Piñons in the Hills

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!