Week 3: Prickly Pear, Chollas, and more in the Field
Preeti P -
Welcome back all,
I have been sick for about a week, so not too much to update you all on this time. I am working on a presentation for the research I have been doing on the germination of seeds. Luckily, I have found a few articles specific to some of the species I listed out in my last post. Now it is just a matter of reading them and seeing if there is anything useful.
Starting this week, I thought I would start sharing with you a few facts about the specific species of plants that we will be choosing from to germinate:
Asclepias erosa: This perennial herb is commonly known as desert milkweed and serves as a source of food for butterflies and beetles. It is said that Native Americans would boil the latex from this plant and use it as a chewing gum (Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, n.d.).
Asclepias subulata: This perennial herb is commonly known as rush milkweed and serves as a host for the larvae of monarch butterflies. It is said that this plant was used as a laxative by the Pima Native Americans (Southwest Desert Flora, 2017).
Aristolochia watsonii: This perennial herb is commonly known as southwestern pipevine, snakeroot, birthwort, among other names. It serves as a host where the pipevine swallowtail lays its eggs, and has a range of toxins that have been recorded for human medicinal use. For example, it was used in difficult births, as it stimulates expulsion of the fetus and placenta and has also been used to treat snake bites, paralysis, malaria, impotence, intestinal worms, and infections, although with terrible side effects (Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, n.d.). (Sorry I could not find any references or information as to what kind of side effects).
I hope that was interesting for you all. I will continue sharing facts about the other species next week.
Moving on, today I got to do my first bit of field work! My site placement mentor, an undergraduate researcher, and I went out to the old DRZ (this was the site of the DRZ about 4 years ago before it got moved) today to survey it. Among the confusion figuring out where some of the plants on our map were located, I got to learn how sampling occurs, record our data, learn new plant facts (did you know there is a species of agave called Agave murpheyi that only grows around Hohokam ruins?), and see the delightful effects of climate change exemplified through the plants we identified. We saw several species of Cylindropuntia (chollas), like Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa, Cylindropuntia bigelovii, Cylindropuntia echinocarpa, Cylindropuntia fulgida, Cylindropuntia leptocaulis, and Cylindropuntia ramosissima, along with a few species Opuntia (prickly pear), like Opuntia basilaris, Opuntia macrocentra, and Opuntia santa-rita. We also saw Carnegia gigantea (saguaro), Echinocereus boyce-thompsonii (hedgehog cactus), Echinocereus engelmannii (hedgehog cactus), Larrea tridentata (Creosote), and Olneya tesota (ironwood). Many of these plants were planted between 2021 and 2023, and most were not in best condition, as expected since they are not being watered or tended to (plans are to develop the land of the old DRZ). However, the fact that over half were still alive is incredible in itself. So there’s a few ways we could view this situation: an inspiring tale of resilience and survival in the harsh heat of the Phoenix Sun, an overall warning of what happens when some people decide to ignore the effects of global warming, or both.
That’s all for today. See you next week!
Desert Milkweed, Asclepias erosa. (n.d.). Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. https://www.desertmuseum.org/visit/sheets/Ascero
Asclepias subulata, Rush Milkweed. (2017). Southwest Desert Flora. http://southwestdesertflora.com/WebsiteFolders/All_Species/Asclepiadaceae/Asclepias%20subulata,%20Rush%20Milkweed.html
Aristolochiaceae (pipevine family). (n.d.). Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. https://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_aristolochiaceae.php
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