Urticaceae (nettle family)Parietaria hespera HintonNative, annual herbs, growing below 5000' elevation throughout Arizona. Alternate, ovate to cordate leaves on short pedicels; congested axillary inflorescences, blooming year-round. Individuals to ~20 cm tall observed growing in gravelly washes and in rocks in eastern foothills of Sawtooth Mountains and on rocky outcrops south of Wildcat Peak, ~1650-1850' elevation.
Viscaceae (mistletoe family)Phoradendron californicum Nutt."mistletoe"
Native, parasitic shrubs on leguminous trees (e.g., Prosopis, Cercidium), leaves reduced to scales and branches jointed and dichotomous. Generally occurring below 4000' elevation; not common in the Sawtooth Mountains, however more so in Prosopis than in other arboreal legumes, especially at south end of range. Plants dioecious, producing red berries sessile on branches. One Phainopepla nitens sighted in thirteen collecting days February-May.
Polygonaceae (buckwheat family)Chorizanthe brevicornu Torr.Native, annual herbs, growing below 2500' elevation in southern Arizona. Dichotomously branched from a simple stem with low, spreading habit; stems typically reddish, brittle. Inflorescences axillary; involucre sessile, greenish-yellow, 6-toothed with teeth hooked; perianth 2 whorls of 3, white, 3 stamens inconspicuous inside of tube-like involucre, flowering March-May. Growing widespread on eastern bajada and on rocky slopes at the south end of the Sawtooth Mountains, below 1700' elevation; few individuals observed in foothills.
Chorizanthe rigida (Torr.) Torr. & Gray
"rigid spiny herb"
Native, annual herbs to several centimeters tall. Basal rosette of long-petioled, oblong leaves; leaves on stem bract-like, spine-tipped. Growing below 2500' elevation in hot, coarse gravel desert, often prolific after a wet winter. Solitary, inconspicuous, yellow flowers subtended by a 3-bracted, tube-like involucre, blooming March-May. Plants common but never abundant on alluvial flats and bajada in all collecting areas, generally below 1700' elevation, generally among other low herbs in sparse vegetation, turning reddish with age.
Eriogonum inflatum Torr. & Frém.
"desert trumpet"
Native, perennial herb, growth to 3'; grows on rocky or sandy slopes below 3500' elevation. Basal rosette of spoon-like leaves, stems acaulescent, green, often inflated below nodes, branching into three divisions at each node. Small, yellow flowers on short peduncles from stem divisions; blooms February-October. Observed in rocky eastern foothills and in abundance on rocky northwest flank of Wildcat Peak, ~1750-1850' elevation.
Eriogonum trichopes Torr.
Native, annual herb, growing on desert slopes below 4000'. Basal rosette of long-petioled, ovate leaves, green above and white-puberulent to villous beneath. Stem many-times branched in inflorescence, minute involucres with few flowers each, axillary or terminal, flowering throughout the year. Plants observed on rocky slopes in eastern foothills, ~1750' elevation
Rumex conglomeratus Murr.
Non-native, annual, occasional in Arizona (including Pinal county) along ditches and streams. Stem simple, reddish and striated, herbage essentially glabrous; leaves simple, opposite, long-petioled, lanceolate or long-oblong with crisped margins. Plants monoecious, inflorescence leafy, interrupted compound-spicate; flowers minute, sessile, in axillary glomerules, with chaffy bractlets. Plants growing scattered on bank of Greene Wash, ~1570' elevation.
Amaranthaceae (amaranth family)
Amaranthus fimbriatus (Torr.) Benth.Native, annual herb, growing especially in sandy washes below 4000' elevation. Stem glabrous, pale or reddish; leaves pinnately veined, petioled, linear-oblong. Inflorescence a spicate raceme, or a panicle of these, with axillary clusters of minute flowers, leafy throughout; plants monoecious. Perianth segments 5, blade distinctly broader than the claw and fimbriate or minutely toothed; fruit a circumscissle utricle with a “beak” of the 2-3 persistent styles, enclosing a shiny, dark brown seed. Plants observed as acaulescent stalks along a wash south of Wildcat Peak, ~1600' elevation.
Tidestromia lanuginosa (Nutt.) Standl.
Native, annual herb, growing in desert areas below 5500' elevation. Stems reddish, prostrate; herbage lanate with branching trichomes, appearing whitish. Leaves opposite, ovate; inflorescences axillary, flowering June-October. Perianth yellow, pubescent, not united into a tube; flowers minute, perfect, fruit a utricle. Plants observed on rocky slopes and wash margins in eastern foothills of Sawtooth Mountains, and abundantly on sandy flats southwest of Wildcat Peak, ~1640' elevation.
Chenopodiaceae (goosefoot family)
Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt."four-wing salt bush"
Native, perennial, dioecious, shrubs to a meter or more tall, favoring sandy, saline soils below 6500' elevation, often associated with Larrea. Leaves alternate, linear or lanceolate, 3-10 mm wide and widest above middle, gray-green with trichomes. Inflorescences congested, terminal; fruit 4-winged. Observed growing on sandy flats south of Wildcat Peak, ~1620' elevation.
Atriplex elegans (Moq.) Dietr.
Native, annual, growing in disturbed areas below 3500' elevation. Stems erect, branching near base, with woody caudex; herbage scurfy, with scale-like trichomes, especially beneath. Leaves obovate, entire or shallowly few-toothed; large leaves at upper branch nodes, smaller leaves on branches. Plants monoecious, flowers in axillary glomerules and terminal spikes; fruit enclosed by paired, toothed or spinose bractlets. Plants growing to 20 cm, scattered in clay flats on Greene Wash floodplain, ~1570' elevation.
Atriplex polycarpa (Torr.) Wats.
"desert salt bush"
Native, perennial, dioecious, shrubs to over 1 m tall, growing on dry and/or saline soil in southwestern Arizona, below 3500' elevation, often with Larrea. Leaves alternate, narrowly elliptic, to 1 cm long, or with three inconspicuous lobes (resembling the typical chenopode leaf) on lower leaves; herbage yellow-green with scale-like trichomes. Inflorescences congested, terminal; fruit not 4-winged, fruits tuberculate or crested. Plants observed growing on sandy flats south of Wildcat Peak, ~1620' elevation, and on Greene Wash floodplain, ~1570' elevation.
Atriplex semibaccata R. Br.
"Australian salt bush"
Non-native, perennial, much-branched, prostrate stems to few dm long, growing at 1000-3000' elevation. Stem and leaves scurfy, with scale-like trichomes; leaves oblong, shallowly dentate, alternate or fascicled. Plants monoecious, pistillate flowers axillary; fruit enclosed by paired, toothed, connivant bracts, often darkened. Observed but not apparently common on sandy flats south of Wildcat Peak, ~1620' elevation, growing in vicinity of A. canescens and A. polycarpa.
Atriplex wrightii Wats.
Native, annual, growing in habitat similar to A. elegans, 1000-7000' elevation. Leaves obtuse at apex, widest above middle (oblanceolate), coarsely dentate, densely white-farinose beneath, sparse above; not cordate or hastate at base, not 3-nerved from base. Plants monoecious, male flowers in terminal panicles, female flowers axillary; fruiting bractlets ribbed on faces, deltoid, dentate. Plants growing to 30 cm, scattered in clay flats on Greene Wash floodplain, ~1570' elevation.
Chenopodium watsonii A. Nels.
Native, annual, "very ill-scented," growing to 80 cm tall, favoring plains. Stem usually much-branched from base and weakly branched above. Blades of lower leaves ovate, rhombic to orbicular in outline with two lobes near the base and entire above; herbage densely farinose beneath, less so or glabrous above. Inflorescence of dense glomerules aggregated in axillary and terminal spikes; 5-part calyx enclosing the mature fruit. Plants observed growing exclusively under the canopies of Cercidium microphyllum on rocky slopes and alluvial flats west and north of Wildcat Peak and in eastern foothills, ~1750-1850' elevation; plants simple, not many-branched, each with a few primary leaves turned reddish. Plants very strongly fetid even on drying and at a distance in the field.
Monolepis nuttalliana (Schult.) Greene
Native, annual, semi-succulent herb to many centimeters tall, growing below 3000' elevation. Herbage glabrous, stems diffuse, decumbent at base, reddish or whitish. Axillary inflorescences, perianth and androecium of 1 segment each, blooming January-April; fruit a utricle. Individual observed on sandy bank of Greene Wash, ~1570' elevation.
Salsola tragus L.
"Russian thistle"
Non-native, annual, herbs to several dm tall, growing throughout Arizona especially in disturbed soil. Stems many-branched, semi-succulent and becoming woody; linear, spine-tipped leaves. Axillary inflorescences, flowers perfect, 5-merous; fruit winged. Plants distributed widely along Greene Wash, ~1570' elevation, marginal to areas covered by Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass) and generally in pure stands (i.e. not with other herbs); not observed on floodplain or elsewhere in collection areas.
Nyctaginaceae (four-o'clock family)
Allionia incarnata L."trailing four-o'clock"
Native, perennial, growing on open slopes and plains below 6000' elevation. Stems long, prostrate; leaves opposite, elliptical, herbage conspicuously glandular-pubescent. Inflorescence axillary, long-peduncled, with 3-part involucre; perianth typically purple, showy, more than 6 mm long, blooming April-October Fruit incurved with round-toothed margins. Plants observed but not abundant along rocky washes and on rocky slopes west and north of Wildcat Peak, ~1700-1750' elevation.
Boerhaavia coulteri (Hook.) Wats.
"spiderling"
Native, annual, growing in full sunlight and washes, common in southern Arizona at 500-5000' elevation. Herbage glabrous or perbulent, internodes with a viscid band. Leaves opposite, orbicular to lanceolate, unequal in the pair; stipules small, linear. Inflorescence compound-paniculate, of elongate racemes, flowering in summer; bracts weak, deciduous. Flowers small, perianth inconspicuous, campanulate; fruit 5-angled with broad ridges and narrow furrows, these not rugose. Observed commonly along washes and on rocky slopes in all areas of Sawtooth Mountains, late summer, 1600-1850' elevation.
Aizoaceae (carpetweed family)
Trianthema portulacastrum L."horse purselane"
Ubiquitous plants of disturbed and irrigated (not cultivated) areas, 1000-4000' elevation. Stems somewhat succulent, decumbent, radiating; leaves opposite but unequal in the pair, orbicular to oblong, entire. Flowers axillary, blooming June-October, diurnal. Perianth of 5 tepals, pink, with 6-10 anthers; inferior ovary producing a crested, circumscissle capsule with 1-5 seeds, these rugose, lunate, dark, with distinct caruncle. Plants growing in abundance at perimeter of playa southwest of Wildcat Peak in heavily cow-trafficked area, less frequent along roads and washes at south end of Sawtooth Mountains, generally ~1600-1640' elevation.
Caryophyllaceae (pink family)Herniaria hirsuta cinerea (DC.) Cout.Non-native, annual, low-growing herb with taproot; grows on sandy or clay soils below 1750' elevation. Leaves opposite to alternate, ovate, ciliate with hooked trichomes, stipulate. Inflorescences cymose, axillary or sessile, with uniseriate perianth; fruit a dark-seeded utricle. First observation and collection of this plant in eastern foothills of Sawtooth Mountains at ~1750' elevation; also observed in sandy flats south of the range, north of Wildcat Peak, and on the bajada east of the range at ~1640-1750' elevation.
Loeflingia squarrosa Nutt.
Native, annual, growing in southern Arizona at 1000-3000' elevation. Plants small, to a few centimeters tall, branched from base with rigid leaves. Flowers axillary, inconspicuous, with 3-5 petals, flowering March-April; fruit a 3-valved capsule. Numerous individuals growing widely-spaced on sandy flats south of Wildcat Peak, ~1620' elevation.
Silene antirrhina L.
"sleepy catchfly"
Native, annual herb, growth to 3'; grows in washes below 6000' elevation. Leaves narrow, entire, opposite; sticky segments on stems. Flowers enclosed in calyx tube, petal limbs exserted, pink, indented, blooming March-August; fruit an apically dehiscing capsule, the sticky portions of stems catching on passers-by and facilitating dispersal. Plants observed in abundance in foothills and on west slope of Wildcat Peak, ~1650-1850' elevation.
Ranunculaceae (buttercup family)Delphinium scaposum Gray"larkspur"
Native, perennial herbs, growing on open deserts, slopes, and washes below 5000' elevation. Stems to 1 m tall, typically acaulescent with basal rosette of palmately divided leaves, glabrous. Inflorescences terminal, racemose; corolla deep blue, zygomorphic, with anterior spur to 1.5 cm long, blooming March-June. Fruit an aggregate of follicles, seeds numerous. Individuals observed blooming in several locations along rocky washes and on rocky slopes in the eastern foothills of the Sawtooth Mountains, 1700-1900' elevation, growing in large stands or under shrubs.
Papaveraceae (poppy family)Argemone pleiacantha Greene"blue-stem prickly poppy"
Native, perennial herb; growth to 3', generally in dry soil of fields, mesas, and washes from 1500'-8000' elevation. Leaves bluish-green (glaucous), dentate to lobed or sinuous, with convolute edges and clasping bases; hispid trichomes on leaf surfaces, leaf midveins, stems, and calyx; strong taproot. Three-part, horned calyx falling off easily; flower white with 4-6 very thin to translucent petals; dense androecium surrounding single large pistil. Blooms "almost throughout the year," producing a spiny, poricidal to 3-loculicidal capsule with replums persistent. Observed on sandy flats south of Wildcat Peak, ~1620' elevation.
Eschscholzia californica Cham. subsp. mexicana (Greene) C. Clark
"Mexican gold poppy"
Native, annual herb, growth to 16" tall; grows on slopes, plains, foothills below 4500' elevation. Leaves typically in basal rosette or long-petioled from near base, light green, many-times divided into linear lobes; stems scapose or few-branched. Flowers solitary, calyx caducous, two whorls of two petals, corolla yellow-orange, to 1-1/2" wide, blooming mid-February to mid-May. Observed in abundance on upper bajada, east side of Sawtooth Mountains, late February and at higher elevations through March, blooming in washes through May, ~1600-1800' elevation. One individual with "double" perianth observed.
Eschscholzia minutiflora Greene
"little gold poppy"
Native, annual herbs, growing in sandy soils below 4500' elevation, including Pinal County. Flower as E. mexicana but with narrower petals to less than 1 cm long; blooming February-May. Individuals observed and collected may be large for the species and probably more comparable in metric attributes to E. glyptosperma, however known geographic distributions for these taxa favor the designation made here. Plants are tall, many-branched, caulescent, with leaves arising from stem well above base; stems and capsules reddish. A few individuals observed growing along washes on the upper eastern bajada of the Sawtooth Mountains.
Brassicaceae (mustard family)Brassica nigra (L.) Koch"black mustard"
Non-native, annual herb to >1 m tall, growing in disturbed and irrigated areas. Stems dark green, glabrous; leaves pinnately cleft to divided, crisped, minutely hispid on veins. Inflorescences glomerulate, terminal and axillary, blooming May-August; petals bright yellow, 5-7 mm long; fruit an ascending, somewhat terete capsule. Observed uncommonly on bank of Greene Wash, ~1570' elevation, not observed elsewhere.
Brassica tournefortii Gouan.
"Sahara mustard"
Non-native, annual herb to <1 m tall, growing in fields and washes. Stems glabrous, acaulescent or leaves basal; leaves pinnately cleft to divided, margins crenate, sparsely hispid on blade and veins. Inflorescence racemose, terminal, blooming February-April; petals pale yellow, to 3-5 mm long; capsules ascending, torulose. Observed with flowers and immature fruit on bank of Greene Wash, ~1570' elevation.
Caulanthus lasiophyllus (Hooker & Arnott) Payson
Native, annual herb to 60 cm tall, growing on bajadas and slopes below 3500' elevation. Herbage sparsely puberulent with spreading, soft (v. hispid) white hairs, or glabrous; basal leaves regularly pinnatifid, toothed above, petioled, tending to fall. Inflorescence racemose, terminal, blooming January-February (-April); petals narrowly oblong, whitish or pinkish, calyx not spreading at anthesis but soon caducous; fruit a narrow, nearly sessile, strongly deflexed capsule. Plants observed commonly on sandy flats, bajada, and lower rocky slopes, ~1650-1750' elevation.
Lepidium lasiocarpum Nutt.
"sand peppergrass"
Native, annual herb to several centimeters tall, growing in sandy areas below 4000' elevation. Stems many-branched from near base, puberulent with short, stiff hairs; leaves lanceolate, few-toothed or entire, along stem and inflorescence. Inflorescences terminal, flowering January-April; flowers minute, corolla white, <2 mm long. Fruit a round capsule with shallow apical notch, pedicel flattened contrary to the fruit, capsule 2-locular with one seed. Observed commonly, abundant in places, on sandy flats and bajada, more rarely on rocky slopes, generally below 1700' elevation in the Sawtooth Mountains.
Lepidium thurberi Wooton
Native, annual or biennial, 10-60 cm tall, growing on grassland and alluvial flats and washes. Stems thick, branching, herbage with long and short trichomes; basal leaves pinnatifid and petioled, stem leaves pinnatifid to entire. Inflorescences of terminal racemes, blooming April-August; petals white, stamens 6; silique glabrous, 1-seeded, ovate with shallow apical notch, stigma exceeding the notch. Observed on Greene Wash floodplain, ~1570' elevation.
Lesquerella gordoni (Gray) Wats.
"yellow bladder pod"
Native, annual herb, growth to <30 cm; grows on desert flats and dry plains, 100-5000' elevation. Stems red-brown, white-puberulent, simple or many-branched from base; silvery-green leaves narrow, lanceolate or spatulate to 2" long. Flower yellow, inflorescence racemose, blooming February-May; fruit a globose pod with stout beak. Flowers observed in all areas, ~1620-1750' elevation; these plants also grow in profusion on mounds formed by Opuntia stanlyi on sandy flats.
Sisymbrium irio L.
"London rocket"
Non-native, winter-spring annual to <1 m tall, growing especially in irrigated areas. Stems simple, herbage glabrous to puberulent; basal leaves pinnately divided and lobes toothed, upper leaves with linear but not filiform lobes. Inflorescences axillary and terminal, racemose; petals yellow, narrow, calyx not spreading at anthesis; fruit long, very narrow, spreading. Observed on bank of Greene Wash, ~1570' elevation.
Resedaceae (mignonette family)Oligomeris linifolia (Vahl) Macbr.Native, annual, semi-succulent herbs, growing to several centimeters tall, typically in sandy to saline soils below 2500' elevation. Herbage glabrous, leaves linear, alternate or fascicled; inflorescence spicate, flowers irregular, producing a 4-part (with each part 2-lobed) capsule. Individuals observed on sandy flats south of Wildcat Peak, ~1620' elevation, and in open sandy areas on bank of Greene Wash and the immediately adjacent floodplain, ~1570' elevation.
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