WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

 
 

Spreading shrubs 5–20 feet tall have reddish-brown bark that shreds with age, long, slender, arching stems, and deeply toothed, oval leaves. Note the showy, dangling sprays of small, creamy-white flowers; highly attractive to butterflies and other pollinators.


FLOWERS: April–August. Dense, elongated to pyramidal, branching clusters 4–7 inches long (10–17 cm) are packed with small 1/8–1/4 inch wide (3–6 mm) flowers with 5 oval, white petals; stamens extend beyond petals.


LEAVES: Alternate, deciduous, without stalks (sessile) or on stalks (petioles) to 1 inch long (2.5 cm) depending on variety; blades oval to oblong or triangular, 1 1/4–3 1/8 inches long (3–8 cm) by 3/4–2 3/4 inches wide (2–7 cm); edges lined with coarse teeth; surfaces hairy or not, strongly veined; tip rounded, often with an abrupt tiny tooth.


HABITAT: Dry soils, rocky slopes, open forest; ponderosa-Douglas-fir, spruce-fir forests.


ELEVATION: 6,400–10,500 feet.


RANGE: AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, TX, UT, WA, WY; Canada, Mexico.


SIMILAR SPECIES: Two varieties exist in NM with slightly different leaf characteristics: var. dumosus has indistinct petioles; var. discolor has distinct petioles. Some sources consider the varieties separate species.


NM COUNTIES: Widespread, common in NM mountains in mid- to high elevation habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Dona Ana, Grant, Harding, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Los Alamos, Luna, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance.

OCEANSPRAY,  CREAMBUSH

HOLODISCUS  DISCOLOR

Rose Family, Roosaceae

Deciduous shrub

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Butterflies and other pollinators flock to the nectar-rich flowers.

The coarsely toothed leaves can have stalks (petioles) (right) or be without stalks (sessile) (left), depending on variety.