Most of east Phoenix is covered by artificiality; people from other places trying to pretend it's not a desert. I'm fascinated by the plants indigenous to desert areas, but this visit showed me just how little I knew. There were the agaves and cacti I expected, and I even learned the obscure difference between a saguaro and a cardon cactus, but what impressed me most was the lush appearance of the desert trees; acacias, mesquites, endless varieties of palo verde (Spanish for 'green stick'), and quite a few examples of the desert–fern (yes, hyphenated just like that.)
After I took this picture, I called myself and left a voicemail with the common and scientific names of both the large trees visible.
My voicemail only retains messages for 14 days unless I refresh them. So, the one in the back is the desert-fern, because I remembered that. If you'd like to identify the one in the foreground, right near the bridge we're on, I'll tell you where to find it.
Oh; on a cardon cactus, the needles are grouped in little bunches, lining the accorion pleats, and on a saguaro, they're individual spines, not grouped.
Or is it the other way 'round?
