Article by Ben Parry-Lemon and Aya Pickett, Tucson Audubon Society . Thanks to the Tucson Audubon Society for sharing this article with our audience and for driving Tucson’s stinknet efforts forward. A new threat to the Sonoran Desert What is that small yellow flowering plant? It is all over the roadsides and blooms along with the…
Opo: Olneya tesota
This post is part four of an ongoing series exploring the science and ethnobotany of plants found throughout the Sonoran Desert region. The first four plants in this series are the Mexican trees Taxodium mucronatum (ahuehuete/Montezuma cypress), Randia echinocarpa (papache/papachi), Forchhammeria watsonii (jito), and Olneya tesota (opo/ironwood). For each plant, we are sharing a blog…
Community, Collaboration, and Conservation at the Desert Museum
As we wrap up another year and orient toward a new season, we are happy to share major highlights and exciting developments from our diverse range of conservation projects here at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It’s been a year packed with community partnerships, collaborative conservation initiatives, and innovative research. Invasive Species and Save Our Saguaros Month ‘Tis the season … to Save…
El Jito: Forchhammeria watsonii
This post is part three of an ongoing series exploring the science and ethnobotany of plants found throughout the Sonoran Desert region. The first four plants in this series are the Mexican trees Taxodium mucronatum (ahuehuete/Montezuma cypress), Randia echinocarpa (papache/papachi), Forchhammeria watsonii (jito), and Olneya tesota (opo/ironwood). For each plant, we are sharing a blog…
Papachi: Randia echinocarpa
This post is part two of an ongoing series exploring the science and ethnobotany of plants found throughout the Sonoran Desert region. The first four plants in this series are the Mexican trees Taxodium mucronatum (ahuehuete/Montezuma cypress), Randia echinocarpa (papache/papachi), Forchhammeria watsonii (jito), and Olneya tesota (opo/ironwood). For each plant, we are sharing a blog…
Ahuehuete: Taxodium mucronatum
This post is part one of an ongoing series exploring the science and ethnobotany of plants found throughout the Sonoran Desert region. The first four plants in this series are the Mexican trees Taxodium mucronatum (ahuehuete/Montezuma cypress), Randia echinocarpa (papache/papachi), Forchhammeria watsonii (jito), and Olneya tesota (opo/ironwood). For each plant, we are sharing a blog…
Desert Mycorrhizae: A Plantiful Partnership
By Jack Dash In a previous blog post we discussed some of the mushrooms commonly encountered in the Sonoran Desert. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi (think of an apple on an apple tree) and are often visible above ground. But not all fungi produce visible mushrooms like macrofungi do. In this post we’ll…
Mushrooms of the Tucson Basin
By Jack Dash The Sonoran Desert is known for its strange and wonderful organisms like giant saguaro cacti, resilient desert tortoises, scavenging vultures, venomous Gila monsters and rattlesnakes, and so many more. But did you know the desert is also home to a variety of fungi? In fact, you’ll find fungi everywhere, from deserts to…
Are saguaros dying in Arizona?
By Jack Dash There has been a lot of talk in the news lately about a mass saguaro collapse caused by heat and drought. This claim, and the media storm around it, requires a bit of unpacking. The story begins with the fantastic research team at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix who have been…
Wildfire Smoke and Our Health
Featured image by Wendy Witzig You may already know that invasive grasses and other invasive species are bad news for the Sonoran Desert’s unique ecology, threatening native species like saguaros and desert tortoises. Invasive grasses like buffelgrass, red brome, and fountain grass not only provide ample fuel for fires but also thrive in their aftermath,…
Desert Diaries 