Hi everyone,
This entry is going to be about spring in Tucson, and Southern Arizona. A beginners guide to where I live for those that live elsewhere. This is not a research site but, I can say that what I know is because I have lived here most of my life. Well lets first start with the climate. Southern Arizona is located in the Sonoran Desert. Which is southwestern America and northwestern Mexico. It is a beautiful location.
Plants start to turn green and come out of hibernation. This is when the weather starts to get hot again. It is a dry heat here which means that we do not have the humidity that the rest of the country has most of the summer. It does get humid here but that's during monsoon season and a different blog entry.
We have plants here that are nowhere else on the planet. The Sonoran desert is the home of the Saguaro cactus, Prickly Pear cactus, Cholla cactus, Mesquite trees, and Palo Verde trees. Leaves in the desert are either nonexistent or very small here as to allow the plant to be able to save as much water as possible because water is so rare here. A few of our plants here also depend on each other to live, existing in a symbiont relationship.
The Saguaro cactus is actually classified as a tree. When it first starts growing it needs to grow in the shade of what is called a nurse tree, this tree is normally a Mesquite Tree. The Saguaro will easily out live this tree. As this tree gets older it attracts most wild life and humans, for food and a home. Birds will start holes in the side of the Saguaro looking for bugs. Then these will grow into large holes and animals start to live in them. Fruit bats migrate up from Mexico to drink the Saguaros nectar. Hohokam Indians, one of the many Native American tribes that lived in the Tucson basin. They still use and pick the fruit from cacti in the area.
Prickly Pear Fruit
These Prickly Pear cactus are used by both human and animals to eat both the fruit and the pads. Javelinas, looks a little like an extremely large pig, eat them with the stickers and thorns still on the plant. The flower colors on this plant depends on the amount and type of minerals in the ground where they live. If a piece of this cactus does fall on the ground, as with many cacti, it will grow into a completely new plant, but only if it gets water soon enough.
These are some of the various types of Cholla cactus. The kinda of fluffy is called affectionally called Teddy Bear Jumping Cholla, and is no fun walking past. It is called a "Jumping Cholla" because when something gets close enough to the plant it will appear to jump on and stick you. I recommend staying at least a foot away from this plant when possible. It looks pretty and cute but on the end of those thorns is a substance that will irritate your skin.
These trees come in many types but the long flower version above grows wild here, in addition they also come with various thorn sizes from none, that you can climb, to extremely dangerous, that you don't want to go near. Spring through summer is the blooming season. This is personally one of my favorite smells. The Hohokam collect these seeds to eat and grind into a type of baking flour. The seed pods can be used for a quick way to smoke, cook with for flavor, your meat when you barbecue. The wood can also be used in campfires and for cooking.
This is a tree called the Palo Verde Tree. For those of you who don't remember your Sesame Street days palo verde translates to wood green from Spanish. This tree is called wood green because the bark on this tree is green. A lot of the things here are named with Spanish and Native American influence. Unlike the mesquite, this tree is not edible at all, but the yellow flowers are pretty, In addition they don't offer good solid shade like the mesquite. When they bloom the blossoms will appear to turn the tree yellow.
That link is a link to a page listing many hiking trails around town and southern Arizona encase you would ever like to take a holiday.
And finally don't forget to carry and drink water no matter the season. If your thirsty, you are already starting to dehydrate!
