Habitat: Domesticates North of Sedona

[Pituophian]

What is the cactus at the base of the agave in RR_Loy 041.JPG?

[Gee.S]

It's a little Echinocereus, likely E. engelmannii.

[Gee.S]

Another exploratory excursion into outskirts of the area yielded no new domesticate finds, just some A. parryi, wildflowers, and a bunch of red rocks. Well, it's red rock country, after all. Included are some photos of short wide leaved Agaves from the heart of var. couesii country to provide a concrete example of why we believe the current taxonomic varieties of A. parryi represent a false construct.

A. parryi v. couesii (???)

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A. parryi v. couesii (???)

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A. parryi v. couesii (???)

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A. parryi v. couesii (???)

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A. parryi v. couesii (???)

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Castilleja exserta

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Castilleja angustifolia

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Castilleja angustifolia

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A. parryi v. couesii

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A. parryi v. couesii

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Echinocereus coccineus

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A. parryi v. couesii

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Penstemon eatonii

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Delphinium scaposum

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[Gee.S]

Another little trip to red rock country to snap a few pics of ruins, rock art and some interesting Agaves we assume are A. parryi × A. verdensis.

Sinagua ledge dwelling

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A. parryi × A. verdensis

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A. parryi × A. verdensis

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A. parryi × A. verdensis

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A. parryi × A. verdensis

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A. parryi × A. verdensis

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[Luc]

Weird, you say A. parryi, any chance of a chrysantha introgression ?

[Gee.S]

No Luc, that's just straight A. parryi, and in this case, A. parryi var. couesii.

[Gee.S]

Back north of Sedona to explore a couple of impressive new ruin sites, including the largest pictograph site we've ever seen. Unfortunately, there are also quite a few "cowboy glyphs", as well, more or less graffiti from the 1890's. We seem to have hit a rut in the search for new A. phillipsiana sites, but there was no shortage of A. parryi about.

A. parryi

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A. parryi

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Sinagua ruin

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Sinagua ruin

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Sinagua ruin

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Sinagua ruin

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Sinagua ruin

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Sinagua ruin

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A. parryi

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Sinagua ruin / pictographs

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Sinagua pictographs

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Sinagua pictographs -- the upper snake is 8' long

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Sinagua pictographs

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Sinagua pictographs

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Sinagua pictograph -- never seen anything like it, it's about 3' tall

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Sinagua pictographs

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Sinagua pictographs

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Sinagua pictographs

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Sinagua pictographs

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Sinagua pictographs

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[MJP]

"Never seen anything like it."

Nor I of course.

Reminds me of a solar eclipse showing a simultaneous solar flare. The smaller circles would then be planets (Mercury, Venus) - or residual retinal damage from looking at a solar eclipse and solar flare without proper eye protection.

[Gee.S]

Headed up toward Sedona to hike the Long Canyon area. I had heard rumors of ruins there but did not know any locales. We had found quite a lot of A. phillipsiana very near there, so was hopeful on that front. In the end we found four new ruins but no domesticates, so a mixed bag. Great day for a hike, should do it again tomorrow!

A. parryi

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A. parryi

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Here's something we don't see everyday -- A. parry w/mite damage -- very unusual!

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Ruin #1

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Ruin #2

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Ruin #3

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A. parryi

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A. parryi

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Shallow metates w/corn cob (to the right)

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Chewed agave remnant called a quid

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Ruin #4

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Ruin #4

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Ruin #4

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Local digs

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[toditd]

I just love them big ol' beautiful parryi!

[Gee.S]

Back to the north end of the Verde Valley to look for a new-to-us ruin. Found it! Along with another ruin and some beautiful agaves.

A. parryi

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A. phillipsiana

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A. phillipsiana

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A. phillipsiana

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Echinocereus coccineus, every bit of 3' across

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A. parryi

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Sinagua cliff dwelling #1

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Sinagua cliff dwelling #1

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Pictographs at Sinagua cliff dwelling #1

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Pictographs at Sinagua cliff dwelling #1

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Enormous pine tree is part of dwelling #1

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Same tree from across the way

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Sinagua cliff dwelling #2

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Sinagua cliff dwelling #2

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A. phillipsiana, now reachable only by hovercraft

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A. parryi

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Cylindropuntia whipplei

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[Bananaguy]

Great pictures very interesting. Any fish in that small lake?

[Gee.S]

Thanks! No lakes yesterday. If you're referring to a previous excursion, I'll need a more specific reference.

[Meangreen94z]

Probably this one

[Gee.S]

Ah, from two years ago. That is a tank, a drinking fountain for cows. So no fish.

[Bananaguy]

Yes that one thanks. Oh okay haha.

[Gee.S]

Since autumn is officially upon us, this seemed the perfect time to head up toward Red Rock Country for the first time in a while. Ledge House has always been near and dear to my heart, and it's easy to see why. Ruins, rock art, Agave parryi and the pre-Columbian domesticated agave, A. phillipsiana in the immediate area. Did I mention the views? Ancient Sinagua planted A. phillipsiana in garden plots here, as their agave of choice to pit roast and consume as an early autumn treat. Yum!

Ledge House

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Ledge House

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Sinagua pictographs

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Sinagua pictographs

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Sinagua pictographs

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Sinagua pictographs

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Ledge House

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Ephedra sp (Mormon tea) found directly outside the ruin.

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Nicotiana sp. (tobacco) found inside the ruin.

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Sinagua pictographs

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Ledge House

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A. phillipsiana

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A. phillipsiana

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Local digs

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[Gee.S]

Continued from previous post...

A. phillipsiana

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A. phillipsiana

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Sinagua pictographs

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The hike in.

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A. parryi

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A. phillipsiana

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A. parryi

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A. parryi

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Escobaria vivipara

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A. parryi

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Datura sp.

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A. parryi

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Echinocereus coccineus

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[Gee.S]

Little 8-mile hike today in red rock country, where we came across a sweet little ruin and two A. phillipsiana sites.

Sinagua ruin

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Sinagua ruin

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Sinagua ruin

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A. phillipsiana

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A. phillipsiana

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A. parryi

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A. phillipsiana

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A. phillipsiana

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A. phillipsiana

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Pinion Jay

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A. parryi

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[Gafoto]

Great photos as always. I was hoping to explore more around Sedona last labor day but I couldn’t even get into town. Too many folks enjoying that area.

I know phillipsiana doesn’t set seed but does it ever contribute pollen to the local parryi?

[Gee.S]

Great photos as always. I was hoping to explore more around Sedona last labor day but I couldn’t even get into town. Too many folks enjoying that area.

I know phillipsiana doesn’t set seed but does it ever contribute pollen to the local parryi?

With one ***possible*** exception, I'll say no. They are often in close proximity, but bloom times are roughly two months apart. And yeah, Sedona is a place to avoid on three-day weekends. During spring and autumn, crowds are now a problem seven days per week.

[Gafoto]

Great photos as always. I was hoping to explore more around Sedona last labor day but I couldn’t even get into town. Too many folks enjoying that area.

I know phillipsiana doesn’t set seed but does it ever contribute pollen to the local parryi?

With one ***possible*** exception, I'll say no. They are often in close proximity, but bloom times are roughly two months apart. And yeah, Sedona is a place to avoid on three-day weekends. During spring and autumn, crowds are now a problem seven days per week.

Feels a lot like Moab. There’s a reason why it’s popular but it’s such a bear getting around. That Sunday of labor day weekend was so bad that I ended up wrapping up my bike ride in VOC and driving around on the interstate to the top of Oak Creek.

Has anyone mucked around with hybridizing with domesticates? It seems like some of their attributes would be desirable to integrate into landscape plants. Mostly I think about the heat resistance and quick growth of Agave murpheyi.

[Gee.S]

You should have headed to Sacred Mountain just on the other side of I-17.

There are in situ hybrids. These include (1) A. delamateri × A. chrysantha, (2) A. verdensis × A. chrysantha, (3) A. verdensis × A. parryi, and (4) A. murpheyi × A. chrysantha.

1. I see these not infrequently, they often belie the presence of A. delamateri in the immediate vicinity. And the vicinity must be immediate, since these are sterile triploids.

2. I've only seen a few in one small chrysantha patch.

3. Seen more than once. In red rock country not far from Honanki, I happened across an entire population (100 plants?) growing with verdensis, and it seems fairly stable.

4. I still have a couple of these here. I collected this hybrid seed several years back, sent some to Germany, and sold a few plants on the forum here.

[Gee.S]

Has anyone mucked around with hybridizing with domesticates? It seems like some of their attributes would be desirable to integrate into landscape plants. Mostly I think about the heat resistance and quick growth of Agave murpheyi.

In general, it's difficult to work with bulbil producers in this way. Bulbil producers are often seed-sterile, tho some like A. murpheyi can produce a small amount a viable seed. I once crossed A. angustifolia with A. 'Celsii Nova', and harvested all kinds of beautiful black seed, which turned out to be maddeningly unviable.

[Gafoto]

You should have headed to Sacred Mountain just on the other side of I-17.

There are in situ hybrids. These include (1) A. delamateri × A. chrysantha, (2) A. verdensis × A. chrysantha, (3) A. verdensis × A. parryi, and (4) A. murpheyi × A. chrysantha.

1. I see these not infrequently, they often belie the presence of A. delamateri in the immediate vicinity. And the vicinity must be immediate, since these are sterile triploids.

2. I've only seen a few in one small chrysantha patch.

3. Seen more than once. In red rock country not far from Honanki, I happened across an entire population (100 plants?) growing with verdensis, and it seems fairly stable.

4. I still have a couple of these here. I collected this hybrid seed several years back, sent some to Germany, and sold a few plants on the forum here.

Parryi v. couesii is far and away the hardiest plant for my yard so always love seeing hybrids like that #3.

The mountain biking was great there in Sedona although I was always in danger of crashing due to checking out the big honking parryi that are all over the place.

I’ll have to schedule another trip to Sedona to see if I can find viable seeds of those verdensis x parryi. I knew nothing about Sacred Mountain until just now, it’ll be on the list too. Like Utah, Arizona has an incredible density of amazing landscapes and locations to visit. 3-4 day trips, no matter how packed, only allow you to visit so many spots.