I wrote this song about Lycium fremontii when I was managing the native plant nursery of Desert Survivors on West Starr Pass in Tucson. The nursery is located right beside the Santa Cruz River at the base of A Mountain (Sentinel Peak). I used to perform the song whenever I did slide show talks and a version of it ended up on The Best of Growing Native Volume III. This is yet another version. I love the chorus and have always envisioned the song being part of a musical about Tucson or the Sonoran Desert that surrounds it. I’m looking for investors…I’m kidding.
I have so many 35 mm slides of this shrub and its flowers and fruit, but no digital photos, so the photo used here is by Tom Van Devender. He is a botanist, ecologist, biologist and a wonderful fellow. I thank him.
It’s spring in the borderlands and something florally is going on and it’s going on everywhere. What a hoot! And…
Jackass clover is Wislizenia refracta and the botanical name of clammy weed is Polanisia dodecandra. They are both in the Cleome family Cleomaceae. Many...
I think it’s fascinating that there are several species of winter fat found in Eurasia and Europe. That’s where the genus was first described...