PLANTIDENTIFICATION

TREES

Catclaw Acacia• Bipinnately

compound leaves• Brown, curved

spines

Catclaw AcaciaFruit: bean-likeFlower: yellow, elongated

Whitethorn Acacia• Leaves: Bipinnately

compound• Spines: Straight, white• Bark: Reddish

Whitethorn Acacia• Flower: yellow, spherical

Desert Ironwood • Leaves: Simple pinnately

compound• Flowers: Purple• Spines: dark, thin, slightly

curved

Desert Ironwood

Velvet Mesquite • Leaves: Large, bipinnately

compound• Relatively large leaflets and

flowers

My knee for scale

Velvet Mesquite • Fruit: bean-like• Flowers: yellow, long

Foothills Palo Verde• Leaves: Bipinnately

compound• 4+ pairs of leaflets/“leaf”• Spines: none along

branches• Bark: green

Foothills Palo Verde• Fruit: bean-like• Flower: yellow, with

white, upper banner petal

Blue Palo Verde• Leaves: bipinnately compound• 3 or fewer pairs of leaflets/“leaf”• Spines along branches• Bark: Green

Spine

Spine

Blue Palo Verde• Flower: yellow, with yellow,

upper banner petal

Shrubs

Fairy Duster• Leaves: Bipinnately

compound• Fine, dark green leaflets• Spines: none• Bark: whitish

Fairy Duster• Flower: unique

Desert Mistletoe• Parasitic• Appear as clumps in

trees most commonly

• Phainopepla is main vector

Jojoba• Leaves: simple, vertical• Dioecious• Nuts appear on females in

spring and summer

Jojoba• Nuts produce high quality

wax that is liquid at room temperature

Instead of sperm whale oil

Brittlebush• Leaves: simple, entire,

triangle-shaped• Flowers: yellow (like lots of

other plants

Brittlebush• Yellow, like

many other plants

Limberbush• Leaves: simple, heart-

shaped• Bark: red• Flexible limbs

Limberbush• Flowers: small, white

Ocotillo• Multiple arms• Flowers: red, tubular• Spines: straight, stout• Drought deciduous

Triangle-leaf Bursage• Leaves: simple, toothed,

triangle-shaped

Triangle-leaf Bursage• Burrs in fall

Ratany• Non-descript plant

most of year• Flowers: purple• Fruit: spined• Hemi-parasite

Ratany

Creosote Bush• Leaves have a single

pair of leaflets• Yellow flowers

developing into white seed pods

Creosote Bush

Creosote bush gall and midge

Desert Broom• Leaves more like

twigs

Desert Broom• Leaves more like

twigs

Burroweed• Finely divided leaves• Flowers: yellow turning to white• Last year’s flower stalks remain

for long time

Burroweed

Canyon Ragweed• Leaves: simple,

long, triangle-shaped with toothed margin

• Usually occurs in washes and canyons

Canyon Ragweed• Flowers: nondescript

Sotol (Desert Spoon)• Rosette of leaves• Leaves have spines

along edges but not at tips

Cacti

Saguaro

Saguaro• Seed• 2000 seeds/fruit• 100 fruits/year• 100-150 years =

20 million+ seeds in lifetime,

• But only one survives to replace individual in stable population

Saguaro• Seedlings• Grow under nurse

plant• Grow ½” first year• Grow 1’ in 15

years• Grow 10’ in 40

years (mature)

Saguaro• Fruit is edible• Flower: white,

large, blooms at night and closes forever the next day

Southwest (or Fishhook) Barrel CactusSpines: long,

hooked

Fruit: yellow

Southwest (or Fishhook) Barrel Cactus• Flowers: yellow,

orange, or red usually

• Plant usually leans

Hedgehog Cacti• Multiple heads

• Spines not as dense as pincushion cacti

Prickly Pear Cacti• Pads

• Flowers: many colors

• Fruit: purple when ripe

Fishhook Pincushion Cactus• Very dense spines

• Ring of pink flowers near top

• Spines: longest with hooks

Chain-fruit (or Jumping) Cholla • Fruit stay attached and form

chains.• Flowers: often pink

Chain-fruit (or Jumping) Cholla

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plmay98.htm

Blown up 350x; overlapping scales on spine make pulling out the spine very difficult

Teddybear Cholla

Fruit are single and do not form chains.

Teddybear Cholla • Spines: tend to be

more dense than chain-fruit cholla

Staghorn Cholla• Spines less dense and

arms more spreading than chain-fruit or teddy-bear cholla

Christmas Cholla• One spine per areole• Red fruit in winter• Thin segments