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 [email protected]. Read online for tips.   

​Found in disturbed soil, pastures, roadsides, grassy slopes
Seen blooming in April at the Abiquiu Post Office

The purple haze you see carpeting the medians and roadsides is caused by masses of Purple Mustard. It grows from 2 to 20 inches tall, but usually less, in dense patches with a stout fleshy stem. The lavender flowers are less than ½ inch across and are tubular with four distinctive narrow petals forming a cross. It is a tenacious annual plant and is considered a noxious weed in Colorado. It reduces yields in grain fields and when it is consumed by dairy cattle it gives their milk a bad taste and odor. It was introduced from Asia and no Native American uses were found. It has a musky smell but makes a tasty salad or sandwich according to this forager.
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If you 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 [email protected]. Read online for tips.   

Found everywhere, at roadsides and in disturbed soil from sea-level to alpine peaks
Seen blooming on April 3, 2023 in my backyard

The first bloom I saw this year is generally considered a weed and a nuisance, especially in lawns, but it has culinary and medicinal uses. Dandelions grow from 2 to 16 inches tall with a single flower head on a milky, hollow stem and sharply toothed basal leaves. The many toothed petals produce a sphere of silvery fluffy seeds. A single plant can produce more than 5,000 seeds a year.

All parts of the Dandelion are edible. Young leaves and buds can be used raw in salads or smoothies, or cooked and added to soups and stews. Georgia O’Keeffe combined them with mashed potatoes, here is the recipe. Older leaves become bitter. The roots can be also be eaten and used to make coffee, the flowers are used to make a delicate, pale-yellow wine. Dandelions have been used in herbal medicine to treat infections, bile and liver problems, as a diuretic, as a mild laxative, for increasing appetite, and improving digestion. Source. The milky latex has been used as a mosquito repellent and as a folk remedy to treat warts. The flowers produce a yellow dye and the roots a magenta color.

If you 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 [email protected]. Read online for tips.   

Found in sandy, rocky areas, piñon-juniper woodlands
Seen in October at Ghost Ranch

The last blog for this season is one of the several species of sagebrush that grow in our area.  They all tend to grow in colonies, covered in silvery hairs and have tiny, inconspicuous yellow flower heads crowded along the stem. Bigelow’s Sagebrush looks like a miniature Big Sagebrush but it only grows one to two feet wide and high with a rounded compact shape, compared to Big Sagebrush which can spread several feet high and wide. The silvery-green leaves are up to one inch long and have three teeth or a point at the tip. They are pleasantly aromatic when crushed. It is unique from other sagebrush by sometimes having a few ray flowers in its flower heads. Specific uses of Bigelow’s Sagebrush by Native Americans are unknown but the closely related Big Sagebrush was used by many tribes to treat colds, coughs, pneumonia, rheumatism, fevers and diarrhea. It was commonly burned as a smudge to cleanse the air, for ritual purification, and to promote good health. It was also an important source of soap/disinfectant, and food (seeds), and was used to start a fire and for weaving mats and clothing. 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 [email protected]. Read online for tips.   

Found on dry slopes, in canyons, forests
Seen blooming in late September by El Rito in Carson NF

Tasselflower is a shrubby plant growing one to three feet tall. It has distinctive large triangular leaves with pointed tips and nodding, tassel-like, cream colored flower heads. Flowers are up to 2 inches long and have no petals, only disk flowers. It blooms from July through October at elevations up to 10,000 feet. Traditionally, leaves were used medicinally as an antirheumatic, a liver medicine, to treat flatulence, overeating, headaches, and influenza. The seeds are said to be poisonous by one tribe but were also made into a meal to improve cakes by the same tribe. The plant was used ceremonially and the branches used to make brooms. Source. 
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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 [email protected]. Read online for tips.