Found in sandy washes and canyons
Seen blooming in May on Espinosa Trail, Santa Fe NF

Unlike the more familiar Showy Milkweed which grows 3 feet tall, Dwarf Milkweed grows sprawling on the ground up to 10 inches. Leaves are long and folded with woolly edges. Milkweed flowers are both beautiful and structurally complex. Dwarf Milkweed flowers are yellowish-white and produce fat, erect seed pods 1½ to 2½ inches long which split open to allow the large brown seeds with silky plumes to escape. Milkweeds contain various amounts of poisonous glycosides and in some species these compounds are potent enough to cause the death of cattle and horses if consumed in large quantities. Such events are rare. Most grazing animals learn to avoid milkweeds due to the bitterness and toxicity of the leaves and pods. The Monarch butterfly larvae eat only milkweed and retain this poison without harm, so they become distasteful to potential predators who soon learn to avoid these species after attempting to eat them. Nevertheless, Native Americans traditionally used an infusion of the plant as a stomach medicine; a poultice of heated roots was applied for toothaches and a dry powdered root was mixed with saliva and used for unspecified illness. Source.

If you are trying to identify a different flower then you can check what other flowers bloom this month. If you cannot identify a flower from the website, send a photo and where you took it to contact@rockymountainsflora.com. Read online for tips.   

Found on dry, rocky slopes
Seen blooming in May in Red Wash Canyon

Plants seem to be blooming at least two weeks later than usual this year, maybe because of the cold spring; even the Dandelions didn’t appear until April. This Cliff Fendlerbush usually blooms in mid-April. It is a many-branched shrub growing in a columnar shape from 3 to 10 feet tall with tough, dark stems. The leaves are narrow and thick. In spring, the branch tips are covered with a profusion of pink buds which mature into brilliant white fragrant flowers. Flowers have 4 petals which narrow to the center. It was used by early Native Americans to kill lice and taken after accidentally swallowing ants. It was also used to make arrows, forks, planting sticks, knitting needles and to make ceremonial items and in ceremonial medicine. Source.

If you are trying to identify a different flower then you can check what other flowers bloom this month. If you cannot identify a flower from the website, send a photo and where you took it to contact@rockymountainsflora.com. Read online for tips.   

Found in dry, rocky areas
Seen blooming in May in Poshuouinge, Santa Fe NF

The bright yellow pea-like flowers of the low-growing James’ Prairie Clover catch your eye, otherwise you would miss it. It grows to only 4 inches high with typical clover-like leaves, leaves divided into three leaflets, covered with long, silky white hairs. Flowers grow in a dense feathery cluster and turn reddish-brown with age. No traditional uses were found for this plant.
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If you are trying to identify a different flower then you can check what other flowers bloom this month. If you cannot identify a flower from the website, send a photo and where you took it to contact@rockymountainsflora.com. Read online for tips.   

Found in moist areas, stream banks
Seen blooming in April by the Tierra Azul acequia in Abiquiu

These eye-catching flowers belong to the Boxelder Maple, a tree growing 30 to 60 feet tall with a gray-brown furrowed trunk. Unlike most maples which have a single lobed leaf, the leaves are divided into three to seven lobed leaflets. Young leaves are soft and velvety and are very similar in shape and color to Poison Ivy leaves. Old leaves turn yellow in the fall. Male and female flowers grow on separate trees. Tiny yellow-green or pink flowers with long drooping stalks bloom just before the leaves open. The photo shows male pollen-producing flowers. Female flowers mature to a pair of one-seeded samaras with curved wings which grow in drooping clusters. When the samara dries and drops from the tree, it rotates like a helicopter. There is a lovely tree by the pond in El Rito which will be festooned with samaras in June.

The sap has been used to make syrup by Native Americans and the inner bark was boiled until sugar crystallized out of it. The inner bark was scraped and dried for winter use. Sap was mixed with shavings from the inner sides of animal hides and eaten as candy. Wood was burned as incense for making spiritual medicines and a variety of ceremonial uses. It was also used to make bowls, utensils, fuel, musical instruments and pipe stems. Medicinally, a decoction of the inner bark was used as an emetic. Source.

If you are trying to identify a different flower then you can check what other flowers bloom this month. If you cannot identify a flower from the website, send a photo and where you took it to contact@rockymountainsflora.com. Read online for tips.   

Found on dry, open, hot hillsides
Seen blooming in April in Plaza Blanca

Shadscale is a dense, spiny, rounded shrub growing to 2½ feet with small, oval leaves, and is easily overlooked. The leaves are covered in a scale which makes them appear silvery. Its tiny yellow flowers are inconspicuous, the pink or purplish bracts are more noticeable. It is drought tolerant and can tolerate saline soils. Traditionally, seeds were used as a grain and leaves were boiled and mixed with cornmeal to make a pudding. Wood was used to make arrow points. The plant was burned and the smoke inhaled as a treatment for epilepsy, leaves used to make a liniment for sore muscles and aches, a poultice of the mashed leaves was applied to the chest and a decoction of the leaves drunk to treat colds. The plant was also rubbed on horses to repel gnats. Source.

If you are trying to identify a different flower then you can check what other flowers bloom this month. If you cannot identify a flower from the website, send a photo and where you took it to contact@rockymountainsflora.com. Read online for tips.