The geology found at Fort Bowie National Historic Site certainly makes for the diverse flora. Hills or slopes of limestone next to or mixed with hills or slopes of granite, not to mention the elevation changes, from the mountain tops down to desert scrub. There are 470 species of plants found within the boundaries and depending on your references there are 11 or 4 plant associations. I like the 11 plant associations point of view. Lottsa different plants hanging out together!
We’ve returned to Fort Bowie since seeing the Colorado piñon (Pinus edulis) on that north facing slope and I think we’ve come across a hybrid of Pinus.edulis and the one needle piñon (Pinus monophylla)…something those pines do. I do want to find the one needle piñon, so we’ll keep poking around. It’s pretty cool that three species of piñons occur at Fort Bowie and it’s fun to have a quest, though we are always delighted to get sidetracked by other flora and fauna.
If you are interested in piñon pines I recommend the book The Piñon Pine, A Natural and Cultural History by Ronald M. Lanner.
The photos are mine. Look at all that seed!
I concentrated on a few fall bloomers in the Aster family that have yellow flowers and I bet you thought of other species that...
The photos are mine of the Mirabilis longiflora flowers and Manduca sexta, the Carolina sphinx moth and tobacco hornworm. Note the seven streamline white...
Southeastern Arizona is full of change in the fall and the migration of many bird species to and from the region is part of...
