tyit of M*y Stickler 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO WESTERN BOTANY NO. *t# 1 



BOTANIZING IN ARIZONA 



Some thirty-six years ago I spent a delightful month in the Catalina, 

 Santa Rita, and Huachuca mountains of Arizona, during the period of 

 .summer rains. The flora was a garden all over the region. I spent a 

 week at Fort Huachuca, but I did not get to visit the northern end of the 

 Huachucas where Lemmon had spent a month and got a number of new 

 species, and several Mexican species not before known in the U. S. For 

 this reason I have always wanted to make a more thorough examination of 

 the Huachucas. Recently I also learned of botanical work in the Baboqui- 

 \ori mountains which had turned up 5. So in Sep- 



tember and October, 1929, I had a month's leisure and made the trip 

 detailed below. 



On September 16, 



1929, I left Claremont, California, 



Mecca, where I stayed 



aver night. There were no flowers of 



the way, due to the dr) 



ness. On the 17th there was little of 



the way till I passed ov 



;r the divide east of Shafcr's well, hen. 



were little patches of green, due to recent rains, where Euphorbias had come 

 up. At the Hayfields, a few miles farther east, I searched for annuals 

 among the Mesquit, creosote bushes and Holacantha Emoryi. I found 

 much Boerhaavia, annual Boutelouas, Hilaria rigida, and Tribulus. There 

 was little else in bloom. Holacantha was in fine fruit with the grape- 

 like clusters erect at the ends of the spiny stems. This is the most forbid- 

 ding shrub of them all, beincr 0-10 feet hi^h and much and intricate!;,' am! 

 rigidly branched, ami each branch ending in a sharp spine. The whole- 

 mass forms a clump about twice as high as wide, and is shunned by all 

 animals. The plants are leafless and with <?rc-. n stems, ?dow growers and 

 with very hard wood. The trunks rarely get over 4 inches thick, and have 

 rather thin bark somewhat shreddy on the older parts. 



Going eas; toward Desert (inter green pa.tclu s were more frequent 

 and in a few places there v,,s much ira-s that bad come up since the 



