San Miguelito (Antigonon leptopus) is quite the Mexican native plant. I read that it’s found in habitat not only in Sonora and Chihuahua and southward, but also Baja California. Unfortunately, where this tough Mexican vine has been introduced as an ornamental in more mesic areas like the southeastern US, it has become an invasive varmint. Sad, but true, so don’t go sending seed back to friends in Florida. They already have some.
And finally; this episode of Growing Native is a tribute to Tucson and the surrounding wild landscape. It’s where I first cut my teeth on native plants and animals and I’ve been on a marvelous journey ever since.
The photo of the flowering San Miguelito is not mine, but stolen from Spadefoot Nursery’s website, so a thank you to them.
In 1881 botanists John and Sara Lemmon were collecting and botanizing in an area called Rucker Valley in the Chiricahua…
Simmondsia chinensisis is now in its own family, Simmondsiaceae, and not in the boxwood family, Buxaceae. Yay! The foliage and stems of jojoba are...
Petey takes a drive into the hills near his home to see spectacular fall color of the local sumacs.
