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[Auxin]

Long story short, life got complicated and without ever expecting to I have become a long haul trucker
Its a strange life but its fun. My office has a spectacular view, most days, I'm getting good pay, meeting interesting people, and I'm going all over the united states taking breaks pretty much when ever I want. That means time to explore and discover plants!
I often don't stop to look closely, just enjoying all the Pinon pines, saguaro, and Ferocactus I've seen in the last few days, for instance. But sometimes its nice to stop and play in the hills and fields.
Solitary juniper, eastern Oregon
Echinocereus triglochidiatus north of Phoenix, Arizona

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[Auxin]

Ephedra viridis or E. coryi Lordsberg, New Mexico
Grusonia clavata  Lordsberg, New Mexico
Opuntia macrocentra  Lordsberg, New Mexico
I also found a semi-domesticated cucurbit here, no clear pics but I got seeds
  * The cucurbit is Cucurbita foetidissima, a perennial xerophytic gourd/squash used for food and soap. It's been suggested it's a candidate for full domestication so I'll collect seed throughout the southwest for my collection. 🙂

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[Auxin]

Pima Canyon at the north edge of Tucson, AZ
This is listed as a 5 mile 3,339' ascent but when I got 5 miles in a hiker laughed at me and informed me it was extended another 3 miles up a steeper grade. I missed those last 3 miles in order to get back to my hotel before dark. Start early and bring lots of water, its like a 10+ hour hike.
• Entrance to the canyon, the first miles have loads of saguaro. There are also a fair number of Ferocactus wislizeni which currently have ripe fruit.
• There are a few cool springs supporting a few small frogs
• Once I got up to 4,500' altitude I found several Datura wrightii, if I get it to grow in my garden despite me being on the road I'll call it Pima Canyon as a locational identifier
• My best guess for this is Cylindropuntia x kelvinensis. I snagged two little cuts off a specimen at 5,000'. Its reasonably cylindrical and isn't too nuts with glochids so I think it might be fun as a grafting stock. If I eventually find Cylindropuntia arbuscula I'll try that as grafting stock too.
In the background of all these pics are Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) bushes. People mistake it for a cactus but it isn't one.The flowers are used as a tangy addition to salads and they are dried to make tea.
Most of the stone that makes up these mountains is filled with mica flakes, and so that means the sand and dirt is too. At mid day the whole canyon sparkles.
I'm probably done in Arizona for the time being, soon I should be on my way somewhere else. Possibly Texas.

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[Auxin]

Every day they say its my last day in Tucson...
Sentinel Peak, west of downtown Tucson, AZ, is 'famous' for the 107 year old graffiti on the downtown side so I took a picture half way up the clean side.
There is lots of fasciation on saguaro here, for some reason.
Good view of downtown Tucson.
Four Opuntia species, some sort of agave, a Cylindropuntia, and saguaro all in one pic.

Dammit, they just called and said its not my last day in Tucson!
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

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[Auxin]

* Opuntia engelmanii var. texana I found while doing an unprecedented four way load transfer call in Abilene, TX
* Ferocactus cylindraceus I ran across in the hills of southeast California when I stopped because I was dangerously tired and about to attack lunch time SoCal traffic.

[Auxin]

Desert Oasis Rest Area sounds like a good place to find plants in southeast California, right?
It's a lava field 😂
Wacky Californians

[Chib]

Still pretty cool scenery at least.

[Auxin]

I think so too, all desolate and suggestive of destruction, but I like goth chicks so I assume I'm biased.
Last week I was near Portland and I didn't want to be there this weekend so today I'm in a town outside Pittsburgh, PA. That's one cool thing about this job if I'm like 'screw this town' I can get paid to drive 2,500 miles away with little notice.
* Opuntia humifusa, yes you can grow cacti here!
* Lamium purpuria, I was looking forward to seeing them as only L. amplexicaule grows in my state. Young leaves are edible and a tea will stop bleeding.
* Arctium lappa, the roots are a respected detox herb in both the west and east, some edible uses.

[Auxin]

All the locals in Youngstown, Ohio say they are glad winter is finally over.
Funny how each town seems to have a favorite flower.
If you pass through here, El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant & Cantina on the north end is really good.

[Auxin]

A tiny christmas tree struggling to survive between a concrete barrier and a light pole in a chemical plants shipping lot.
The cyberpunk in me enjoyed the image. ☢️☣️

[Auxin]

Mixed hickory, oak, and walnut forest ravine by a rest area 20 miles outside of Charlotte, NC. Ironic because I have 20 tons of hickory shingles from Maryland to deliver nearby.
A quick hike through the forest gets you to a Hobby Lobby and a Walmart 😁
Back to work.

[Auxin]

Sometimes you find cute mailboxes 
I also found Salvia lyrata growing wild in southeast Georgia. The leaves have some color, the flowers and bracts have an herbal odor, the plant is used to treat wounds and as a 'folk remedy' for cancer. Seeds go to the first person to ask.

[Auxin]

Strange discovery, I spotted Chinese medicinal Woad (Isatis indigotica) growing in Utah. In Plymouth, UT it's all over the place. As are junkies.
Some day I want to prepare Woad dye and work it up into a wood dye. None of the industry blue wood dyes have good lightfastness and I love blue wood.

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[Auxin]

I finally located Cylindropuntia leptocaulis in the Sierra Blanca, Texas graveyard. Clones were made. 😎

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[Auxin]

Still wandering the land.
Finally found wild Peganum harmala, there's lots of it in Pecos, Texas 😎

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