As published in the Abiquiú News in 2024
See what is blooming in Abiquiú in
April, May, June, July, August, September and October
Browse by color:
Pink, White, Blue/Purple, Yellow/Green, Red/Orange

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September 27, 2024

Dotted Blazing Star grows to 32 inches with unbranched stems and narrow leaves. Small lavender to pale pink flowers grow in narrow spikes that bloom from the top down. It has a remarkable root system with lateral branches extending to 5 feet and the taproot reaching up to 16 feet. Domestic livestock like the Dotted Blazing Star, particularly sheep. Elk and White-Tail Deer also eat it; it is sometimes called Deer Potatoes. A variety of small rodents like it, especially the roots, and it is the only source of food for some butterflies. Native Americans used the plant for food and medicinal purposes. The root was boiled or baked before eating. Plains tribes used the Dotted Blazing Star to make a tea that was used for kidney, bladder, and menstrual problems, water retention, gonorrhea, colic, sore throat and laryngitis. Mashed roots were applied to snake bites. Dry roots were burned like incense to relieve headaches, nosebleeds, and tonsillitis. Source.

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September 20, 2024

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. It is also a prolific producer of seeds that provide food for birds and small mammals. Common Ragweed grows from one to three feet tall with deeply cut, softly hairy, fern-like leaves. Flowers are tiny and yellow-green. Male flowers grow above the female flowers on the same spike. Seeds are enclosed in a hard bur. Despite its bad reputation, Native Americans found many medicinal uses for it. Crushed leaves were applied externally to insect bites, rheumatic joints and various skin complaints, internally they are used as a tea in the treatment of fevers, pneumonia, nausea, intestinal cramps, diarrhea and mucous discharges. Juice from the wilted leaves is disinfectant and was applied to infected toes. A tea made from the roots was used in the treatment of menstrual disorders and stroke. The plant was used for toilet paper. Today, the pollen is harvested commercially for use in pharmaceuticals designed to treat hay fever. Source.

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September 13, 2024

Fiddleleaf Hawksbeard is a hairless plant growing to two feet tall with only one or two small leaves on the stem and mostly basal leaves forming a rosette. Basal leaves are less than one inch wide, only slightly toothed. The dandelion-like flowers are about one inch across with petals that have five small teeth at the tip. Traditionally, the leaves were eaten, a poultice of the whole plant was applied 'to open up a carbuncle or cancer' and an infusion of young plants drunk for homesickness and lonesomeness. Source. 

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September 6, 2024

This delicate plant grows to 18 inches with many branches, and slender grey-green leaves and stems. Flowers are white, light blue or lavender with a floral tube up to 3 inches long. It blooms from spring to fall depending on the rains, as so many do. Native Americans had many uses for the plant and used it to treat a variety of ailments. A decoction of the leaves was taken for stomachaches; crushed leaves and flowers were steeped into a tea that was taken for headaches, used on sores, and as a hair tonic to prevent baldness and lengthen the hair; and the plant was chewed together with salt to treat heartburn. An infusion of roots was used to eliminate the ozone in cases of lightning shock. An infusion of the flowers was mixed with feed and given to sheep with stomach disorders. The Zuni people use the dried, powdered flowers to create a poultice to remove hair on newborns and children. The Navajo used the plant to make a prebreakfast drink which was taken to make the person 'bark' or sing loudly for the Squaw Dance. Source.

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August 30, 2024

Several species of Globemallow grow in this area blooming from spring until fall. They have five orange petals forming a saucer-like flower. The foliage is covered with star-shaped hairs giving it a grey-green appearance. The shape of the leaves differentiates the species. Blooming now is Fendler’s Globemallow which grows to 4 feet tall with graceful stems; it can become shrub-like. Leaves are divided into three lobes, two smaller side lobes and a larger central lobe, all with scalloped edges. Flowers are over 1 inch across and produce a disc-shaped fruit with 11 to 15 segments, each segment contains a seed. Traditionally, Globemallow has been used to treat sand cricket bites; an infusion of the plant was taken for mouth sores, internal injury and hemorrhage, and it was also made into a lotion to treat external injuries. Source.

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August 23, 2024

Desert Goosefoot has no showy blooms and would disappear into the background but for its height and whitish appearance. It grows to about three feet high covered in a whitish powder. Members of the Goosefoot genus are so called because their leaves are shaped like a goose’s foot but the leaves of Desert Goosefoot are mostly narrow. Lower leaves may have the lobes that give them the goose foot shape but these usually wither as the plant matures. Flowers are tiny and greenish in dense clusters. Leaves and young shoots can be cooked and eaten like spinach. Seed can be ground into a powder and mixed with wheat or other cereals in making bread etc. Source.

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August 16, 2024

Many yellow flowers bloom towards the end of summer. From a distance they may look similar but get closer and the size of the flowers, the leaves and growth habit will distinguish them. Snakeweed grows like a rounded bush from 12 to 30 inches high with thread-like leaves. This impressive plant is three feet across, probably thanks to all the rain it has received. The flowers are tiny with a few petals, less than 1/4" across, and grow in dense golden clusters. The shape, height and tiny flowers distinguish it. An abundance of Snakeweed is a sign of over-grazing because cattle dislike the taste. In the winter, Snakeweed dies back, leaving brittle stems that make great kindling. The stems were bound together to make brooms and the flowers used to make a dye. Snakeweed was used by Native Americans for a multitude of medicinal purposes, including as a treatment for snakebites, indigestion, bee stings, headaches, diarrhea, painful menstruation, colds, fevers and nosebleeds, and as a laxative for horses. Source.

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August 9, 2024

Another of the sunflowers that seem to flourish in our area, the Prairie Sunflower grows to four feet tall with a hairy stem branching near the top. Leaves are bluish-green, rough in texture and usually lance-shaped, with stalks. The showy flower head is over two inches across and has 7 to 15 petals and a reddish-purple center. The bracts under the flower are lance-shaped and hairy. The Prairie Sunflower is very similar to the Common Sunflower but is much smaller and more slender. Traditionally the seeds were saved and eaten, and sometimes ground as meal. The Hopi used the plant as a spider bite medicine and the Navajo sprinkled a flower infusion on clothing for good luck in hunting. Dried flower petals were mixed with corn meal to make a ceremonial face powder for women. Source.

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August 2, 2024

Patches of this bright white Evening Primrose have been blooming since June. It grows to about 18 inches high with many branches and pale stems. Flowers are over one inch across, with four heart-shaped petals, and are pleasantly fragrant. Like all evening primroses, the flowers open near sunset then wilt and turn pink in the heat of the sun the next morning. Traditionally, the plant was used as tobacco, the roots were used to make a poultice or lotion to treat swellings, sore throats, and muscle strains, the fruits and seeds were added to soup or made into gravy. Marriageable Hopi maids used flowers in their hair on holidays. The Zuni High Priest and the Sun Priest of the Corn Maidens gave the blossoms to young girls who chewed the blossoms, ejected the mass into their hands and rubbed it on their neck, breast, arms and hands to ensure that they would dance well so that it would rain and the corn would grow. Source.

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July 26, 2024

Scouring Rushes are not Rushes; they are Horsetails, which are prehistoric organisms that thrived 400 million years ago during the Paleozoic era. They grow from one to four feet tall with a ridged, hollow, bamboo-like stem. The leaves are reduced to tiny, dark teeth fused into a sheath around the joints of the stem; teeth are usually shed during the growing season. It produces spores, rather than seeds, from flowers in pine cone-like heads. Native Americans had many uses for the plant. The stems were used to do the final polishing of wooden spoons and to polish the soft rock used for pipe bowls, to give medicine to babies and used by children as whistles. It was given to thin, old horses with diarrhea after eating fresh grass in spring. It was used medicinally as a contraceptive; to stimulate the kidneys; to treat bladder ailments, hemorrhoids, high blood pressure, venereal diseases, backaches, and colds; also used as an insecticide for washing hair and to treat parts of the body affected by poison ivy. Source.

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July 19, 2024

Blazingstars are also called Eveningstars because they do not open until late in the afternoon, this photo was taken at 7.30 pm. During the day their flowers are tightly closed so easily overlooked. They are in the Stickleaf family, so named because their leaves have barbed hairs and stick to clothing and fur like Velcro. It grows to 2 ½ feet tall with stout white branched stems.  Flowers are 2" across with long yellow stamens. Flowers can be bright yellow, but I mostly see pale yellow, almost white flowers in this area. Traditionally, the seeds have been eaten raw or ground into a meal. Medicinally it has been used to treat tuberculosis, as a diuretic, a laxative and as a pain reliever for rheumatism and toothaches. Tewa Indians had one of the most interesting uses for the Blazingstar. When a young boy was old enough to ride a horse for the first time, the Tewa would rub the leaves of the plant over the boy’s skin. He would then dress and mount the horse. The sticky plant substance was used to help with the boy’s grip and enable him to ride without falling off. Source.

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July 12, 2024

MacDougall’s Verbena grows over three feet tall with stiff, branched stems. Leaves are long and toothed. The whole plant is hairy and resembles some members of the mint family, but it does not have the aroma. The long, thick, dense flower spikes have a ring of small flowers at one level which moves up the spike as the flower matures. Traditionally the Navajo used MacDougall’s Verbena in various ceremonial ways as a lotion and fumigant and a cold infusion was taken and used as lotion for fever. Source.

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July 5, 2024

Russian Knapweed grows in a bush one to three feet high with stiff branches and forms dense colonies with creeping roots. Flowers are ½ to ¾ inch across and thistle-like, ranging from white to pink to lavender in color. Bracts are smooth with rounded tips, green and cobwebby. It is toxic to horses and considered a highly invasive, noxious weed by the State of New Mexico and many other states. A single Russian knapweed plant can produce about 1,200 seeds per year. The findings of a recent study suggest it is a promising source of natural antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-cholinesterase and anti-amylase agents for the management of oxidative damage, and pharmaceutical, food, and cosmeceutical purposes. In folk medicine, the plant has been used for many years as an emetic, anti-epileptic and anti-malaria remedy. Source.

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June 28, 2024

White Sweet Clover grows with an airy, bushy habit to six feet tall with many branches and tiny, fragrant, white flowers growing in long clusters. Leaves are divided into three leaflets. It could be mistaken for alfalfa before it blooms. It is not native to North America and was introduced from Europe as a forage crop, and is now used to stabilize bare slopes, for soil-building, and is planted by beekeepers for the nectar of its flowers. It likes fire and can erupt in an explosion of growth following a burn. The young leaves can be eaten raw, preferably before the plant blossoms. They are bitter and aromatic, usually used as flavoring in salads. The whole plant thoroughly dried can be used to make a tea with a hint of vanilla. The seeds can be used as a spice. Fermented or moldy clover should never be used. Source. It has been considered a medicinal plant since ancient times; Hippocrates, the father of medicine, used Sweet Clover herb to treat skin ulcers. Sweet Clover produces a coumarin compound that can be converted to dicoumarin, which is used medicinally as a blood thinner and an anticoagulant in rat poisons. It has also been used medicinally to treat external and internal inflammation and stomach and intestinal ulcers. Sweet Clover inflorescences have been used in eye lotions. Source

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June 21, 2024

Fineleaf Hymenopappus is easily overlooked because it has no petal-like ray flowers and small flower heads. It is usually a woolly/hairy plant with stems branching from a rosette or mound of basal leaves. Leaves are twice-divided into narrow or thread-like leaflets which are sometimes covered in woolly hairs, giving a grey appearance. Tubular disk flowers have five lobes and range in color from very yellow to almost white. Thirteen varieties have been identified. This variety, cinerus, grows to 2½ feet high covered in dense white hair in a more rounded bushy form. Basal and stem leaflets are very finely divided. Flowers are less than ½" across and yellow. Traditionally, a poultice of the root with lard was applied to ease swellings, and a decoction of the root was taken as an emetic. The root was also used as a chewing gum, and the leaves were boiled and baked into bread. Source.

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June 14, 2024

Larkspur grows to eighteen inches high with pale lavender to deep blue flowers, rarely white. The flowers have a long ‘spur’ to the rear of the flower which apparently resembles a Lark's foot structure giving it its common name. Leaves are deeply divided and found mostly on the lower part of the stem. All parts of the plant are toxic and poisonous to livestock, particularly when the plant is young. A blue dye can be made from the flowers, which has also been used as ink. Traditionally, native peoples have used the blue flowers for coloring arrows and other items, or for various ceremonies. Source.

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June 7, 2024

Very big names for a plant growing only a few inches high. Greenleaf Five Eyes is a member of the Nightshade family which includes tomatillos and tomatoes and which the flowers strongly resemble. It can grow to 18 inches high with long, narrow, lobed leaves. Flowers are greenish-white with five fused petals and five stamens, about ½ inch across. There are five hairy pillow-like bumps in the center which are presumably the ‘five eyes’. The fruit matures to a whitish berry about ¼ inch across. Chama in the scientific name comes from the Greek word for false. The name Chama, as in the Rio Chama, comes from an Indian pueblo called Tsama near Abiquiu along the north side of the river near its confluence with the El Rito creek. In the Tewa language, Tsama is defined as “wrestling place” or “fighting around place”. Source. The Navajo used the plant for swellings and in cases of drowning. Source.

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May 31, 2024

In the fields around Mamacita’s there is a super bloom of Sowthistle Desert Dandelions happening. Thousands of showy yellow flowers are brightening the smoky landscape. In the 12 years I have lived here I have never seen this before; must be right moisture at the right time. Sowthistle Desert Dandelions grow to 14 inches high with smooth, leaning, twisted, branched stems and short, fleshy, lobed leaves growing in a rosette. Flower heads are dandelion-like with only ray flowers and are about one inch across. Individual petals are toothed at the tip. The Navajo used the plant for vomiting; unspecified whether to induce or cure. Source.

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May 24, 2024

We have several species of Penstemon growing in our area. Some also have the common name of Beardtongue because of the long, hairy tongue that sticks out from the throat of the flower. This Penstemon grows to 14 inches high with many narrow lance-shaped leaves. Flowers and buds are very sticky and hairy and grow on one side of the stem. The flowers are lavender to violet with dark purple nectar guide lines. They are about ½ inch long with a wide, densely hairy throat and a curved tongue covered in yellow hairs extending from the throat. Traditionally the plant was used as an emetic and lotion to purify a newborn infant before nursing and a cold, compound infusion of plant was taken for headache and sore throat. Source.

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May 17, 2024

This is one of several species of Indian Paintbrush that grow in our area. Orange Paintbrush can grow to 20 inches tall, typically less, with long, purplish-green, rolled leaves and hairy stems. What appears to be flowers, the paintbrush, are actually modified leaves, bracts. The flowers are a narrow, greenish tube protruding beyond the bracts. The flower heads are red to orange to salmon. Native Americans found different uses for the plant; root bark was used with minerals to color deer skin black, dried bracts were mixed with chile seeds to prevent spoilage during storage, the plant was held by women for decoration during the harvest dance, a poultice of leaves was used to dress burns, a decoction of the leaf was taken during pregnancy to keep the baby small, for easy labor. Source. Read more about the Legend and Uses of Indian Paintbrush.

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May 10, 2024

Growing in large patches, these stout plants grow to 18 inches and have stalks covered in hairs. With leaves consisting of 3 leaflets, the flowers are a bright yellow and form clusters resembling a lupine. The fruit is a greyish-brown, hairy, curved pod. Blooming in early May through June, the Golden Pea is a source of nectar for butterflies, a food source for caterpillars and they provide pollen for bees. Flowers and seeds are poisonous and should not be eaten. The Golden Pea has cultural significance to Native Americans. It is also known by other names, such as the Buffalo Bean and wudzi-eh-ka, meaning buffalo-flower, by the Blackfoot, because they bloom in spring during the time when the buffalo leave their wintering grounds and go out on the prairies. When brewed as a tea, the Golden Pea has been used to treat stomach diseases in both humans and horses. It is also used as a yellow dye. Source.

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May 3, 2024

Chokecherry is a native, deciduous, woody, thicket-forming, large shrub or small tree, rarely reaching 30 feet tall. It can be erect or straggling, dependent on moisture and site. Leaves are oval, often widest above the middle, with fine, sharp teeth. Bark is smooth, reddish-grey to greyish-brown with small, raised, horizontal slits, called lenticels. The aromatic flowers grow in long clusters over four inches long. Chokecherry fruit is pea-sized, dark red to black in color and is bitter, but excellent for syrup, jam or jelly with lots of added sugar. The stones are toxic due to production of hydrocyanic acid. Many wildlife animals eat the fruit and distribute it; birds, rabbits, hares, rodents and bears all seek out and eat its fruit. For many Native American tribes chokecherries are the most important fruit in their traditional diets and are part of pemmican, a staple traditional food. The bark of chokecherry root is used to ward off or treat colds, fever and stomach maladies. The inner bark of the chokecherry is also used by some tribes in ceremonial smoking mixtures, known as kinnikinnick. Source.

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April 26, 2024

Silver Buffaloberry is a native shrub growing to 15 feet tall in thickets. The silvery leaves, habitat and thorny stems cause it to be mistaken for Russian Olive, which is an invasive species. Several things differentiate them; leaves grow in opposite pairs while the leaves of the Russian Olive are alternate, flowers of the Russian Olive are much larger, brighter yellow, tubular and bloom later, the fruit is a red or gold berry while the Russian Olive produces “olives” covered with silvery scale, and the Russian Olive can grow to 35 feet tall. Male and female flowers are produced on separate plants. The tiny yellowish-brown flowers cluster on the stems. The photo is of male flowers. The fruits are an important source of food for birds and animals and are edible for humans, but tart. Native Americans consumed fruits both fresh and dried. Fruits were eaten as a laxative and for stomach troubles and fevers.  Fruits were used occasionally in ceremonial feasts at female puberty rites and to make a red dye. Source.

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April 19, 2024

The Astragalus genus is very large and individual species are usually identified by their seed pod rather than their flower or leaves; several varieties of Milkvetch grow in this area. This beautiful little plant grows low to the ground with five to eleven silky leaflets. Flowers are showy, bright pink/purple with a lighter center and are over one inch long. Seed pods are curved and covered in silky, white hairs. Specific uses for this species are unknown, but other species in the genus have uses. The plant is considered poisonous, especially to stock and horses, however medicinally; a decoction of whole plant used as a wash for the head, hair and whole body, plant used for stomach disorders, as a gargle for sore throats, poultice of crushed leaves applied to lame back, applied as an ointment for animals with urination troubles, roots chewed as a cathartic, infusion of root used as a wash for sores and as a wash for granulated eyelids and toothaches, also plants used as a ceremonial emetic, seeds used for food, and pounded seeds mixed with other foods and used as a spice. Source.

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April 12, 2024

Another early bloomer, Golden Smoke grows to about 12 inches tall and is easily recognized by the irregular yellow flowers in long, loose clusters and its finely divided, bluish-green leaves. The seed pods are bean-like and curve upwards. Corydalis species are potentially toxic in moderate doses. However, a tea made from the plant is used in the treatment of painful or irregular menstruation, diarrhea, bronchitis, heart diseases, sore throats and stomach aches. Externally, it is used as a lotion on backaches, hand sores etc. and as a gargle for sore throats. Source.

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April 5, 2024

The first blooms I saw this year were New Mexico False Carrots. Flowers in the Parsley family bloom early and have tiny flowers with five petals in usually flat heads. This family is also commonly called Parsley or Celery. The New Mexico False Carrot grows to 8 inches high in a dense bright green tuft with dry stalks from the previous year. The flowers bloom on stalks barely 2 inches high which elongate with age. Leaves are divided into narrow segments. It is listed as a New Mexico Rare Plant but it is not difficult to find in Plaza Blanca and Red Wash Canyons. Source. No traditional uses could be found but other members of this family are edible.

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