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Page 3 - Nevada and Northwest Arizona I had a time of it finding Agave utahensis in Nevada. I drove up into several mountain ranges where they were supposed to be, but didn't find them. I found some cool cacti in the Charleston Mountains, though.
Some species of Escobaria in the Charleston Mountains.
Here is a wild population of Washingtonia filifera in Nevada, near Lake Mead. This area is home to the most northerly native palms in North America.
I still hadn't found A. utahensis, daylight was waning and it didn't look like I was going to find any here! It was kind of sad to see a lot of burned up Yuccas (near Goodsprings).
Finally I spotted some flower stalks at the top of a mountain in the fading light. I climbed to the top and found these very nice little Agaves. These are A. utahensis subsp. nevadensis, a very unique ornametal Agave.
There was also a nice form of Opuntia polyacantha (erinacea?) on the same mountain.
Agave mckelveyana in the Hualapi Mountains near Kingman, Arizona. Some growers have found this species to be very cold hardy, and less fussy about moisture than A. utahensis.
Close-up of A. mckelveyana teeth.
Also in the Hualapi Mountains, a very nice form of Opuntia basilaris. It would be interesting to explore this area for more high altitude cacti, and perhaps Nolina bigelovii.
After a little poking around, I found the oft-collected Agave utahensis near Peach Springs. These plants were larger than I expected.
There were also lots of Opuntia phaecantha and O. engelmanii, Echinocereus engelmanii, and (surprisingly to me) Ferocactus cylindraecus growing in this area.
More nice cacti south of Valentine.
Wow, a 7' tall Ferocactus wislizenii in Wikieup! This was probably native and assimilated into the landscape.
Around this area grows a beautiful icy blue form of Yucca brevifolia. Although it is much more ornamental from the green Joshua trees from California, it is probably not very cold hardy.
Someone planted this very cool Opuntia in Wikieup - I wonder if it might be O. nicholii?
It was just south of here that I found a relatively high altitude form of Opuntia bigelovii, at about 4,000'. However, I did not have time to get to or collect the highest ones. Around here, suguaro also grows higher up than I would have expected, above 3,000'.
And, something I was very happy to find: Nolina bigelovii, another species that deserves much more use in gardens. It differs from other Nolinas in having filamentose leaf margins, and it is not too huge, with an attractive slender trunk.
Agave deserti subsp. simplex near Cunningham Pass. This really is a nice plant, and what fabulous banding!
Monster Opuntia chlorotica near Aguila, with trunks up to 1' thick!!! |
