RAM Cards

Asteraceae Ambrosia deltoidea Triangleleaf bursage

• Leafs are delta shape (triangle)

• Monoecious (yellow to yellow green)

• Prenenial

• Bell-shaped flower

• Burs pistillate head

• Flowers above the burs

• Inflorescence at the top of the stem

• Branches grow upward

• Leafs are alternate

• Darker on top furry on the bottom

• Dark color bark

• Generally found in rocky soils

• Critical nurse plant for saguaro

• velvet texture leaf

• flowers in layers

Asteraceae Ambrosia dumosa White bursage

• Prenenial

• Inforescence

• flowers are mixed together with the burs

• Blades pinnately divided

• symmetry bilateral

• Smaller lead than the deltoidea - just where the leaf veins are

• Light color bark

Asteraceae Baileya multiradiata Desert marigold

• Native Perennial

• Erect forb - fleshy not woody

• Compound flower

• Disk flowerets in middle

• ray flowerets on the outside (petals)

• Bright yellow, multiple layers, large

• One flower per stem

Asteraceae Encelia farinosa brittlebush

• Native Prennial

• Erect forb

• shurby forb

• Stems are brittle

• Compound flowers

• Rays flowers are in a single row

• Dark yellow

• Leafs are oval shape and simple

• Multiple flower heads on a single stem

Asteraceae Zinnia pumila desert zinnia

• small shrub

• native perennial

• woody stem

• 5 to 6 petals

• yellow disk flowers

• white ray flowers are persistent

• alternate leaves

• linear simple leafs

• single central vein in leaf

Simmondsiaceae Simmondsia chinensis goat nut

• Acorn like fruit

• Native perennial

• woody shrub

• dioecious

• two plants need for reproduction

• Flowers greenish in color

• opposite leaves

• oval in shape

• olive in color (blue/green)

• leathery leaves

• Leaves always grow up to the sky (grow upwards)

Fabaceae Parkinsonia florida blue palo verde

• Native perennial

• blue green color (trunks, leaves, everything)

• Can photosynthesize without leaves

• leave shape bipinnate

• 1 leaf and multiple leaflets

• 5 petal yellow flowers

• has spines on the stems

• normal bean pod

• larger tree - along washes

Fabaceae Parkinsonia microphylla little leaf palo verde

• Native perennial

• Tiny leaflet

• 4 yellow petals and one white petal ontop (banner leaf)

• More likely with no leaves at all

• larger number of leaflets

• no spines but stems terminate into spines

• Shrunken around the beans in the bean pod

• grows in the uplands/ bottom of mountains

Fabaceae Acacia constricta Whitethorn acacia

• natie perennial

• tree to large shrub

• large white thorns usually in pairs

• cluster of small flowers in a ball arrangement

• Bright yellow

• Compound leaves

• Bean pods

• higher elevation in deserts

• poisonous after a frost

Fabaceae Acacia greggii catclaw acacia

• Native Perennial

• large shrub to small tree

• lower elevation

• compound bipinnate leafs

• thorns are catclaw shaped - curve back

• single and alternative thorn

• one thorn at a time

• flowers yellow to cream

• Oval shape spiked flower

• bean pod is very flat and curls

Fabaceae Calliandra eriophylla false mesquite

native perennial

• Very low growing shrub

• Ball cluster like Pom Pom

• Pinkish white from red to purple

• Upright legumes

• Does not have any spines

Geraniaceae Erodium cicutarium stork’s bill

• Introduce annual

• Small forb

• Trials along the ground in a rosette

• Cool season forb

• Purple flowers

• Fruits look like storks bill

• Leaves are opposite and compound

• Deeply dissected and lobed

• Mirrored aspect

• Wildlife forage

• Native to North Africa

Krameriaceae Krameria erecta range ratany

Native perennial

• Always look really ratty

• Many branches

• Woody shrub

• Root parasite of other plants

• Large irregular flowers

• Sepals are purple in color

• Fruit has prickles

• Leaves are simple and entire can be furry

• Tiny little hair at the tip of the leaf

• Sessile leaf directly attached to the stem

• Leaves are grayish but whole plant is blueish

• Succulent like leaves

Poaceae Bromus rubens red brome

• Introduced annual

• Small grass

• Riparian areas

• Panicle inflorescence

• Lot of awns

• Many floweret per spikelet

• Inflorescence is red

• Fire prone

Poaceae Dasyochloa pulchella fluffgrass

• Native perennial

• Really tiny

• Stolonifours

• Asexual reproduction

• Inflorescence hairy/ cotton

• Roadsides

Poaceae Pennisetum ciliare buffelgrass

• Introduced perennial

• Panicle inflorescence

• Tends to be red or purple

• Baskets of bristles

• Spikelet in bristles

• Whole plant will become purple as it ages

• Highly invasive very fire prone

Ulmaceae Celtis pallida desert hackberry

• Native perennial

• Monoecious or polynecious

• Flowers are simple

• Fruit looks like a berry typically red or orange

• Has spines usually in pairs sometimes solitary

• Stems are zigzag

• Leaves are oval

• Couple pairs of veins

Zygophyllaceae Larrea tridentata creosote bush

Native perennial

• Medium to large shrub

• Always branching from base

• Flowers 5 petals yellow in color

• Fruit white hairy

• Leaflet fused at the base

• Crab claw shape

• Stems are light in color but dark joints

Asteraceae Tetradymia canescens gray horsebrush

• Native Perennial

• Leaf scars

• Wooly leaves

• clustered at the top

• Four disk flowerets

Cupressaceae Juniperus deppeana alligator juniper

1. A. Bark checked

Cupressaceae Juniperus monosperma one-seed juniper

1. B. Bark fibrous……. go to 2

2. B. Foliage and branches not relaxed or drooping…… go to 3

3. B. Fruit red or reddish-brown, sweet, dry pulp………. go to 4

4. A. Dioecious, mature fruits succulent, trunk almost “wanting”, plant spreading with limbs arising at or below ground level

Cupressaceae Juniperus occidentalis western juniper

1. B. Bark fibrous……. go to 2

2. B. Foliage and branches not relaxed or drooping…… go to 3

3. A. Fruit blue or black with resinous pulp

Cupressaceae Juniperus osteosperma Utah juniper

1. B. Bark fibrous……. go to 2

2. B. Foliage and branches not relaxed or drooping…… go to 3

3. B. Fruit red or reddish-brown, sweet, dry pulp………. go to 4

4. B. monoecious, mature fruits mealy/fibrous, trunk continuous or branched, limbs arising from above ground level

Cupressaceae Juniperus scopulorum Rocky Mt. juniper

1. B. Bark fibrous……. go to 2

2. A. Foliage and branches relaxed, drooping

Ephedraceae Ephedra sp. Ephedra

• Native perennial

• swollen areas at the base of each of the branches

• Whorl at joints of leaves

• Can make a tea

Pinaceae Pinus edulis pinyon pine

• Native Perennial

• Middle length needles

• 2 or so inches long

• pointy at their tips

• almost always two

• Stay closely packed together

Pinaceae Pinus monophylla single-leaf pinyon

• Native perennial

• further north, colder places

• one needle per fascicle

• very round

• loo a little shorter

Poaceae Bouteloua gracilis blue grama

• Native perennial

• Queen of the grassland

• the most important grass in the US

• All spikelets on one side of the branches

• Spikelets go all the way to the end of the branch

• will have three branches per comb

• branches will have a curl to them

Poaceae Muhlenbergia torreyi Ring muhly

• Native perennial

• panicle

• one floweret per spikelet and one awn

• combs are straight

• rihzomnous

Poaceae Elymus elymoides squirreltail

• Native perennial

• Very wide spreading awns and lots of awns

• Many flowerets per spikelet

• two spikelets per node

• all awns closer to the same length

Poaceae Pascopyrum smithii western wheatgrass

• Native perennial

• Spike inflorenscne

• one spikelet per node with many flowerets

• really short awns

• Its really blue in color

Rosaceae Purshia mexicana Mexican cliffrose

• Native perennial

• Large shrub or small tree

• flowers are perfect

• creamy white to yellow color

• 5 petals per flower

Rosaceae Purshia tridentata antelope bitterbrush

• Native perennial

• small shrub

• leaf shape = sagebrush like —> broader

• leaves are hairy

Asteraceae Artemisia tridentata big sagebrush

• Native Perennial

Asteraceae Ericameria nauseosa rubber rabbitbrush

• Native perennial

• Shrub

• Is posionous

Asteraceae Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus green rabbitbrush

• Native perennial

Asteraceae Gutierrezia sarothrae broom snakeweed

• Native perennial

Poaceae Bromus tectorum cheatgrass

• Introduced annual

• promotes fire

• inflorescence tips over

Poaceae Hilaria jamesii galleta

• native perennial

Poaceae Festuca idahoensis Idaho fescue

• Native perennial

• nodes and roots are black

Poaceae Poa secunda Sandberg bluegrass

• Native perennial

Poaceae Hesperostipa comata needle and thread

• Native perennial

• one floweret per spikelet

• one very long awn

Poaceae Agropyron cristatum crested wheatgrass

• Introduced perennial

• squished inflorescence

• very dense

• introduced for erosion control

Poaceae Elymus spicatus bluebunch wheatgrass

• Native perennial

• One spikelet per node

• spikelet do not overlap

• awns will be curved

Poaceae Taeniatherum caput-medusae medusahead

• Introduced annual

• two spikelet per node

• one long awn

• glooms on spikelets also have awns

• short awns on bottom and longer ontop

• poor forage

Asteraceae Artemisia nova black sagebrush

• Salt desert plant

• Native perennial

• Fairly round

• Flowers always above the foliage (sticking up)

• Leaves are narrow at it base and widen at the end

• three lobes at the tip

• Bark is stripping reddish to brownish

• Winter foliage

Asteraceae Artemisia spinescens budsage

• Native perennial

• Round in form

• Branches all terminate in sharp points

• Will have bare branches

• Monicous

• Flowers grow within the leaves

• bark is exfoliating

Chenopodiaceae Atriplex canescens fourwing saltbush

• Native perennial

• dioecious

• Winged fruit membrane 4 per fruit

• narrow leaves

• winter forage

Chenopodiaceae Atriplex confertifolia shadscale

• Native perennial

• dioecious

• fruit has a single wing membrane

• Lots of spiney branches

• Branches terminate in the sharp point

• Leaves are oval

• Bark will darken with time

• Leaves are hairy

Chenopodiaceae Ceratoides lanata winterfat

• Native perennial

• Suffratescent

• Woody at the base

• Forb like the rest of the structure (steams are not woody)

• monoecious

• Hairy flowers at the top

• Linear leaves - prominent vein in the center

• Winter foliage

Chenopodiaceae Grayia spinosa spiny hopsage

• dioecious

• Lots of sticky

• Stems terminate in spins

• Flowers are in axel clusters

• Two winged fruits

• Parallel white stripes on bark

• Leaves wide at base then tapper down

• wildlife foliage

Chenopodiaceae Halogeton glomeratus halogeton

• Introduced annual

• Really poisonous

• forb

• Cluster of leaves

• Leaves are simple linear

• Fleshy leaves

• Fine hair at the tip

• Stems bright red or yellow

Chenopodiaceae Sarcobatus vermiculatus greasewood

• Native perennial

• Moneicious

• large deciduous shrub

• flowers look like worms

• Leaves are simple linear

• thorns

• branches terminate into a sharp point

• Posionous

Fabaceae Medicago polymorpha bur clover

• Introduced annual

• Forb

• Three leaflet

• fruit coiled legume covered in burs

• spreading growth

• small yellow pea flower

Fagaceae Quercus douglasii California blue oak

• Native perennial

• Leaf are large

• lobed and oval shaped

• doesn’t terminate in triangular shape

• little teeth

• flowers are in catkins

• bark is white and checkered

• acorns

Poaceae Avena fatua wild oats

• Introduced Annual

• Lots of spiklet per branch

• spiklets droop over

• long awns

• cricket anntenae

Poaceae Bromus diandrus ripgut brome

• Introduced annual

• Narrow pinnacle

• not red at the top

• Lots of awns

• each spikelet has many flowerets

• awns are robust thick and stiff

• sharp awns

• plant is hairy

Poaceae Bromus hordeaceus soft brome

• Introduced annual

• Contacted inflorenscence

• awns are soft

Poaceae Distichlis spicata salt grass

• Native perennial

• dioecious

• contracted panicle

• really big lehmann flowerests

• rhizomous

• leaves ranked

• alternate leaf blades working it way up

• purple flowers

Poaceae Nassella pulchra purple needlegrass

• Native perennial

• Long inflorescence

• very long spikelets

• awns is two kinks

• awns are hairy

• one floweret per spikelet

Poaceae Achnatherum hymenoides Indian ricegrass

• Native perennial

• branches are wavy

• terminate in a single spikelet

Poaceae Leymus cinereus Great Basin wildrye

• Native perennial

• Spike inflorescence

• big grass

• red/copper spikelet

Rosaceae Adenostoma fasciculatum chamise

• Native perennial

• Very flamable

• Indicator species

• Looks like roosemary

• densly branch

• dense thickets

• ends of branch get white flowers

Asteraceae Baccharis sarothroides desert broom

• Discious

• yellow to cream color flowers

• silky hairs for female flowers

• One flower per branch

• Stems are always green

• Stems are sticky and the leaves

• Almost never see leaves (only on brand new growth)

• Germinates in the winter, can flower in the winter

Asteraceae Isocoma tenuisecta burroweed

• Native Perennial

• Monoecious

• flowers are yellow and cluster on top of the stems

• Deeply dissected leaves

• Alternate on the stem

• Base of the flower has small black dots

• toxic

• indicator of overgrazing

Asteraceae Flourensia cernua tarbush

• Native perennial

• tar on the stems, leaves, and flowers

• flowers nod over

• flowers are sticky and black resin or tar

• As they age the tar gets blacker and blacker

• poisonous

Fabaceae Prosopis glandulosa mesquite

• Native perennial

• bi-pinnate leaves

• Long spike like yellow flower

• Typically have a single spine

• Bumps on the stem (scars)

• Longer bean pods

• More beans in the pods

Liliaceae Yucca elata soaptree yucca

• Smaller than joshua trees

• Flat leave

• spines only at the tip of the leaf

Poaceae Bothriochloa barbinodis cane beardgrass

• Native perenial

• spike-let has a long awn on it (perfect)

• Sliver to white hairs that are stiff not fluffy

• Leaf will extend beyond the inflorescences

• kinked in the leafs

• Nodes are hairy

Poaceae Heteropogon contortus tanglehead

• kinked awns (two kinks)

• cause awns to twist together look braided

• spikelet has very long awn

• leaf blades are quite flat

• stems tend to be compressed

• bronze or copper color later in the season

Poaceae Sorghum halepense Johnsongrass

• Introduced perennial

• Large grass

• broad leaves

• very large plant

• one kink in awn (Medium in length)

• strong rhizomes

• poisonous after a frost

Poaceae Aristida purpurea purple threeawn

Native perennial

• narrow panicle

• spikelets are one flowers

• three parted awns

• leaves are curled (look fine)

• looks delicate

• purple color in the inflorescences

Poaceae Bouteloua aristidoides needle grama

• Native annual

• 6 week native grama

• roots are super tiny

• Spikelets are very fine and small

• one of the flowerets have a three-parted awn

• three awn like

Poaceae Bouteloua curtipendula sideoats grama

• native perennial

• smaller cluster of spike let

• all the inflorescence cluster on one side of the stem

• Each spikelet has two flowerets

• super short three parted awns

• small orange flowers

Poaceae Bouteloua eriopoda black grama

• Native perennial

• hairy at the base of the branch

• Ascending branches

• larger and thiner

• spikelet will follow the stem

• Where the branches connect to stem are hairy

• Internodes are hairy

• hairy foot

Poaceae Bouteloua hirsuta hairy grama

• Native perennial

• Fewer branches on the inflorescence

• very hairy

• branches are bigger

• grow more downard

• hairy

• branches are more lateral

• bare spot on the spikelet

• hairs look like a caterpillar

Poaceae Bouteloua rothrockii Rothrock grama

• Native Perennial but just barely

• Lots of branches in the inflorescence

• smaller not quite as hairy

• spikelet goes all the way to the end of the branch

• alternating branches

Poaceae Hilaria belangeri curly mesquite

• Native perennial

• small plant

• inflorescence is a spike

• spikelets directly attached to the stem

• spikelets in clusters

• two lateral spikelets

• one central spikelet

• pronounce zig zag steam once spikelets fall off

• rounded spikelets

• leaf blades cluster to the bottom of the plant

• hairy nodes

Poaceae Hilaria mutica tobosa

• Native perennial

• much bigger

• spike inflorescence

• flowerets are little more pointy

• rhizomes

• ragged spikelets

Poaceae Eragrostis intermedia plains lovegrass

• Native perennial

• spikelets are very plain

• no awns

• very big/broad triangle or pyramid shape inflorescence

• hairy branches

Poaceae Eragrostis lehmanniana Lehmann lovegrass

• Introduced perennial

• compact pannicle

• spikelets are larger

• no hairy branches

Poaceae Leptochloa dubia green sprangletop

• Native perennial

• Spikelets are not as pact together

• Longer branches

• no awns

• stems grow in all directions

• very large grass

Poaceae Muhlenbergia porteri bush muhly

• Native perennial

• under mesquite

• one floweret per spikelet

• mid length awns

• kinked leaf blades

• combs are perennial

• purple

• remain green all year if conditions permit

Poaceae Scleropogon brevifolius burrograss

• Native perennial

• short grass

• Diecious

• staminate

  • simple flowerets

  • no awns

• Pistilate

  • three parted awns

• more purple then red

Poaceae Digitaria californica Arizona cottontop

• Native perennial

• narrow pannicle

• alternating branches

• spikelets are paired

• silver to white cottony hairs

  • surround spikelets

• looks like cotton

• hairy collars

Rhamnaceae Ziziphus obtusifolia graythorn

• Native perennial

• stems are almost perfectly 90 degree angle

• all stems have a sharp tip

• oval leaves

• small fruit

• red to blue in color

• woody stems

• gray-green stems

• decsidous

• little green flowers

Anacardiaceae Rhus aromatica Skunkbrush sumac

• Native perennial

• Small ball like berries

• Berries red to yellow in color but fuzzy

• Three parted leaf

• Leaves are lobed

• Deciduous flower first then grow leaves

• large shrub

Asteraceae Baccharis salicifolia Seep willow

• Native perennial

• flowers at top of branch

• Dicious shrub

• leaves are bresent

• leaves are very long and thin

• roughly serrated on the margins

• small teeth

• leaves are alternate

• leaves are sticky

Cornaceae Garrya wrightii Wirght silktassel

• Native perennial

• Diecious

• evergreen

• opposite leaves

• Oval in shape, pointed at their tip

• No serrated margins

• Upper side is hairy

• catkin flower

  • trailing cluster of flowers

• chaparral indicator

Ericaceae Arctostaphylos pungens Pointleaf manzanita

• Native perennial

• short spreading shrub

• Alternate leaves

• oval shaped leaves

• flowers are small and bell-like

  • white to pink

  • fruit red to blue in color

• bark always going to be red in color

Fabaceae Mimosa biuncifera catclaw mimosa

• Native perennial

• very tint mesquite looking leaves

• bigger catclaw spines, base is very wide/ look like rose thorns and paired

• thorns on beans

• ball flowers

  • white to pink

Fagaceae Quercus arizonica Arizona white oak

• Native Perennial

• oval shape

• evergreen (live oak)

• drought deciduous

• leaves are very shiney

• leaf veins are prominent sunken onto of the leaf.

• leaves are entire but smaller leaves will have teeth

Fagaceae Quercus emoryi Emory oak

• native perennial

• Spikey leaf

• not evergreen

• winter decidious

• leaves are shiney

• veins are flush with the leaves

• Always shaped to a point at the end

• lobed with teeth

Fagaceae Quercus oblongifolia Mexican blue oak

• Native perennial

• more oval

• looks very blue

Fagaceae Quercus turbinella shrub live oak

• native perennial

• very spikey leaves

• more of a shrub then tree

• indicator species

• lots of sharp teeth on the lobes

Juglandaceae Juglans major Arizona walnut

• Native Perennial

• Long-ablong leaves

• riparian trees

• surface water or ground water

• deciduous tree

• compound leaves

• oddly pinnate

• margins are finely serrated

• dark green in color

• taper to a narrow tip

• flowers are catkin

Oleaceae Fraxinus velutina Arizona ash

• native perennial

• big round leaves

• small leaflets at the bottom of branch

• compound leaves

• lighter green in color

• fewer leaflet pairs

• oddly pinnate leaf

• oval in shape

• not really tapering

• seeds at the end of the branch

Platanaceae Platanus wrightii Arizona sycamore

• Native perennial

• Maple leaf like leaves

• tree-star

• dedicious tree

• moniecious or dicious

• 5 pointed leaves

• self pruning

Poaceae Vulpia octoflora sixweek grass

• Native annual

• tiny roots

• narrow pannicle

• all leaf blades cluster at the base of the plant

• short awns but hairy

• solitary no stolons or rhizomes

Poaceae Piptochaetium fimbriatum pinyon ricegrass

• Native perennial

• green bulbs at the top

• each spikelet has one floret

• spikelets are very round and large