Encelia farinosa (brittle bush, incienso) loves rocky hillsides and gravelly desert. And though this native shrub has a large range showing up in the Mojave and Great Basin Deserts, for me personally the bright yellow flowers atop the silvery foliage shout, “Sonoran Desert!”
If you’re interested in ethnobotany (and why wouldn’t you be?) this is a good plant to add to your journal with its many uses, from chewing gum to incense. And good native plant nurseries grow and sell this wonderful wide ranging native, so plant or 2 or 3 in your personal habitat to remind you that, “the desert is beautiful.” Yeah it is.
I couldn’t find any digital photos of brittle bush in my collection (35 mm slides, yes, of course), but there are numerous photos on line. Well, of all things, I found and really liked these pics at at a web site about the Mojave Desert called BirdandHike.com. I thank them.
Jojoba is also called goat-nut and pig-nut, deer-nut or to plant geeks like myself, Simmondsia chinensis. The foliage and stems are browsed by wildlife...
Petey just loves reptiles and amphibians! Let’s listen. The summer rainy season brings out all sorts of critters and life is good at our...
I love following drainages and observing all the plants and animals that follow them too. Do I always tell you…