BajaNomad - Plant Experts, Please Identify

Plant Experts, Please Identify

DianaT - 3-3-2013 at 10:44 PM

Wandering around the desert in Calexico today, within earshot of the Baja Border, we came upon a plant we have not noticed before.

This seems to be at the beginning of its snake like life.

And then it sends out more and more tennacles

This guy just has to know what it is.

Tis good to be this old and still discovering new things.

BajaBlanca - 3-4-2013 at 07:41 AM

gosh, I looked through the Baja Calif Plant Guide and I don't see it in there. What a neat-looking plant !

paranewbi - 3-4-2013 at 07:54 AM

Time lapse of this plant would be awesome!

Taco de Baja - 3-4-2013 at 08:12 AM

It's a Desert Lily (Hesperocallis undulata)

Always blooms around Easter. Like an Easter Lilly :saint:

http://www.bajainsider.com/environment/bajadesertlily.htm

[Edited on 3-4-2013 by Taco de Baja]

BajaBlanca - 3-4-2013 at 08:24 AM

oh wow ! what a great flower ... I would so love to have some of these for my desert garden.

Pompano - 3-4-2013 at 08:53 AM

This is too easy, Diane.

There is an old method which has a 99% rate of success.
Try this time-honored trick many men have learned when their wives have sent them to garden tasks.

Give the plant in question a good tug. If it stays put, it is a weed, if it comes up, it is a flower.

DianaT - 3-4-2013 at 08:53 AM

THANKS --- I knew someone would know. :yes:

And on the third picture is one of those moths that we saw for the first time this week!

paranewbi --- yes, a time lapse would be great and very interesting on a windy day!

And Blanca, yes, I would also like to have some.

[Edited on 3-4-2013 by DianaT]

DianaT - 3-4-2013 at 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano
This is too easy, Diane.

There is an old method which has a 99% rate of success.
Try this time-honored trick many men have learned when their wives have sent them to garden tasks.

Give the plant in question a good tug. If it stays put, it is a weed, if it comes up, it is a flower.

Barry A. - 3-4-2013 at 09:03 AM

Yes, it is a "desert lily", but it has not bloomed yet, and it is a little thirsty. They really are kinda rare, often not showing them selves in certain years. Things have to be "just right" for them to do their thing. Lots of them all over the "low desert" of CA however, including Anza-Borrego. There have been many years in the past that I have not been able to find any-----other years when they are sorta plentiful in certain areas. They often are in areas where they are essentially alone on barren ground.

Good find, Diana.

Barry

Be careful

bajaguy - 3-4-2013 at 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBlanca
oh wow ! what a great flower ... I would so love to have some of these for my desert garden.

When transplanting things.......if it doesn't grow "naturally" in your area, there may be a reason.

rts551 - 3-4-2013 at 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBlanca
oh wow ! what a great flower ... I would so love to have some of these for my desert garden.

Blanca, I have seen Desert Lili's in the desert inland a couple of miles from us.

DianaT - 3-4-2013 at 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Barry A.
Yes, it is a "desert lily", but it has not bloomed yet, and it is a little thirsty. They really are kinda rare, often not showing them selves in certain years. Things have to be "just right" for them to do their thing. Lots of them all over the "low desert" of CA however, including Anza-Borrego. There have been many years in the past that I have not been able to find any-----other years when they are sorta plentiful in certain areas. They often are in areas where they are essentially alone on barren ground.

Good find, Diana.

Barry

We were in your old stomping grounds --- I said we were near Calexico which was a brain burp as we were actually south of Highway 8, south of Plaster City ---- but we could still see Baja.

We are glad to know they are not that common and don't show up every year because in the 5 years we lived in the area, we never noticed any. One looked like it was trying to bloom, so maybe it will. We just loved the designs these plants create.

DianaT - 3-4-2013 at 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rts551

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBlanca
oh wow ! what a great flower ... I would so love to have some of these for my desert garden.

Blanca, I have seen Desert Lili's in the desert inland a couple of miles from us.

We have found that so many plants that grow so close to us in BA do not like the salty windy environment in our yard. From what Barry says, this one seems a bit picky.

It is one of the things we really enjoy about our area --- so many different ecosystems.

Barry A. - 3-4-2013 at 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DianaT

Quote:

They are great, and fun to look for. The biggest one's we have ever found were just south of Clarks Dry Lake in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park between the dry flats of the "lake" surface and the Truckhaven Trail (highway S-22) where relatively not much of anything normally grows. Some of them had flower-stalks that were over 2 feet high, much to our amazment! However this location is not at all consistant, and often they are not to be found here, depending on the spring weather, and rain patterns. Their inconsistantcy is one of the things that makes them fun to search for, and we always have exciting anticipation in going out to our favorite spots every spring to look, often with no success.

Barry