Plant of the Month

Scientific name: Echinacea purpurea Common name: purple coneflower Family: Asteraceae Article by Susan Bruneni The purple coneflower is a true native North American plant, growing primarily east of the Rocky Mountains. Other plants discovered in the New World such as [...]

This month's plant of the month article will introduce the newest part of Santa Fe Botanical Garden, the Piñon-Juniper Woodland, a characteristic community of two-needle piñon (Pinus edulis) and one-seed junipers (Juniperus monosperma). The Piñon-Juniper Woodland at Santa Fe Botanical [...]

Scientific name: Common names: Viola canadensis Canadian white violet, Canada violet, tall white violet Viola adunca dog violet, hooked spur violet, early blue violet, sand violet, western dog violet Viola orbiculata darkwoods violet, roundleaf violet Viola tricolor var. hortensis pansy, [...]

Scientific Name: Euphorbia myrsinites Common name: myrtle spurge Family: Euphorbiaceae Article by Susan Bruneni Myrtle spurge can claim notoriety for two very opposite traits. On one hand it appears on at least seven lists of noxious weeds in the U.S. [...]

Scientific Names: Phlox nana Nutt. and Phlox nana ‘Perfect Pink’ Suggested pronunciation: floks  NAN-uh Common names: Santa Fe phlox, white-eyed phlox, canyon phlox, Santa Fe phlox ‘Perfect Pink’ Family: Polemoniaceae (phlox) Suggested pronunciation:  po-le-moh-nee-AY-see-ee Article by Janice Tucker Several years ago [...]

Scientific name: Pinus edulis Engelm. Synonym: P. cembroides var. edulis (Engelm.) Voss Suggested pronunciation: PY-nus Ed-yew-liss Common names: piñon pine, pinyon pine, two-needle pinyon, Colorado pinyon, American pinon, piñon Family:  Pinaceae Article by Jeanne Gozigian Piñon in natural setting. [...]

Scientific Name: Phoradendron juniperinum Engelm. Common name: juniper mistletoe Family: Santalaceae (sandalwoods) Credit: Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble, Phoradendron juniperinum on juniper (Juniperus monosperma), upper Dale Ball trails, Santa Fe. Flicker (CC BY 2.0). Article by Susan Bruneni [...]

Scientific name:  Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torr. Suggested pronunciation: boo-te-LOO-uh  kurt-ih-PEN-dyoo-luh Varieties: B. curtipendula var. curtipendula  and B. curtipendula var. caespitosa Suggested pronunciation of varieties: kurt-ih-PEN-dyoo-luh,  kess-pi-TOH-suh           Common name: sideoats grama (sometimes spelled side-oats) Family: Poaceae (grass) Suggested pronunciation: poh-AY-see-ee USDA [...]

Scientific genus name: Schlumbergera Suggested pronunciation: schlum-BER-ger-uh Common names: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter cactus Photo credit: Flickr, "Cactus de Noël" by Jacques Mignon (CC BY 2.0). Family: Cactaceae Article by Jeanne Gozigian We have written in the past of [...]

Scientific name: Pinus heldreichii Christ Synonym: Pinus leucodermis Common name: Bosnian pine Family: Pinaceae Article by Susan Bruneni "Adonis", the 1,000+ year old Bosnian pine tree in Greece. Photo credit: http://www.arbnet.org/scientists-discover-grove-1000-year-old-trees-greece When University of Stockholm graduate student Paul [...]

Scientific name:  Oenothera cespitosa Nutt. Synonym: Oenothera caespitosa (*synonym epithet is spelled differently - more info in article. We use the accepted name according to this reference). Suggested pronunciation: ee-no-THEE-ruh kess-pi-TOH-suh Photo by Janice Tucker Common names: tufted [...]