Behold!

December 07, 2017 4:45
Behold!
Growing Native with Petey Mesquitey
Behold!

Dec 07 2017 | 4:45

/

Show Notes

It’s true that life in southeastern Arizona is full of “behold!” moments. It is so exciting to live in such a diverse land, both in plants and animals.

I believe the correct Latinized name for the hoptree that occurs in the borderlands is Ptelea trifoliata var. angustifolia. When I’ve grown it in the past in my little nursery the young plants were found by wandering swallowtails. Eggs were laid and caterpillars gobbled the foliage of the plants. Before I knew it I had several two-tailed swallowtails flying around my yard. That’s pretty cool and no worries as the plants did recover. It just goes to show you though, that if you plant native plants good stuff happens.

The same goes with pineleaf milkweed…also known as pineneedle milkweed, but always Asclepias linaria…, anyway, if you plant it in your personal habitat, butterflies that use milkweeds as larval food will show up seemingly out of nowhere to lay eggs on the plant. And by the way, plants that are the larval food for butterflies are called host plants. Isn’t that great? “Hi, my name is pineleaf milkweed and I’ll be your host today”. Okay, well now you know.

The photos are mine. The above photo is of the Galiuro escarpment in the Galiuro Mountains and that’s where I’ve had many “behold!” moments.

Other Episodes

Episode 0

April 10, 2022 00:04:16
Episode Cover

Ol' Jack Keroac

Some personal history in poem and song. The photos are mine…well, I dug them out of the archives.                                            That’s the very beginning of the...

Listen

Episode

May 27, 2016
Episode Cover

Corvus in a Quercus

Corvus cryptoleucus is the Chihuahuan Raven. Corvus is Latin for crow and is the scientific name Linnaeus gave crows and ravens. Cryptoleucus is from...

Listen

Episode 0

March 13, 2023 00:04:34
Episode Cover

My Old Friend Desert Spoon

Yet another love affair with an Arizona native plant. It could change next week and I’ll be in love with a new native plant,...

Listen