ecomujeres - 4-23-2011 at 08:07 PM
Hola:
I've finally updated my website with captioned photos of our trip last Spring through the central Baja desert, between Cataviña and El Rosario.
http://www.lasecomujeres.org/plants/baja_norte01.html
Maybe it won´t be another year before I get this year's photos up!
Enjoy! There WILL be a test...
[Edited on 4-24-2011 by ecomujeres]
Skipjack Joe - 4-23-2011 at 08:16 PM
Mexitron should do well on your test.
Marc - 4-23-2011 at 10:06 PM
On one of my trips, October 08, the Loreto area and north looked green as Ireland.
Cirio - 4-23-2011 at 10:53 PM
Great pics! Keep 'em coming. I've been already looking through your other pages of images. Does Pachycereus pringlei have a large distribution in
Baja?
Are there any good reference books for touring Baja for plants? Or do you know of any plant tours? Reading up on Guadalupe Island I was wondering if
anyone ever goes there as I'd love to do some plant photography on the island, especially Brahea edulis in its native habitat.
Thanks! 
ecomujeres - 4-23-2011 at 11:19 PM
Cirio:
Thanks for the feedback! It's very time consuming creating the pages--still need to do the Spanish version of the new pages. I wish I could spend
all my time on it and get pics up more regularly.
P. pringlei is widespread throughout all desert regions of the peninsula. On the Pacific side, it starts just south of El Rosario (visible from
highway) and throughout the San Felipe desert on the Gulf, all the way to the Cape.
As to books, the only current book available is Norman Robert's Field Guide of Baja California Plants. A new, updated and extended edition is in the
works, but no print date as yet.
Sometimes the San Diego Natural History Museum has botany/natural history trips to the peninsula.
If you are ever in Mulege between late Oct and mid April, send me a U2U and ask me about plant walks I lead in the area.
As for Guadalupe Island, I believe that it is a closed site/sanctuary or that at least you need special permits to visit the island. They were
working on a feral goat erradication program and plant inventory, last news I heard a fews years ago. If you are serious about getting there, try
contacting the San Diego Natural History Botany Dept as follows:
Jon Rebman
or Judy Gibson
619.255.0229
fax: 619.232.0248
botany@sdnhm.org
Mexitron - 4-24-2011 at 11:17 AM
Nice photos....nice to see pics of some of the more obscure plants too.
There is also Ira Wiggins' "Flora of Baja California" which, although becoming dated, is still a great reference if you are decent at taxonomy---no
pics, BW drawing of only one plant per genera---but by being steadfast and using process of elimination I can sometimes surprise myself by keying
plants out with it.
Cypress - 4-24-2011 at 11:32 AM
ecomujeres, Thanks. While the fishing is a big disapointment due to the lack of "catching", the rambling out in the boonies is super. Trying to
identify all the desert plants will keep you busy and it's good exercise.
ecomujeres - 4-25-2011 at 02:11 PM
Mexitron: you're right about Wiggins. It's my "bible".
But the thing is, it's pretty much impossible to find a copy out there if you aren't lucky enough to already have one. Or if you find one, it's about
$180.
It's other drawback is that it lacks almost 1000 plants described since it was published in 1980. Very annoying when the plant you are looking at is
one of those!
Cypress: so true.
Rather than fish, we used to be much more interested in [desert] birds and animals. But they are so rarely seen and photographed without lots of great
lenses. So when I became obsessed with plants right after Hurricane Julieta in 2001, it was great because I could take short or long walks and see
lots of new species every day.
[Edited on 4-25-2011 by ecomujeres]
bacquito - 4-25-2011 at 09:20 PM
Well organized, Keep up the good work. I look forward to more pictures.
marv sherrill - 4-28-2011 at 05:57 PM
Nice to know that there are others who can actually understand Wiggins - almost as bad as Munz
Mexitron - 4-29-2011 at 11:04 AM
Yeah Marv---Wiggins is a b-tch sometimes---I was trying to key something out years ago in Baja and you had to count the number of indentations on the
pollen grains to figure the species out----yah, I always wander around with a microscope in Baja!
ecomujeres---I didn't know Wiggins was so hard to get a hold of now...sounds like someone needs to do to 'Flora of B.C.' what was done with the
Jepson...
ecomujeres - 4-30-2011 at 12:21 AM
Mexitron:
Please don't get me drooling over the idea of an updated Wiggins in a Jepson format. That's cruel :-)
The only things in the works are the updated Roberts (soon??) and Jon @ SDNHM is also working on an annotated checklist of the Baja Flora (no key,
though), which is to add all those species missing from Wig.
I'm looking to getting Wiggie baby rebound this summer since he's been getting a lot of wear and tear these past years.
Mexitron - 4-30-2011 at 06:02 AM
Ahhh ecomujeres you're a true eco-nerd like myself! I sure would love to tackle a project like that....maybe one of these years I'll at least try
working on my favorites---the Dudleyas.
BajaBlanca - 4-30-2011 at 09:28 AM
I haven't had that much fun looking at a site in a long time....please add more photos and details !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ecomujeres - 4-30-2011 at 05:26 PM
Bajablanca: glad you enjoyed my site. I will work on your request!
Mexitron: there are rumors that someone whose initials on this forum are EM is working on a guide book to the common BCS plants. Life keeps gettting
in the way though...some year...it's getting there poco a poco.