Scaly-Stemmed Sand Plant or Desert Christmas Tree Pholisma arenarium is a fleshy perennial herb taking a compact cylindrical or ovate shape often with part of the stem below the sandy surface. As a heterotroph which derives its nutrients from other plants, it lacks chlorophyll and is brownish-gray or whitish in color. Flowers emerge between the leaves, each roughly one centimeter wide, the rounded corolla is lavender to deep or bright purple with a white margin. It is a parasitic plant that grows on the roots of various shrubs such as burrobush, Yerba Santa, California croton, rabbitbrush, and ragweeds. The roots of the host plant are often 5' feet deep. Ants and rodents that carry sand plant seeds back to their burrows may help bring this heterotroph closer to its host. The loaf is edible.
David H. Davis , MS, CWB®’s Post
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✨ Project Coyote is currently accepting Internship applications! ✨ 🐺 Coexistence 🐾 Education 🐻 Policy and Legal 🌿 Research 🐱 Development 🌎 Communications 🦊 Social Media These Internships are fully remote volunteer positions and require a variable commitment of hours per week, depending on the position. Join our team to help advance our mission to protect North America’s wild carnivores and promote compassionate coexistence through education, science, advocacy, and coalition building. 🔗 Visit https://lnkd.in/e4Un-yZj to learn more and apply! #ProjectCoyote #Internship #InternshipOpportunity #Wildlife #WildlifeCareers #ConservationCareers
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"We have seen an average of 2000 crossings a month in the nine years since this has been built. We've got over 40,000 animals between the underpass and the overpass that cross to get between these two mountain ranges.” "We just saw our first desert tortoise on the bridge when we were out here working a couple of months ago."
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Desert Dandelion Malacothrix glabrata Aster Family The center of the flower is often reddish at the start of blooming, becoming yellow when fully mature. Rabbits, porcupines, ground squirrels, mice, and prairie dogs eat seeds, foliage and root. Deer browse on dandelions from spring to fall. Dandelion flowers are mainly pollinated by insects. Some of the pollen is also spread by wind. The pollen doesn't usually cause hay fever.
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This plant is called winterfat, or white sage (Krascheninnikovia lanata or KRLA). Today I encouraged our biologists to sample a taste. It’s a wonderful wildlife plant. Like its name suggests, winterfat is good winter forage for pronghorn, elk, mule deer and many different speicies of small mammals and birds. It's protein content is close to that of alfalfa, which makes this a valuable grazing plant to ranchers. Winterfat is well adapted to the dry conditions of the western plains due to its deep and extensive, fibrous root system. Roots can grow to three times the surface growth.
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Tuesday our Public Affairs Office (PAO) visited our rescued desert tortoises. I provided some cactus and wildflowers for their bi-weekly feeding. The torts loved it! Cacti (prickly pears and nopales) are a good source of dietary fiber. The magnesium, potassium, and calcium are key nutrients for while vitamin C plays an important role in immune system health. Cacti also contain many beneficial plant compounds, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, and pigments, which act as antioxidants.
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