E. engelmannii in habitat

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Peterthecactusguy
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E. engelmannii in habitat

Post by Peterthecactusguy »

Yesterday along the trail I took a little stroll down I found that there are many many E. engelmannii in bloom this year and that I could go about 10 feet in any direction off the trail and probably find one in certain areas. Along the steeper parts of the terrain there werent as many as in the flatter or at least less step ground. The trail winds between several of the foothills/mountains of the Bradshaw Mountain range. The location of where this trail is a few miles south-west of Black Canyon City Arizona and due west of Rock Springs, AZ for anyone that has been in the area.

Image Off to a good start. This was the first one I came upon, literally 7 feet in front of where I parked in the parking lot and a good way to start things off and also shows what I would be seeing a lot of!

Image Next one I found. Right off the path and under a bush before I Even entered the trail!

Image
A lighter pink colored flower. It might have been open for 2 days or it might be a lighter color I am not sure which! I think after observing a known cactus of that species it is that they are opened for the second day... but once again they might have slight variation in their coloring as well.

Image The biggest clump I found off the trail and also with NO flowers or buds. Wonder if its going to bloom later or at all?
Image
I just missed the buds on this one... they are neat looking as they close up though.
Behind it is an O. phaeancantha :) notice all the glochids on it? :)

Image Like a lot of the cacti of Arizona these guys look perfectly at home growing amongst the rocks.

Image
Image
2 views of a neat patch of several varieties of cacti. A dead C. fulgida or C. bigelovii and some M. grahmii and E. engelmannii all living under the dead cacti. One thing to note is that even dead plants have their uses out in the desert.
Image A general habitat shot of the area... I think it qualifies as a saguaro forest. :)
Image Another general habitat shot, although it is hard for one not to notice the stunning Mamm with its cool reddish colored spines. When I first saw it with the naked eye, it had a pink halo around it! I am glad that a little bit of that is visible esp on the right side of the Mamm!

Image Another general habitat shot showing everyone why the desert is yellow around here and why my allergies are going nuts, however these plants which I have a few make up for the minor allergy problems with their brilliant color and ability to live without any watering at all from me!

Image A small E. engelmannii blooming. The plant was about 4 inches tall and the flower was about two inches tall.. :)

Image A little interesting wildflower. I dont know the name of it, but I do know that its amazing in how it lives right there in the rocks, seemingly growing out of solid rock, however I am sure that its growing out of a small crack in the rocks!
Image Another fine example of an E. engelmannii in bloom.
Image you would have to be blind to miss this one! Its right along the path near a wash!
Image This one is about 10 feet away from the last one! As you can see there are many of these out there in the desert.
Image A general habitat shot that shows at least 5 to maybe 10 E. engelmannii in a short amount of space.
Image Area of the same hill as the pic above showing more E. engelmannii.
Image A general habitat shot showing part of the Aqua Fria river in the upper right, some of the foothills of the Bradshaws center of pic and the New River mountains, in the background left behind the foothills... Looking south-easterly.
Image E. engelmannii survivor of the year... Growing out of a crack in the rocks!
ImageParent of the year award.. to this cholla.. forget the name of it at the moment... :) but its guarding this small saguaro !:)Image

A nice clump!
Image I just missed these blooms, oh well!
Image One of the few Opuntias that I encountered along the trail. Mostly its saguaros and E.engelmannii, plus some Fero's as well.

Image Another tiny one almost hidden behind the Baja Fairy Duster(dont know the Latin name for it, but its related to Mesquite and is a member of the bean family!)
ImageRunner up for E. engelmannii survivor of the year. This one is growing off a cliff. The rocks below it are at least 2 feet from where the plant is. Its a deceptive angle, but its true. This is also one of the last E. engelmannii that I saw.
Image
Finally The Aqua Fria river.
Image LAst one that if found of the E. engelmannii. The must not like the extreme western exposure that I was near. (this is also close to where I saw the rattlesnake)
Image besides the rattlesnake I saw plenty of these lizards. Also I saw a few ground squierrls and a jack rabbit, the first one I saw, it was too quick for me to snap a pic. There was also a harris hawk, plenty of other birds, some quail that I could hear and not see, and the rattlesnake, oh and a pair of ducks at the river itself!
Image a lupine growing in an area that for few months was underwater.. AMAZING!
Image Flood damage in the river bottom itself. Notice the cliff.. I was up on top of that looking down earlier. ( I didnt include this pic!)

So there you have it a hike from the trailhead of the BCC heritage trail to the river on the shorter path. There is a longer path that least further NW towards the river thru some cow pasture which has cacti on it as well. Its also got some E. engelmannii and some saguaro and of course some barrels as well!

After spending some time doing this, I am tired.. ahahahaha its taken me almost an hour. Now I see why Harald was so annoyed when he lost everything. I did it slow and carefully!

Hope everyone enjoys the show and my obsession with taking photos and of course cacti.
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
daiv
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Post by daiv »

Nice series Peter.

This Cholla caught my attention:
Image
I think this must be C. fulgida mammillata.
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iann
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Post by iann »

Amazing what a bit of rain can do :shock:
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

Ian,
yeah I know. I saw a few dead E. engelmannii and a few dead or dying saguaros, they may or may not have had anyhting to do with the rain, but its amazing to me what about oh 20 inches of rain in a few months can do :)
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John P Weiser
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Post by John P Weiser »

Peter
I could wander around lost for days and be perfectly happy. I'd die with a smile on my face.

Absolutely great shots!! I tried an E engelmannii year before last it was mush in the spring. Same with the chollas you mentioned, C. fulgida and C. bigelovii. Tried them all just too cold here for them.

The blue flower is I think Phacelia campanularia commonly known as desert bluebell. Not 100% positive on the species but the right Genus for shure. Did you notice the little white flower growing a foot to the left of it. The lichens on the rock surfaces are cool to.

The fairy duster is Calliandra eriophylla. Last winter I researched it. I think it would grow for me against the south wall of my house. (But this is probably just a pie in the sky dream yet again. :roll: )It got me through a cold winter night non the less.

What wild flowers do you grow?
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

John,
ah, good question, And thanks for the ID help :)

I have plenty of them that are starting to die back a little bit. I have two types of Lupine, one has the skinny little leaves on it and is called "Narrow Leaf Lupine"(btw I took a pic of the Narrow Leaf Lupine),the other type is called Arroyo Lupine and has fatter leaves, I have Owls Clover, I have Desert Marigolds, and The infamous Brittle Brush as well and many not wanted weed plants! :) A few others that came to mind are California Poppies(golden yellow) and the Mexican Poppies (orange) Desert Blue Bells, Blue Dicks, and a few more I can't think of. We bought a mix of seeds a few years ago that contained a lot of different plants that was from Tuscon and was supposed to be rehabilitation for areas where all the plants were wiped out. I had a few naturally growing lupines and also a few of the desert marigolds.

To be honest I could wander around there for a month and be happy. If the snake had bitten me and I had died Iwould have still been happy to die surrounded by a lot of nature, although I do not relish the though to getting bitten. :?

I'm sorry to hear about your failures. I have a feeling that the E. engelmannii are rot-sensitive. And yeah the C. bigelovii and C. fulgida I think are a little cold hardy, but maybe down to like 10 or 15F? Maybe someone else would know better then me.
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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king_hedes
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Post by king_hedes »

great pics wow i wish i had them nice view around me
them pics just make me wanna go to west texas
one of these weekend when i have gas money i'm gunna say screw it and jump in my friends 73 galaxie 500 and ride out to west texas
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

Matt nice. My Ex-monther-in-law has a 67 Galaxie 500.. its a cool car. I feel lucky that that place is about 3 miles from where I live, maybe 4.
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

BTW I just noticed apost I missed. Sorry about that Daiv. Thanks. I really enjoyed the hike and seeing all the stuff I did, next time I just need to leave earlier so there is less chance of encountering a snake. As for that cholla, I believe its an C. ananthocarpa. (I think I get that one mixed up with something else sometimes and misspell it.. I am still sorta new with the names so forgive me!) I dont know if its a regular one or one of the subspecies, however this area we have a whole lot of them. Most of them are in bloom now. (sorry got bumped by the WiFI network 3 times, I hate McAfree) Well I think that whatever the type of cholla it is, I dont think its the C.fulgida var mammillata.
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
daiv
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Post by daiv »

I don't know why, but that Cholla still doesn't seem to fit to me. I feel like I should know it. Perhaps it is one of those natural hybrids.
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Post by Tony »

Great habitat shots Peter, thanks for taking the time to share them. :)
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

Daiv,
I understand actually. Maybe it is a natural hybrid because I can see what you mean now that I looked at that pic a few times and the crested one.

:dontknow:

I will have to take some more pics of the cholla out there next time I got hiking :)
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

Tony,
no problem. I enjoy sharing the desert around me with anyone who is interested in seeing it. :)
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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Post by angelo »

I have remaine without words, the only desire that we can realize it is that to cultivate them in pot,
exceptional reportage, Peter :)
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Peterthecactusguy
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Post by Peterthecactusguy »

Angelo,
yeah. I hear you. I am just lucky to live near where the live in habitat in the wild. :)

I am glad that you enjoyed the pictures. Good luck with any that you grow as well :)
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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