Found in open pine forests, sandy, disturbed soil
Seen blooming in September on the Quemazon Trail, Los Alamos

The attractive Southwestern Cosmos grows to 2½ feet high with a slender, airy shape and thread-like leaves. The flower is about an inch across, white to rosy to violet in color with toothed petals. The seeds are barbed, causing them to lodge in fur or clothing. The Navajo used a cold infusion of the dried leaves as a ceremonial chant lotion. Source.
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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 in wet areas near slow-moving water
Seen blooming in August by the Rio Chama

Water Horehound is not a particularly showy plant. It grows up to three feet tall with the characteristic square stem of a mint, but it does not have aromatic leaves. It grows in similar habitat to Wild Mint which has lavender flowers and a distinctive aroma. The leaves are opposite and toothed. The tiny white tubular flowers with lavender markings grow in a whorl around the stem at the base of the leaves. Each flower has two stamens. Traditionally, a compound containing the entire plant was used for stomach cramps. Source. In modern times people use bugleweed for overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), premenstrual syndrome (PMS), insomnia, and other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses. 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 open, rocky soil in mixed conifer forests
Seen blooming in August by FS Rd 137 in Carson NF

Beardlip Penstemon has spikes of tubular flowers which are very attractive to hummingbirds. It grows to four feet tall with long, narrow, dark green leaves, mostly at the base of the plant. The flowers are 1½ inches long and have two long protruding upper lobes and three lower lobes with golden hairs in the throat. It blooms for many weeks. Native Americans had many medicinal uses for the plant. It was used for menstrual pain and stomachache, burns, coughs, gun wounds and arrow wounds, and as a diuretic. The chewed root was rubbed over the rabbit stick to ensure success in the hunt. A rabbit stick which was treated in this manner was sure to kill any rabbit that it was aimed at, provided the thrower had a good heart. 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.

Found on rocky hillsides, in canyons
Seen blooming in August in Plaza Blanca

Wright’s Thelypody grows to seven feet tall with many branches tipped by showy flower heads that look like bottlebrushes. Leaves have smooth or toothed edges. The flowers are white to lavender with four petals and grow in loose clusters above many 3-inch-long thin seed pods. The pods grow horizontally to the stem or curve downwards. Traditionally Wright’s Thelypody has been used as a dermatological aid and as an eye medicine. Young plants were made into a stew with wild onions, wild celery, tallow or bits of meat. The Navajo tied a plant to the cradle bow to make baby sleep and the Tewa used it to make paint for pottery. 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.

By Marilyn Phillips

Found in disturbed soil
Seen blooming by the Tierra Azul acequia

Not a wildflower to encourage, Canada Thistle is one of the most economically important agricultural weeds in the world. It was introduced to North America in the 1600s and soon was recognized as a problem weed. Weed control legislation against the species was passed by the Vermont legislature in 1795. Canada Thistle is now listed as a noxious weed in most areas where it occurs. Despite this, it can be a source of forage for livestock, providing similar nutritional value to alfalfa, bees and butterflies love it as a source of nectar. It is an aggressive plant that grows three to five feet tall in large, dense colonies from a deep and wide-spreading root system. Leaves are very spiny and lobed with wavy edges. The many flower heads are pale-purplish, ½ to ¾ inch across and less than one inch high. Bracts are pointed but do not have spines. Roots can be eaten raw or cooked, but may cause flatulence. Stems can be peeled and cooked like asparagus or rhubarb. The leaves are edible but not worth the effort of removing the spines. The root is tonic, diuretic, astringent, antiphlogistic and hepatic. It has been chewed as a remedy for toothache. A decoction of the roots was used to treat worms in children. 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.