Petey rambles on and on and even recites a poem!
I suspect that to many nursery folks propagating the plants they will grow is the best part of nursery work. Gathering native seed in the wild is fun because, in order to germinate that seed you to think about the ecology of the plant; when do the seed fall, how long do they sit around, do they need a nick in the seed coat, do they need heat, do they need cold, do they need both? What a blast!
The genus is now Hesperocyparis, but back in the olden days I learned the rough bark Arizona cypress of southeastern Arizona as Cupressus arizonica...
I’m pretty sure I first encountered the plant called mala mujer in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson around 30 years ago. I...
I was sort of right, but mainly wrong about poison ivy’s Latinized name. The species found in Arizona is Toxicodendron rydbergii, formerly Rhus radicans...