I enjoy hearing friends talk about the plants that they’ve seen on walks or hikes and when we share our enthusiasm the jabbering is so sweet. The flowers on manzanitas look like small porcelain bells. These are on pointleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens) and the photo was taken when we went out to gather firewood in the foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains. The small holes you see on the flowers are made by a few species of bees and wasps…nectar thieves. It’s fascinating and I intend to learn more about them. Stay tuned. 
The photo of the heart shaped prickly pear pad (stem!) was taken on a hike when Ms. Mesquitey had me photographing every heart shape pad we came across. Who knew there were so many heart shaped cactus pads out there in the hills to be photographed? 
Mammalogy was one of my favorite courses back in my college days. It was 1968 (early Anthropocene) and there were…
In southeastern Arizona Datura wrightii is the preferred source of nectar for the moth Manduca sexta and you may also notice that the caterpillar,...
I like the name sumac and I’ve known it since I was a kid in Kentucky. The most talked about sumac of my youth...