Wayne's Word Index Noteworthy Plants Trivia Lemnaceae Biology 101 Botany Search  Wildflowers   Travertine Wash   Palo Verde Wash   Smoke Tree Wash   S. Palm Wash   Hawk Can   Butler Can   Raven Can   Henderson Can   Alma Can   Plants  Coyote Creek 5  Coyote Creek 1     Coyote Creek 2     Coyote Creek 3     Coyote Creek 4     Coyote Creek 5  © W.P. Armstrong 30 April 2010 Lower Willows To Collins Valley Asteraceae: Pluchea sericea (Arrow Weed) Bignoniaceae: Chilopsis linearis ssp. arcuata (Desert Willow) Square Top Mountain From Coyote Creek In Collins Valley Two species of locoweeds (red arrows): Astragalus palmeri (lower) and A. didymocarpus ssp. dispermus. Fabaceae: Astragalus palmeri (Palmer's Locoweed) Boraginaceae: cf. a form of Cryptantha barbigera (White Forget-Me-Not) Along a 2 mile stretch of Coyote Creek (Lower Willows to Collins Valley) Tom Chester and I found 8 species of Cryptantha: (1) C. angustifolia, (2) C. barbigera, (3) C. intermedia, (4) C. maritima, (5) C. micrantha (6) C. muricata, (7) C. nevadensis, and (8) C. holoptera or C. oxygona. Boraginaceae: Cryptantha micrantha (Purple-Rooted Forget-Me-Not) Small-flowered form of Cryptantha micrantha. This is certainly one of the smallest desert wildflowers, rivaled in minuteness by certain flowers of the everlasting tribe (Inuleae) of the Asteraceae (e.g. Stylocline) and unisexual flowers of Chamaesyce (Euphorbiaceae). The U.S. penny (one cent) is 19 mm in diameter. Photographed with Nikon D-90 and 60 mm Micro-Nikkor AF-S F 2.8G ED Macro Lens with Phoenix Ring Flash.   Lemna: The Undisputed Smallest Flowering Plants In Anza-Borrego   Phrymaceae: Mimulus pilosus (Downy Monkey Flower) Polemoniaceae: Allophyllum glutinosum (Sticky Allophyllum) Order Blattodea, Family Polyphagidae: Arenivaga sp. (Sand Cockroach) This is not an ancient marine trilobite from the Paleozoic Era! It is a wingless, female sand cockroach attempting to burrow into the sand. It was found in a burrow on the vertical escarpment of a deeply eroded riverbed. At first I thought it was a large brown sow bug (isopod). The sexual dimorphism in sand cockroaches is remarkable. Males have the normal (familiar) cockroach form with pale-brown, fully developed wings. Polygonaceae: Eriogonum reniforme (Kidney-Leaf Buckwheat) Left: California wild buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum var. fasciculatum), a common, low-growing shrub in the coastal sage scrub and chaparral of San Diego County. Right: Eriogonum reniforme, a minute wild buckwheat native to sandy riverbeds of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in San Diego County. Like the California buckwheat, the tiny flowers are produced in a cyme-like inflorescence. The leaves are covered with a dense layer of white, wooly hairs (tomentose) which provide insulation and light reflection in the blistering desert sun. A U.S. Penny (one cent) is used for the size relationship. Malvaceae: Sphaeralcea ambigua var. ambigua (Apricot Mallow) Hydrophyllaceae: Nama demissum var. demissum (Purple Mat) Fabaceae: Lupinus microcarpus var. densiflorus (White Lupine) View of Sheep Canyon from Collins Valley. Return To WAYNE'S WORD Home Page Return To NOTEWORTHY PLANTS Page Go To Biology GEE WHIZ TRIVIA Page Go To The LEMNACEAE ON-LINE Page All text material & images on these pages copyright © W.P. Armstrong