Turpentine-bush, a member of the sunflower family.
POINTLEAF MANZANITA is especially abundant on the lower eastern flanks of the Rincon Mountains in the Happy Valley area. Early in spring the waxy, urn-shaped blossoms, the leathery, glossy, evergreen leaves, and the typical grotesquely crooked, red-barked limbs, make manzanita one of the most attractive shrubs of the chaparral.
Although SKUNKBUSH is a close relative of poison ivy and sumac, its aromatic foliage is harmless. Growing in compact thickets, skunkbush provides food and cover for birds and other small animals. Inconspicuous yellow flowers appear from March to June, and are followed by berrylike fruits which are dull red when mature.
As you follow the trail higher, occasional MEXICAN PINYON PINES and ALLIGATOR JUNIPERS appear. Gradually these evergreens become more abundant, mingling with the oaks to form a pigmy oak-pine-juniper forest. Clumps of MOUNTAIN-MAHOGANY are noticeable, their feathery seed “tails” gleaming in the sunshine.
Pinyons are among the commonest and most widespread trees of the middle elevations throughout the Southwest. The Mexican pinyon, which is the species growing abundantly in the Tanque Verde-Rincon upland, may be recognized by the fact that its foliage is in clusters of three needles to the bundle. Its cones require nearly 2 years to mature and contain hard-shelled seeds or nuts which are a source of food for many birds and mammals. These pines are usually shrubby, rarely more than 15 to 25 feet high, with horizontal, twisted, low-growing limbs. Intermingled with the pinyons are alligator junipers, often mistakenly called cedars. Those in the monument are conspicuous because their platy bark forms an attractive pattern resembling the squarish-scaled skin of alligators. The berrylike cones are soft and mealy, and are eaten by many kinds of wild animals.
Although the oak-pine woodland supports a heavy stand of shrubby trees over much of the terrain, there are numerous open glades and grassy hillsides. In addition to some of the aforementioned grasses, BLUEGRASS, BULLGRASS, and PLAINS LIVEGRASS provide ground cover in this belt. Following summer showers, many flowering herbs brighten the open slopes. Yellow to orange petals of PUCCOON, and the white to lavender-and-rose blossoms of MOCK-PENNYROYAL and HOUSTONIA are among those seen along the trailside.
Ponderosa Pine Forest
Just as grassland merges with oak woodland and chaparral, and these with oak-pine woodland, so you will notice, as you climb steadily higher, that these woodlands gradually mingle with the open pine forests that cover much of the Rincon Mountains above 6,000 feet. PONDEROSA PINE is the “big tree” of the Rincons, usually growing in clear, open stands. Through its high canopy of spreading branches, sunlight mottles the shaded forest floor. Its presence indicates still cooler and wetter conditions than those below. Here you will need blankets at night, though summer days are warm.
Except for grasses such as PINE DROPSEED, SCREWLEAF MUHLY, and MOUNTAIN MUHLY, ground cover is scarce. In tree-glades or on old burns, however, intermediate-type shrubs (such as BUCKBUSH) and various herbs have established themselves. Some herbs develop into patches of colorful flowers in summer and autumn. Common flowering plants found among the pines are COLOGANIA; PEAVINE, with its large and showy, white, sweetpea-like blossoms throughout the summer; lupines; DOGBANE; and the familiar white WESTERN YARROW. Here, too, may be found GROUNDSEL, ASTER, FLEABANE, and others, often brightened by the presence of butterflies and other insects seeking nectar and pollen. Most of these forest flowers bloom in late summer or autumn, when plants in the desert, far below, are drab and dormant.
Throughout the pine forests, numerous small canyons and rocky outcrops favor the development of thickets of oak and locust, frequently growing together. GAMBEL’S OAK, a leaf-shedding white oak, ranges in size from a small shrub to a handsome tree. It has broad, deeply lobed leaves which provide browse for deer. Its acorns are consumed by deer, rodents, and birds, including wild turkeys. The NEW MEXICAN LOCUST also is browsed by deer. Rarely reaching tree size, this species is an attractive vegetative cover because of its odd-pinnate leaves and large clusters of purplish-pink flowers that appear in May and June. Locusts sprout freely from roots and form expanding thickets which encroach upon oak clumps. They provide a valuable network of soil-holding roots, important in retarding erosion. The best stands occur along the east slopes of the Rincons.