Sunday, August 2, 2015

Mystery plants revealed


Under the rubric 'inquiring minds want to know,' we turn to two formerly mysterious plants growing great in the riparian area above the dam by the graffiti-ed Cooper's-Hawk-nest tree (and elsewhere). I'm thrilled that both turned out to be species in the sunflower/aster family, because that was my initial semi-educated guess. (And a good guess to make, given that the sunflower/aster family is second only to the grass family in terms of number of species in the canyon : -)
Because they weren't flowering (or, when I looked at them, even budding) and were somewhat atypically tall, they didn't give me the necessary knock on the head regarding their identity. I had to call (actually email) for aid. 
Ned and I did a point-and-shoot session; Debbie had already taken a sample to the plant people at the U, and she was able to help with the identification of both plants. Hooray for team work!


Photos by Ned Harris 7/26/2015

Camphor Weed aka Telegraph Plant (Heterotheca subaxillaris)





Horseweed (Conyza canadensis)

Go out and take a look!


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