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NATIVE PLANT WEEK

Native plant identification at Dripping Springs Visitors Center

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Looking for a good location to identify native plants in their natural environment as part of Native Plant Week which is April 18-24?

One great location is the Dripping Springs Visitors Center in the Organ Mountain Desert Peaks National Monument east of Las Cruces. At this location there is a native-plant garden and the La Cueva trail with plant signs to identify native plants. Visiting the garden and/or hiking the trail with the plant lists in this article would be a great way to further your plant identification skills, in addition to enjoying the great outdoors.

In December 2018, The Friends of Organ Mountain Deserts Peak National Monument (FOMDP) received a grant from the Native Plant Society of New Mexico to provide native plant identification signs for the outer garden area at the Dripping Springs Visitors Center and along the La Cueva Trail.  FOMDP worked with the Las Cruces chapter of the Native Plant Society and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) employees to select the native plants that would be identified with signs by walking through each area. This process resulted in 29 plant signs being selected for the outer garden area and 39 signs selected for the La Cueva trail.

For each of the plants selected, a spreadsheet was developed that contained the Spanish common name, the scientific name and the English common name for each of the identified native plants.

In 2021 the Dripping Springs trail will have plant signs installed similar to these, so please look to explore the native plants along that trail later this year.

For more information about Native Plants of New Mexico and other activities based on native plants, visit www.npsnm.org.



Top native (and near-native) plants locally available

 

From the Native Plant Society of New Mexico

The plants listed below are available as of early April in the following local nurseries: Guzman’s Garden Centers (guzmansgreenhouse.com) (GGC), Robledo Vista Nursery (robledovista.com) (RVN), Sierra Vista Growers (sierravistagrowers.net) (SVG) and big box retail stores (BB).

Trees:

  • Honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyi) (RV) (SVG) (Other varieties at GGC)
  • Desert willow (Chilopsis linearis) (GGC) (RV) (SVG)

Shrubs:

  • Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa) (GGC) (RV) (SVG)
  • Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii) (GGC) (RV) (SVG)
  • Desert Honeysuckle (Anisicanthus quadrifidis var. wrightii) (RV) (SVG)
  • Texas Ranger (Leucophyllum spp.) (BB) (GGC) (RV) (SVG)
  • Turpentine bush (Ericameria laricifolia) (RV) (SVG)

Perennials:

  • Angelita Daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis) (RV) (SVG)
  • Golden Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha) (RV) (SVG)
  • Penstemons (Penstemon spp.) (GGC) (RV) (SVG)
  • Chocolate flower (Berlandiera lyrata) (RV)
  • Tufted evening primrose (Oenothera caespitosa (RV)

Succulents:

  • Beargrass (Nolina texana) (RV) (SVG)
  • Candelilla (Euphorbia antisyphillitica) (RV) (SVG)
  • Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora and varieties) (GGC) (RV) (SVG) (BB)
  • New Mexico agave (Agave parryi and varieties) (GGC) (RV) (SVG) (BB)

Grasses:

  • Mexico Feathergrass (Nassella tenuissima) (GGC) (BB)
  • Muhly (Muhlenbergia spp.) (GGC) (BB) (SVG)
Native Plant Week

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