RAIN BRINGS SOME PLANTS WE HAVE NOT SEEN

It has been a long time since we have had moisture like this past fall and spring. It sure is nice to see. With this moisture we are seeing some plants that have been dormant for some time. One of my favorite is bright yellow flower low growing forb out in the desert. You see it in some fairly large patches to some small one but it is nice to see. This is comely called Fiddlers bladder pod. It is actually one of the few perennial mustard weeds, but it sit and wait until the moister is good then it grows and produces those yellow flowers and the seed pod that is reminiscent of a bladder hence the name bladder pod. There are a number of species of balder pod but the most common in Eddy County is the Fiddlers (Lesquerella fendleri). This makes wonderful sheep feed. The next plant we see a little more often it occurs in patches of purple flowers and is commonly called verbena (Abronia villosa). It in the four o’clock family of forbs. It is a soft-haired, sticky plant with bright pink, trumpet-shaped flowers in heads that bloom on stalks growing from leaf axils. Desert sand-verbena appears as a mat following winter rains, growing 20 in. across and 3-6 in high. Short, sticky hairs cover both the inch-long, oval, fleshy leaves and the many-branched stems. Erect, 1-3 in. stems bear conspicuous clusters of fragrant, lavender-pink flowers. This too is a perennial. The third one is a plant that all the ranchers are glad to see but home owner consider it a weed. That is Filaree Storksbill (Erodium cicutarium), also called "Heron-bill," this creeping desert plant is one of the first bloomers of the season. Red stems spread along the ground up to 20 inches long supporting flowers and tiny, sword-shaped fruits. Ripening seed pods twist into a spiral. Fern-like leaves are 1/2 to 4 inches long. Filaree, a member of the Geranium Family (Geraniaceae) was native to Eurasia and introduced into the US by early Spanish settlers then became naturalized in Eddy County and the Southwest. The Texas Storksbill (E. texanum) has flowers twice the size and is as widely distributed. Read more: http://www.desertusa.com/flowers/filaree-storksbill.html#ixzz3XCrIBjgd I often receive phone call on how to control this weed, usually after the plant is large and difficult to control. At which time it is best to manual remove the plant before the seeds mature and dispose in the dumpster or burn. It can be controlled with broad leaf herbicide, 2,4,D compounds, glyphosate when it is small. It is a winter annual weed so once it starts to set the seed head, just like London rocket mustard, it has completed its lifecycle and will soon die. In this stage all the nutrients and resources are going to the seed so herbicides have little or no effect on the plant. The exception are contact herbicides, like Germoxone, or Telar. Ones it starts flowering 2,4,D and glyphosate will have little or no effect. Eddy County Extension Service, New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and educator. All programs are available to everyone regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. New Mexico State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Eddy County Government Cooperating.