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Sharon

@_xylemphloem

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en el campo ando ~
field botany/decolonial ☭
inaturalist: sharone

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Hi everyone~ it’s been a while since I made a post so I wanted this post to be meaningful. Here I share how the “Israeli” occupation has and continues to use the designation of nature reserves and national parks to steal Palestinian land.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to express that I refuse to think the situation unfolding in Palestine is irrelevant to the field of botany and conservation. It is relevant to every single struggle facing humanity and the earth. To not use this pivotal moment in history to reflect and improve how we practice conservation would be such a squander. We ought to be better.

I couldn’t fit all of my writing into this caption so I put everything on the images of this post. I will include sources at the end. 1-7 has all the info. 8-10 show a nature reserve sign in occupied Palestine, more evidence on how the NPs are being used as a colonial tool, and last but not least the chiefs of the Crow tribe whose land was taken after the designation of Yellowstone NP and other wilderness areas.

Hope this moves y’all to look into this topic and please reach out if you want more info or want to share something with me. I’m always learning and I’m human so I make mistakes. I do not by any means invite hateful or disrespectful comments.

Take care💞

Liberation for Palestine and the world!!!

https://www.pij.org/articles/2276/weaponizing-israeli-national-parks-as-a-tool-of-ethnic-cleansing

http://poica.org/2023/06/a-de-facto-annexation-of-the-west-banks-nature-reserves/

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol42/iss2/5/

https://cases.open.ubc.ca/indigenous-homelands-in-yellowstone-national-park/

https://e360.yale.edu/features/in-israel-questions-are-raised-about-a-forest-that-rises-from-the-desert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_parks_and_nature_reserves_of_Israel

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308071319_Invasion_of_alien_Prosopis_species_in_Israel_the_West_Bank_and_western_Jordan_characteristics_distribution_and_control_perspectives by @_xylemphloem

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3 years ago

This year has been a year filled with constant change for me. Through these changes, plants continue to be a constant force in my life. I honestly don't know where my mind would be without them. I wanted to share some of my favorite plant encounters this year:

1. Erythranthe androsacea
2. Aphyllon validum ssp. validum (this one was parasitizing Garrya flavescens.
3. Androsace elongata ssp. acuta
4. Field of Downingia cuspidata
5. Myosurus sp., potential new species not found by me but I was tagging along
6. Nemacladus sigmoideus
7. Carex spissa from my central coast field work... the mood in this pic is everything to me.
8. Puccinia cryptandri(?) a fungus plant pathogen (aka rusts) growing out of Sarcobatus vermiculatus
9. Calochortus clavatus var. recurvifolius no words needed honestly
10. Triglochin striata - loved finding this one bc it made me crawl on the ground

I think I will start sharing more photos but I will also continue sharing about the arduous path that the people suffering from colonialism and imperialism continue to face at the hands of the US and western empires. It is a moral obligation.

May we see a liberated Palestine in our lifetime!!!
May we see the fall of empires and the beginnings of new realities!!!

So much love to all the people in my life ❤️ I am here thanks to all of you. by @_xylemphloem

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2 years ago

Erigeron watsonii
Asteraceae/Sunflower family

Erigeron is a huge cosmopolitan genus with most of its diversity occurring in North America. I wanted to dedicate a couple of posts to this genus because the Great Basin has a lot of cool Erigeron species!! A lot of the rare ones occur on interesting substrates and in isolated mountain ranges! This one occurs in Nevada, Idaho and Utah. It likes growing in rocky slopes, talus and ridge tops always with a nice view haha this one was growing in front of an alpine lake!

As soon as I saw those reddish tipped phyllaries I knew it was something cool!! One of the most beautiful phyllaries I’ve seen haha and I’ve seen a lot 😏 hahaha anyway this makes it easy to recognize from other Erigeron species as well as the white corollas. Most of the ones I’ve seen out here are either yellow or purple.

It’s considered rare in Idaho and probably pretty rare in Nevada as well! Such a cutie✨🍃 by @_xylemphloem

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3 years ago

Sclerocactus pubispinus
Great Basin Fishhook cactus

One of my favorite plant encounters in the last month. I told myself I’d go look for it before I went back home!! Sandra visited me last weekend and was up for a plant searching trip!! She found two individuals!! Finding plants with friends is always so fun🌿✨

This cactus is very elusive, blending well with the calcareous soils, and pretty rare in Nevada which makes it even harder to find! The epithet - pubispinus - refers to the pubescent spines that are only visible in younger plants. We saw one that had little ones growing on top of it so we were able to observe the pubescence.

We also saw another cool cactus, Escobaria vivipara, which was also blending pretty well with the soil. It was refreshing seeing another type of habitat since I’ve been in the mountains so much lately🍃

1-4: Sclerocactus pubispinus
5-6: Escobaria vivipara
7: Sandra with Sclerocactus pubispinus
8: habitat with the salt lakes in the distance
9: happy time after finding the plants hehe by @_xylemphloem

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3 years ago

Isoetes bolanderi - Quillwort!!!
In the Isoetaceae family

This group of plants belongs in the class Lycopodiopsida. It contains members such as Lepidodendron that are extinct but dominated the landscape back in the Carboniferous period (~359-299 million years ago) so seeing living relatives of this class is always exciting!! Ever since I learned of Isoetes in my botany class I’ve been wanting to see one!! It was super cool to locate this plant and voucher it! Last time it was collected in the area was in 1943.

This plant lives completely underwater as you can see in the second and third pic! They are the only living spore-producing plant capable of secondary growth - lateral growth that causes thickening of the stems and roots!! An important evolutionary step that allowed for trees to exist in present time!! The male and female sporangia are stored at the base of the plant. I forgot to take pics of these structures but I’m hoping to go back and get a picture of it! I was just so excited that I forgot haha

Anyway~ a lot of very unassuming plants lately but with really cool stories behind them. These little cuties get ignored since they lack showy flowers but I think plants are more than just a display of “beauty” for humans. They’re a story of life and can give us an outlook to what things used to be millions of years ago and I love that!!! 🍃🥰✨🌿 by @_xylemphloem

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3 years ago

Nevada holmgrenii🌿
Brassicaceae/Mustard family

This has to be one of the coolest finds of the season! A monotypic genus endemic to Nevada. It used to be under the name Smelowskia holmgrenii, but was transferred to its own genus after it was determined that it wasn’t closely related to Smelowskia but instead Eutrema and Braya are more plausible relatives due to chromosome numbers. This is a species that could probably use some genetic work. The name Nevada was inspired by of course the fact that it’s endemic to Nevada and according to the author the meaning of the word “nevada'' in Español, as in “una montaña nevada", to describe its snowy mountain habitat.

One of the most notorious traits of this plant is the ciliated leaf margins. As soon as I saw this plant, I knew it had to be it. We had been looking for it for a couple of hours and as we were ready to turn around, I noticed a distinct north-facing limestone outcrop and it just seemed to be the place where you find weird plants. Sure enough there it was!!! Last time it was seen around there was 34 years ago! Super stoked to relocate it and take more data on it. It was done blooming but I hope to see it in bloom someday! You can see the flat rock face this plant was growing on, nestled in the cracks. In the last photos you can admire the habitat of this plant, tucked away in a humble looking canyon. These photos are probably the first in-situ photos of this species! Could not for the life of me find any online other than the scanned herbarium vouchers.

If you’re interested in learning more about this plant check out the paper: “Nevada: A new genus for Smelowskia holmgrenii (Brassicaceae)” by Noel H. Holmgren.

Went crazy long for this one but I think it deserved it🍃 so many more details I would’ve wanted to share!!! by @_xylemphloem

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3 years ago

Cirsium arizonicum - Arizona thistle 🌿

There are currently two accepted varieties of this species. This is variety arizonicum, known for having tomentose leaves versus variety rothrockii with glabrous leaves.

I’ve recently fallen down the Cirsium rabbit hole after finding one in the Ruby mountains and realizing there’s been a recent taxonomic study of this super diverse genus!! I recommend reading it if you like this group. Thistles get such a bad rep because of their spiny armor but hey! They’re just trying to protect themselves. A lot of native thistles end up getting targeted for weed removal because of misidentification which can pose a threat for the thistles that are already rare. Another interesting thing I learned when researching this genus was that there’s been a weevil (Rhynicyllus conicus) released as a biological control (eats the seeds; reducing offspring) for the various weedy species of thistle that occur across the country and this insect cannot distinguish between the native and non-native species so the native thistles are negatively affected as well.
I hope y’all can appreciate your native thistles and spread the love!!

This thistle is primarily hummingbird pollinated! Hope to see the interaction one day. What a beautiful freaking plant.

Got to botanize Nevada with @sheriff_woody_pct before the storms rolled in!! Thankful for inspiring interactions with other plant peeps!! It keeps me going~ by @_xylemphloem

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3 years ago

This plant has been one of my favorites lately!! Just look at those freaking fruits.
Astragalus platytropis - Broadkeel milkvetch 🌿

The morphology and the habitat of this plant were incredible. Growing in the alpine and subalpine zones where there are hardly any trees or shrubs for cover. The substrate up there is also super rocky facing some of the same stressors as plants do in the desert. Having small statures and lots of trichomes are advantageous up there too! Since alpine zones are so windy, I wonder if having inflated fruits could be advantageous since they can catch in the air and tumble around dispersing seeds! Hehe

This one is rare in California but I’m unsure of the status here in Nevada. Probably rare since alpine/subalpine habitats are becoming more fragile due to climate change effects. One of my favorite spots so far in the Ruby Mountains! Very close to Cass House Peak (~10,500ft) 🍃 these plants have a wonderful view. by @_xylemphloem

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3 years ago

Some highlights from the last couple of months!! 🌿

1-2: Riccia cavernosa. I’ve been observing lots of liverworts and studying the last annotated checklist for Nevada. Apparently this one had not been documented in Elko county!! So I’m excited to add my observation on iNaturalist to continue documenting these tiny but fascinating plants!!

3: Sedum lanceolatum. Not a rare Sedum but always exciting to encounter a species I’ve never seen before! The colors were so vibrant. It likes growing in rocky habitats.

4. Lewisia redviva. Bitterroot! Another common one but such a beauty that likes to hide in rocky and gravelly habitats.

5. Hyalophora gloveri - Silkmoth! What a lovely looking moth. It was deceased but I had never seen one in person so it was still super cool to see!!

6. Aphyllon fasciculatum - Clustered broomrape. There’s been a lot of genetic research going on with Aphyllon and new species have emerged from the A. fasciculatum complex. In the LA area, you’ll most likely encounter A. franciscanum which used to be considered A. fasciculatum. It was cool to see this one and with pollinators!!

7. Erythranthe breweri - Tiny (Brewer’s) Monkeyflower! I really love finding tiny plants and monkey flowers are so cool!

8: Pinus albicaulis - White Bark Pine!! One of the species I’ll be working with for the rest of the summer. It has recently been declared threatened due to climate change effects such as drought, fire regime changes, and disease. They rely on the Clark’s nutcracker to crack open its serotinous cones! They’ll cached the seeds and forget about some of them which could eventually become trees!!

9: I think this might be an immature cone of the look-alike P. flexilis 🤔 but they co-occur.

10. Rhodiola integrilofia ssp. integrifolia - Western Roseroot. This plan is in the Crassulaceae family. It lives in alpine and subalpine habitats. There’s a rare subspecies - leedyi - that occurs in Minnesota and upstate New York!! I hope I see that one some day 🍃

Hope y’all have been well and able to enjoy the natural world! It’s getting hot out here but the high elevations are still covered in snow. Hasta la próxima~ by @_xylemphloem

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3 years ago

La Barranca del Río de Santiago se conoce como una de las zonas más ricas en biodiversidad en el Occidente! Viví mucho tiempo en Guadalajara y no me había dado la oportunidad de explorar esta zona como botánica 🌿 me dio mucho gusto que pudimos organizar una salida al campo @uncinado @divadoniche @karl_postre_ @daniel.noexiste @xrxntxx y los que me faltaron… hasta la próxima~

En nuestro recorrido logré documentar alrededor de 38 especies y seguramente me faltaron más… aquí les muestro unas cuantas.

1&2: Ipomoea bracteata - Convolvulaceae
3&4: Ipomoea intrapilosa - Colvolvulaceae
5&6: Elytraria imbricata - Acanthaceae
7: Tetramerium nervosum - Acanthaceae
8: Sedum jaliscanum - Crassulaceae
9: Echinopterys eglandulosa - Malpighiaceae
10: la bandita botánica in situ con el Ficus petiolaris

Ahorita es la época de estiaje (verano) pero ya que lleguen las lluvias la barranca se pintara de verde 🍃 para la próxima tengo que ir después de las lluvias✨🌧️ by @_xylemphloem

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4 years ago

Riccia trichocarpa (hairy crystalwort) & Riccia sorocarpa (common crystalwort) growing together!! It was cool to see some familiar friends in Arizona right by our campsite 🏕️

Apparently, out of all bryophytes Riccia has the simplest sporophyte structure! In the last photo you can see little spots along the thallus - these are the sporophytes!

Liverworts don’t have flowers or cones but they have spores! In order to reproduce, they need a source of water for their gametes to meet ✨ in these arid conditions that often comes in the form of seasonal rain! It was such a treat to observe these tiny plants while most of the bigger plants were still getting ready for spring!!

I’m still learning about these tiny cuties but I enjoy sharing the little bit I know with y’all!! There’s a lot of new terminology that comes with learning these plants so I don’t wanna make these posts too overwhelming lol thanks for reading 🌿✨ by @_xylemphloem

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4 years ago

So happy I got to take one of my dearest friends to admire the flowers - respectfully 💜

We’ve been friends for over a decade now 🥹🌿 love you friend thank you for being down to climb crazy rocks with me hahaha

If you go see the flowers be respectful. They’re just trying to do their thing~ by @_xylemphloem

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4 years ago