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.   

The Bloom Blog
Blooming this week in the environs of Abiquiú
By Wildflowers of the Southern Rocky Mountains

Found in dry washes, terraces of flood plains
Seen blooming in September at Abiquiu Lake

Although this lovely flower is blooming in the landscaping at Abiquiu Lake Visitor Center, Desert Willow is a native in southern New Mexico and Arizona growing at elevations below 5,500 feet. It would usually bloom in May/June but good summer rains can produce a second bloom. It is a shrub that can grow to be a 30-feet tall tree. Its leaves are long and narrow and willow-like but it is not related to Willows. The orchid-like, trumpet-shaped flowers are up to two inches long and showy, pink with yellow ridges and purple stripes inside. The brown seed pods are 8 inches long and narrow. Traditionally, the Havasupai used Desert Willow in basketry; Hualapai used it to make cradleboards. It is anti-microbial and anti-fungal; curanderas in Mexico use it to treat coughing, indigestion, and skin and vaginal infections. 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 in sandy, gravelly, dry areas
Seen blooming in September off FS Rd 23 in the Juan Jose Lobato Grant

Lemonscent is usually inconspicuous but when summer rains come at just the right time this fast-growing annual can produce mats of yellow in deserts, grasslands, woodlands, and along roadsides. It is a low-growing compact plant usually an inch or two high but can be eight. The leaves are narrow and dotted with glands which give off a strong smell of lemons when they are crushed. The flowers are less than ½ inch across and grow in clusters at the tips of the stems with eight pointed bright yellow petals. The Hopi, Zuni, and Havasupai Indians have used Lemonscent as a wild food plant for centuries. Dried and crushed plants can be sprinkled on chicken while cooking, thrown into a stew, added to cornbread or other bread recipes for zest, or added to your favorite tea for a lemony treat. 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 dry waste areas, roadsides
Seen blooming in September at Los Alamos Airport

Anyone suffering with a runny nose, itchy eyes and sneezes should know that Ragweed could be the cause, not COVID-19. Ragweed pollen is considered the number one cause of hay fever in the late-summer and fall. Each plant can produce over a billion grains of pollen per season which occurs from mid-August until frost. This Ragweed is one of several species of Ragweed that grow in our area. It grows to 3 feet high, erect or sprawling, with deeply lobed hairy leaves. Although weedy in appearance, on closer inspection the flower structure is interesting. Male flowers hang from the top portion of the stem like little umbrellas with a dark stripe and can look yellowish due to the color of the pollen-laden stamens. Female flower heads below are spiny burr-like structures in the leaf axils. The fruits are very spiny and painful to touch. Native Americans used an infusion of the plant for menstrual obstructions, and the ground root was placed in the tooth for toothache. The ash of the leaves was used in ceremonies. The scientific name, ambrosia, is Greek for food of the gods, while acanthicarpa means having thorny fruits, hardly food for the gods. 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.