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Sclerocactus Glaucus
''Sclerocactus glaucus'' is a rare species of cactus known by the common name Colorado hookless cactus. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it is known only from the area between Grand Junction and Montrose.''Sclerocactus glaucus''. Flora of North America. It is a federally listed threatened species. The description of this species formerly included plants now belonging to '' Sclerocactus brevispinus'' and '''', two cacti endemic to |
Cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek word (''káktos''), a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Although some species live in quite humid environments, most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought. Many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Because of this, cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. For example, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudie, A. S., 2004, ''Encyclopedia of Geomorphology'', vol. 1. Routledge, New York. The soils usually consist of clays, silts, sands, and gravels deposited during floods. Because the regular flooding of floodplains can deposit nutrients and water, floodplains frequently have high soil fertility; some important agricultural regions, such as the Mississippi river basin and the Nile, rely heavily on the flood plains. Agricultural regions as well as urban areas have developed near or on floodplains to take advantage of the rich soil and fresh water. However, the risk of flooding has led to increasing efforts to control flooding. Formation Most floodplains are formed by deposition on the inside of river meanders and by overbank flow. Whereve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pediocactus Simpsonii
''Pediocactus'' (Greek: πεδίον (pedion) means "plain", "flat", "field") is a genus of cacti. The genus comprises between 6 and 11 species, depending upon the authority. Species of this genus are referred to as hedgehog cacti, though that name is also applied to plants from the genera ''Echinocereus'' and ''Echinopsis''. Species may also be referred to as pincushion cacti, a common name which is also applied to other genera. Species , Plants of the World Online accepts the following species: Synonyms The genus has 3 synonyms: * ''Navajoa'' Croizat * ''Pilocanthus'' B.W.Benson & Backeb. * ''Utahia'' Britton & Rose ''Sclerocactus ''Sclerocactus'' ("hard cactus", from Greek; refers to the hard, dry fruit) is a genus of cacti. It comprises about 15 species, the exact number depending on the authority. These species are very xerophytic. They are sometimes called 'fishhook ...'' and ''Pediocactus'' were also at one time reduced to synonymy, but this is not at present co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Echinocereus Triglochidiatus
''Echinocereus triglochidiatus'' is a species of hedgehog cactus known by several common names, including kingcup cactus, claretcup, and Mojave mound cactus. This cactus is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it is a resident of varied habitats from low desert to rocky slopes, scrub, and mountain woodland. It is most abundant in shady areas. A number of varieties of this highly variable cactus species are known, but not all are universally recognized. In general, it is a mounding cactus, forming bulbous piles of a few to hundreds of spherical to cylindrical stems. It is densely spiny and somewhat woolly. The showy flower is a funnel-shaped bloom up to 8-9 cm wide and bright scarlet red to orange-red tepals. A thick nectar chamber and many thready pink stamens are at the center of the corolla. The flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds. One variety,'' E. t.'' ''arizonicus'', is federally listed as an endangered species in the United States. It is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stipa Hymenoides
''Eriocoma hymenoides'' (common names: Indian ricegrass and sand rice grass) is a cool-season, perennial bunchgrass with narrow, rolled leaf blades.Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd Ed., p287 It is native to western North America east of the Cascades from British Columbia and Alberta south to southern California, northeastern Mexico, and Texas. Description In the wild, it typically grows 4 to 24 in (10 to 61 cm) tall and 8 to 12 in (20 to 30 cm) wide.Tirmenstein, D. 1999Achnatherum hymenoides In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Retrieved on 2009-04-24. Habitat ''E. hymenoides'' grows in a variety of habitats from desert scrub to ponderosa pine forests. It can live in sandy to clayey textured soils. . It can stabilize shifting sand.Canyon Country Wildflowers, Damian Fagan, 2nd ed., 2012, Morris Bush Publishing, LLC. in cooperation with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artemisia Nova
''Artemisia nova'' is a North American species of sagebrush, known by the common name black sagebrush. It is "one of the most common shrubs in the western United States". Distribution and habitat The native range of ''Artemisia nova'' is from the Mojave Desert mountains in southern California and in the Great Basin of Nevada and Utah, north to Oregon, Idaho and Montana, east to Wyoming and Colorado, and south to Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. It grows in forest, woodland, and grassland habitats, often on calcareous soils. Taxonomy Identification is sometimes difficult, because this species is similar in appearance to Little sagebrush, ''Artemisia arbuscula'', and it easily hybridizes with Big sagebrush, ''Artemisia tridentata'', when it grows in the same area, leading to intermediate forms. Also, ''Artemisia nova'' has two main morphological forms, a darker, easily recognized form, and a less common light gray-green colored variant which closely resembles other sagebrush ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hilaria Jamesii
''Hilaria jamesii'' (formerly ''Pleuraphis jamesii'') is a species of grass known by the common name James' galleta. Range and habitat It is native to the southwestern United States, where it is widespread in scrub, woodland, grassland, and plateau habitat. It is tolerant of arid environments such as desert floors. It is common in the northern Mojave Desert.Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam Mackay, 2nd Ed. 2013, p. 285 Growth pattern It is a rhizomatous perennial grass producing bunches of erect stems about 1 mm wide and up to about 60 cm in maximum height. The woody rhizome is shallow, spreading just under the soil surface, but it may reach 6 ft in length and when dense, helps the grass form a sod. Its stems are not fuzzy like those of its relative, '' Hilaria rigida''. Flowers The inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atriplex Confertifolia
''Atriplex confertifolia'', the shadscale or spiny saltbush, is a species of evergreen shrub in the family Amaranthaceae, which is native to the western United States and northern Mexico. Description The height of ''Atriplex confertifolia'' varies from . Shadscale fruits and leaves provide important winter browse for domestic livestock and native herbivores. Compared to fourwing saltbush ('' Atriplex canescens''), shadscale has shorter and wider leaves and the fruit does not have four wings (although it may have two wings in a "V" shape). This species blooms from March to June. Maximum osmotic pressure has been reported in Atriplex conf. where it is about 202.5 atm. Distribution and habitat Shadscale is a common, often dominant, shrub in the lowest and driest areas of the Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of Cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant Community
A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant community are influenced by soil type, topography, climate and human disturbance. In many cases there are several soil types present within a given plant community. This is because the soil type within an area is influenced by two factors, the rate at which water infiltrates or exits (via evapotranspiration) the soil, as well as the rate at which organic matter (any carbon-based compound within the environment, such as decaying plant matter) enters or decays from the soil. Plant communities are studied substantially by ecologists, due to providing information on the effects of dispersal, tolerance to environmental conditions, and response to disturbance of a variety of plant species, information valuable to the comprehension of various plant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an alphabetical list of common names for various species of the genus ''Artemisia'', along with their corresponding scientific name. Many of these species are known by more than one common name, and some common names represent more than one species. * Alpine sagebrush—' * African sagebrush—''Artemisia afra'' * Basin sagebrush—''Artemisia tridentata'' * Big sagebrush—see Basin sagebrush * Bigelow sagebrush—''Artemisia bigelovii'' * Birdfoot sagebrush—'' Artemisia pedatifida'' * Black sagebrush—''Artemisia nova'' * Blue sagebrush—see Basin sagebrush * Boreal sagebrush—'' Artemisia norvegica'' * Budsage—''Artemisia spinescens'' * California sagebrush—''Artemisia californica'' * Carruth's sagebrush—'' Artemisia carruthii'' * C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saltbush
Saltbush is a vernacular plant name that most often refers to ''Atriplex'', a genus of about 250 plants distributed worldwide from subtropical to subarctic regions. ''Atriplex'' species are native to Australia, North and South America, and Eurasia. Many ''Atriplex'' species are halophytes and are adapted to dry environments with salty soils. The genus ''Chenopodium'' is taxonomically a cousin of the genus ''Atriplex''. Certain chenopodiums may be called saltbushes, including '' C. robertianum'' and '' C. nutans''. ''Sarcobatus vermiculatus'', native to North America, is a halophyte plant, and is sometimes informally called a saltbush. File:Atriplex canescens habit.jpg, Four-winged saltbush (''Atriplex canescens'') File:Einadia hastata Brush Farm.JPG, ''Chenopodium robertianum'' berries File:Einadia nutans 1.jpg, ''Chenopodium nutans'' berries File:Sarcobatus vermiculatus (4018712194).jpg, Cone-like structures containing the female flowers of ''Sarcobatus vermiculatus'' See als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gunnison River
The Gunnison River is located in western Colorado, United States and is one of the largest tributaries of the Colorado River. Description The river flows east to west and has a drainage area of according to the USGS. The drainage basin of the Gunnison collects water from different habitats, such as forests and alpine meadows, located the along Continental Divide. As the river flows westward, it carves through the San Juan Mountains. It flows into the Colorado River at Grand Junction. The Gunnison River Basin is popular for recreational activities such as fishing, rafting, boating, camping, hiking, and rock climbing. Contamination of the Gunnison River with selenium and mercury results from irrigation of high-selenium soils derived from the Mancos Shale and from mineral mining. The region surrounding the Gunnison River is part of the Colorado Mineral Belt. Contamination of the Gunnison River with selenium and mercury is a conservation concern for the bonytail chub, Colora ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
