I originally learned the botanical name of this native plant as Eupatorium greggii, but it is now Conoclinum dissectum. It’s neat that the tribute to Josiah Gregg, an adventurer, explorer, naturalist and plant collector of the early 1800s, is still part of the common name Gregg’s mistflower.

The photos were taken at a marvelous rocky plain near the Dragoon Mountains. It’s an area where I find all sorts of interesting plants and this large stand of Gregg’s mistflower was fabulous. I believe that’s a Painted Lady butterfly visiting the flowers. That’s only one of several species of butterflies seen on the flowers. Oh, and that bouquet on our table lasted several days!
Encelia farinosa (brittle bush, incienso) loves rocky hillsides and gravelly desert. And though this native shrub has a large range showing up in the...
In southeastern Arizona Datura wrightii is the preferred source of nectar for the moth Manduca sexta and you may also notice that the caterpillar,...
This is an episode about hearing my heart beat. I initially was going to talk about the noise made by ORVs, ATVs, SUVs and...