slgwv's photos with the keyword: blooming

Andy was a sparkling presence on Ipernity, and he will be deeply missed. Not only did I enjoy his photos, I’ll especially miss the discussions we’d have on various topics. RIP my friend. This is a pic of an oleander hedge off State Route 88 in California. Andy liked oleanders, and I’d noted that they’ve been widely planted in the southwest USA, for their sun tolerance and smog tolerance. (And urban legend greatly exaggerates their toxicity!) So I hope he would like this pic.

Lupine and some un-ID'd yellow flower blooming around 8500 ft, in the upper basin of the Squaw Valley ski resort. I assume they'd been covered with snow till just recently. As it is, the snow is likely to return in a month or so!

Along the Horsethief Canyon designated vehicle route in the Piper Mountain Wilderness, north of Death Valley, California. Beavertail ( Opuntia basilaris ) is a type of prickly pear cactus where the thorns are isolated in small clumps, leaving big flat blades like a beaver's tail. It was a staple of the local Native Americans and is also used in traditional Mexican cooking. You can often find the blades in the Hispanic foods section of supermarkets in the US Southwest.

A.k.a. greasewood. Larrea tridentata . Southern Nevada, near the tiny town of Moapa about 50 miles NNE of Las Vegas. This is a very typical shrub of the Mojave desert. In the adjacent pictures you can see how it tends to occur evenly spaced, almost as though deliberately planted, on an otherwise nearly barren desert surface. It blooms in the spring, as seen here. Here's the Wikipedia write-up: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creosote_bush

Unidentified wildflowers--an invader weed, for all I know--poking up in March. Majuba Mountain area, Nevada, USA.

A different species of prickly pear, in which the thorns occur in isolated clusters on the flat blades of the plant. Those oval blades vaguely resemble a beaver's tail, which is wide, flat, and hairless. Beavers use their tails both for swimming and for slapping the water surface as a warning. Arrow Canyon, southern Nevada.

In bloom. With lots of fuzzy-looking thorns--they're not as soft as they appear! ;) Arrow Canyon, southern Nevada.

Castilleja spp. A common genus of wildflower in western North America. The flowers are supposed to be edible. The whole plant can be very toxic, however, because it tends to concentrate selenium.

CHOY-yuh, in the American Spanish pronunciation. The various cholla species are among the most obnoxious thorn plants around. The plant breaks easily at the stem joints--one variety is called "jumping cholla" because the pieces break off so easily it seems it jumps onto you--and then the stem segments can in turn take root to form a new plant! They _are_ native, tho-- Arrow Canyon area, southern Nevada, USA.