that expresses enormous white blossoms larger than the palm of your hands, sacred datura is sometimes used as a narcotic and hallucinogen by Native Americans.
Sacred datura (Datura wrightii) in Lions Park.
Jimson Weed, oil on linen by Georgia O’Keeffe, 1936. Image courtesy Indianapolis Museum of Art.
for laying their eggs and feeding their caterpillars as it is the only food source they can consume. Here’s one in the riparian zone of Castle Creek.
Showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa).
by a number of plants in sufficient amounts to be toxic, and the lemon-yellow spike-shaped blossoms of this desert beauty belie the dangerous concentration that it may contain.
Prince’s plume (Stanleya pinnata).
of sunflowers are spotting the landscape in Castle Valley National Park, massive natural bouquets of gorgeousness dotting the rusty terrain.
Rough mule’s ears (Wyethia scabra).
inside a prickly pear cactus blossom. Macro photography takes one into amazing micro worlds.
Prickly pear cactus (genus Opuntia).
Within 24 hours of pollination, the prickly pear blossom turns reddish-pink.
from opening globemallow blossoms. I’ll have to go prospecting for the entrances to their underground hives, given away by their tiny sedimentary turrets.
Desert globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua). The fully open blossoms are about 15 mm wide.
Fully loaded mallow bee with a large pollen pellet on its hind legs, weighing up to 30% of the bee’s weight.
for Mother’s Day.
Whipple's fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus whipplei).
tracks the movement of the Sun across the sky throughout the day, a response that occurs in some plants known as heliotropism, and here it is at about 2:00 pm MDT.
Rough mule’s ears (Wyethia scabra).
is blossoming right now and putting on a lovely show in the high desert.
Sego lily (Calochortus nuttallii).
on full display in the high desert by this blooming cactus.
Whipple’s fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus whipplei).
on the trails thanks to this blooming and beautiful member of the rose family. It’s like riding through a sweet perfume bath.
Cliffrose (Purshia mexicana).
in soft and filtered light.
Claret cup cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus).
is occurring right now, with more wildflowers showing off their colors, despite the low soil moisture.
View northward from near Round Mountain. Click on image to expandify.
Utah penstemon (Penstemon utahensis).
Narrow leaf yucca (Yucca angustissima).
beneath the prow of Adobe Mesa, with the mesa top standing 1,600 feet (490 m) above my vantage point.
Yellow cryptanth (Cryptantha flava).
belie the extremely dry winter and early spring in the region. It’s the loveliest cactus in canyon country and you can’t change my mind.
Claret cup cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus).
at the same time, do not consume the bulb of this tiny beauty with a threatening name. Blossoming right on time in mid-April at the Round Mountain annex to the Castle Valley Botanical Gardens.
Panicled death-camas (Toxicoscordion paniculatum).
for spring with beacons of color appearing on the rusty landscape.
Narrow leaf yucca (Yucca angustissima) with emerging flower stalks.
Dwarf lupine (Lupinus pusillus).
of the season in the high desert environment of canyon country is this scarlet beauty. That’s Parriott Mesa standing tall in the distance.
Indian paintbrush (genus Castilleja) tucked beneath soon-to-awaken Mormon tea (Ephedra viridis).
brightening the high desert landscape, many as tall as a person. It’s quite the display in Castle Valley and elsewhere.
The sun flares in these images are a result of closing down the camera’s aperture to its smallest opening. I manually set it at f/22 and make sure I have a very clean lens and shoot directly into the Sun. Easy.
early this morning. Its blooms slowly march up the tall stem through the summer, reaching the apex as the first frost approaches. Looks like we have a while to go.
Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium), also known as great willowherb north of the border.