 inches long and hairy, lobed leaves. Tiny light blue to purplish flowers grow in whorls at the end of the stems and have stiff, hairy bracts. The five petals are fused at the base forming a slender tube. As the flowers mature the stem elongates up to 6 inches with flowers blooming at the tip and fruits forming below. Traditionally, the Navajo applied a poultice of the plant to centipede bites, and the plant was used in ceremonial chant lotion. Source. The Lakota used an infusion of the root to treat tuberculosis, particularly when it had spread to the lymph nodes.

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July 1, 2022

Wild Poinsettia grows to two feet high with inconspicuous whitish flowers and lance-shaped, toothed leaves, The leaves are often red-splotched and whitish at the base. Its structure resembles the red holiday poinsettia to which it is closely related. The plant produces a poisonous milky sap when broken that can cause contact dermatitis and is harmful to eyes. Nonetheless, the plant was eaten by Keres mothers to produce more milk. Source.

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June 24, 2022

You need a sharp eye to spot this delicate, star-shaped flower blooming in the grass. Blue-eyed Grass is not really a grass at all, but a type of Iris. It grows up to 20 inches tall with flat grass-like leaves and branched flower stems. Flowers are barely ½ inch across. They are bluish-violet with a yellow eye at the center and a bristle at the tip of the petals. Sisyrinchium species have a long history of medicinal use. They were used by Native Americans to ease hay fever, encourage regular bowel movements, quell diarrhea and to treat intestinal worms and stomach ache. Source.

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June 17, 2022

Curly Dock is a common sight (weed) growing from 2 to 5 feet tall with a stout reddish stem from a basal rosette of leaves. The leaves are up to 12 inches long and dull green with ruffled (curly) edges. Flowers are tiny and yellowish or reddish green and grow in dense long clusters. Each flower produces a single seed which matures to rusty brown. It is in the same family as rhubarb. The leaves, stem, seed, and root are all edible or medicinal. Dock leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, seeds ground into a flour. The common name Yellow Dock comes from its yellow root which is used as a constipation remedy, digestive aid and diuretic. It is also used to treat several kinds of inflammatory skin conditions, such as eczema, psoriasis, and nettle rash. It is also useful against internal inflammation, such as arthritis and rheumatism. Pima, Cheyenne, and Choctaw made yellow dye from the roots. Source.

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June 10, 2022

Another species well adapted to our dry environment and cold winters is the Plains Prickly Pear, the most widespread cactus in the US. It grows very close to the ground with spreading stems forming untidy mats. It has relatively small circular pads, two to six inches across, with many spines pointing in all directions. It has large, fixed spines and small, hairlike spines called glochids that easily detach from the plant to penetrate skin and cause irritation. The showy, bright flowers can be up to three inches across and are most commonly lemony-yellow, but can also be bright pink or pale orange. The fruit is dry and covered with barbed spines, not fleshy and juicy like many other prickly pears. The common name of Starvation Cactus comes from the Native American use of the cactus pads for food during times of famine because they could be harvested even during the winter and early spring when few other foods were available. They also burned the spines off to provide forage for livestock. The fruit was eaten raw, dried, or cooked. Fruit was singed with hot coals to remove spines, then split and dried in the sun and stored for winter use. Ripe fruits were used for dye. The spines were used as fish hooks and the seeds were made into beads. Source.

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June 3, 2022

Trees with their deep roots seem to be doing OK in this drought; the Cottonwoods are snowing cotton, the Russian Olives are in bloom and filling the air with their sweet scent. Mountain Mahogany grows in full sun and can tolerate dry conditions and is also in bloom. It grows as a shrub or small tree to 12 feet tall. Leaves are dark green above but pale and hairy below with veins radiating from the stem. The flowers are a narrow, pinkish, half inch long tube with golden stamens. The seeds have showy, feathery, twisted plumes. Palo duro, meaning hard wood, was given its Spanish name because of the extreme toughness of the trunks and branches. The wood has a bright red color when freshly cut and those of English stock called it Mountain Mahogany. The wood is strong and hard. Native Americans used it to make digging sticks, bows and arrow points. Roots were used to make a red dye. Medicinally it was used for stomach troubles, to hasten postpartum recovery, as a laxative, for coughing and as a dressing for burns. Source. 

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May 27, 2022

Flowering plants are few and far between in our parched landscape. In my wanderings in search of blooms I have noticed that some species have not bloomed at all, not surprisingly, while others have bloomed a month earlier than usual. So, it was a very pleasant surprise to find many of these plants in bloom on the sandy bank of the arroyo. The Fringeleaf Necklacepod grows to 16 inches high in colonies from a deep underground root system. Leaves are silvery and narrow. Pea-like flowers are pale blue to purple. Narrow seed pods are 2 to 3 inches long and hairy with 1 to 5 seeds. No traditional uses of the plant were found but it contains alkaloids that are toxic to animals, like another species in this family, the locoweed.

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May 20, 2022

Banana Yucca is one of several yucca species that grow in our area. Its stiff, broad, bluish-green leaves grow to 2½ feet long with a sharp point and fibrous edges. The large, waxy flowers grow in drooping clusters on a stem about as tall as the leaves, although the flowers can extend above the plant. The other yuccas have narrower leaves and a flowering stem above the leaves. Most yuccas have dry hard fruits, but the fleshy fruits of the Banana Yucca can be 7 inches long and look like fat, green bananas. These fruits were a traditional food of several Native American tribes. They were prepared by roasting or baking, stripping out the seeds, pounding the remaining flesh into a pulp, forming the pulp into flat cakes, and sun-drying them for later use. Besides food, yuccas have other traditional uses. The leaf blades can be woven into baskets, used to make brushes, or with the fleshy leaf tissue removed the remaining stiff fibers can be made into a combination needle and thread. The roots are prized as a natural soap. These yuccas are often used in landscaping, as can be seen in front of Café Sierra Negra. Yuccas are the State flower of New Mexico. Source.

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May 13, 2022

Whitetop grows to two feet tall in dense clumps with stout stems. Leaves are grayish-green and clasp the stems, basal leaves wither at flowering. Numerous tiny white flowers with four petals grow in flat-topped clusters two inches across. Seeds are heart-shaped. Whitetop is a very invasive species that spreads from its roots as well as by seeds, a single plant can produce 1,200 to 4,800 seeds. It is considered a noxious weed in New Mexico and many other states. As one of its common names, Wild Broccoli, implies, it is an edible plant. The edible parts are the young leaves and immature flower tops, which look like tiny florets of broccoli. Like many plants in the mustard family, they have a spicy hot-mustard flavor. Seeds are used as a pepper substitute. Medicinally, Whitetop has been used for preventing scurvy and as a bitter spring tonic. Source.

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May 6, 2022

There are more than 75 species of Astragalus in New Mexico, many with similarly colored pea-like flowers. The seed pods are often the best way to identify them, as is the case with the Crescent Milkvetch. It grows to about one foot high with grayish, arching leaflets. The stems and leaflets are covered in dense silvery hairs. Flowers grow in a cluster at the top of the stalk and are pink/purple, up to 1¼ inch long. Seed pods are about 1 inch long, slightly hairy and curved, crescent-shaped. Traditionally, a Zuni medicine man chewed a fresh or dried root before sucking out a snakebite and applied a poultice to the wound. Source.

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April 29, 2022

Townsend Daisies are commonly called Easter Daisies because they bloom early in the season, often around Easter time. Several species can be found in our area. They grow low to the ground in cushions with flowers nestled low among the leaves, sometimes covering them. The Slender-leaf Townsend Daisy has leaves that are slightly hairy, long, narrow and grayish. The large, eye-catching flowers are white or pinkish, and are about one inch across. Traditionally, Townsend Daisies were chewed or an infusion was taken to ease delivery of a baby, dried plants were used as snuff to clear the throat, a decoction of the roots was given to tired horses, and the plant was used ceremonially. Source.

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April 22, 2022

The Wallflower is a common and widespread species. It earned its common name by growing on stone walls in Europe. It grows from a few inches to 30" high with a dense cluster of flowers on an erect stem. Flowers are most typically bright golden yellow but plants in some populations may have tangerine-colored, pink or purple flowers. Each flower has four flat petals and is more than ½ inch across. Seed pods are up to 4 inches long and grow upright, parallel to the stem. In Greek, Erysimum translates as “to help or save” in reference to the medicinal qualities of several species. Practitioners of European folk medicine used wallflower poultices to relieve bronchial congestion, as did Native Americans, who also used dried leaves or seeds to make a tea for stomach cramps and ground the flowers to make yellow paint. Wallflowers are also important sources of food for wildlife, including the caterpillars of a number of butterfly and moth species. Source.

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April 15, 2022

If you saw this in your yard, you would pull it as a weed, but Herb Sophia has many beneficial properties. It grows from 6 to 30 inches high with a single erect stem, branching in the upper plant as flower stalks grow. Leaves are bright green and feathery, divided into numerous narrow segments. Flattish clusters of flowers bloom at the tip of the branches. Flowers are tiny, about 1/8 inch across, with four yellow petals. Seed pods are one inch long, narrow and point upwards. Native Americans have used Herb Sophia for both food and medicinal purposes. Young leaves and shoots can be boiled and eaten as greens. The seed can be ground, mixed with cornmeal and used to make bread and cakes. Ground seeds were added to water to make a cooling drink or were mixed with snow and eaten as ice cream. Medicinally, a poultice of the plant has been used to ease toothache. The juice of the plant has been used in the treatment of chronic coughs, hoarseness, ulcerated sore throats and asthma. A poultice of ground seeds was used on burns and sores. It is used in the treatment of asthma, fevers, bronchitis, oedema, scurvy and dysentery and as a diuretic, expectorant, laxative, digestive aid and tonic, and in the treatment of worms. Leaves were buried with seed corn to prevent spoiling. Source. 

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April 8, 2022

So far this year it has been hard to find many plants in bloom, some Purple Mustard, a few Filaree and Dandelions. Although not a plant with a bloom, this pretty lichen on a rock caught my eye. Lichen are interesting and amazing organisms which are actually fungi that cultivate algae for survival. The algae provide the lichen with carbohydrates, vitamins and proteins, while the fungus provides the algae with protection from the elements. The lichen is the product of this symbiotic relationship. Although sometimes plant-like, they are not plants; they do not have roots, stems or leaves. They are slow-growing and can survive in harsh environments on trees, logs, rocks and soil, from hot deserts to the Arctic, and cover about 7% of the Earth’s surface. They convert carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into oxygen and can absorb pollutants in the air. Having lichens growing where you live is a good thing; it means the air you breathe is clean. Lichens have been used for many things by both animals and humans. They provide forage and shelter for elk, deer, birds, and insects. The rufous hummingbird uses it to build its nest. Humans use lichens for dyes, clothing, and decoration, including the tartans of Scotland. A few crofters still produce Harris Tweed using lichen. An added advantage over synthetic dyes is that bitter lichen acids repel moths. A variety of products use lichen in their ingredient lists today, for example, in deodorant, toothpaste, salves, extracts, and perfumes. In Japan, they use lichens in paint for its anti-mildew properties. Lichens in traditional medicine are most commonly used for treating wounds, skin disorders, respiratory and digestive issues, and obstetric and gynecological concerns. Source. There are about 20,000 known species of lichen, I think this is Salted Shield Lichen, Parmelia saxatilis, but I am no expert. An old naturalist joke to remember what lichen is: “Freddy the fungus and Alice the alga met and took a lichen to each other. She thought he was a fungi, but now their marriage is on the rocks.”

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