Meadows near Silver Lake in the Sacramento Mountains offer views of small habitats with several species of flora and fauna.
Spring is too early to see many species of plants, such as the few thistles that don’t flower until late summer, but other plant and animal species are already present, such as the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse and the Sacramento mountain butterfly. , Mexican spotted owl, and musk thistle.
“This is an island,” said Lincoln National Forest botanist Philip Hughes, referring to species of flora and fauna that are endemic to the Sacramento Mountains. Endemic means that these species live in certain geographical areas and do not grow naturally elsewhere.
Wright’s marsh thistle was recently listed as an endangered species. The thistle inhabits wetlands in New Mexico, including meadows near Silver Lake and the Santa Rosa Preserve, Roswell’s Bitter Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, and the Rio Grande Valley.
New Mexico has 12 native thistle species, said state botanist Erica Lowe. New Mexico Political Report.
“We have some properties in Santa Rosa related to Cienega Springs,” Lowe said. “There are natural permeable meadows of this species that habitats of this species (Wright’s thistle) prefer. It’s like it’s flowing.”
more: Flower found in wetlands of southern New Mexico listed as endangered species
The New Mexico Native Plant Society New Mexico Thistle Identification Guide In 2016, it aims to help distinguish between native species of thistle and pests of exotic and exotic species such as creeping thistle, milk thistle, scotch thistle and musk thistle.
“Creeping thistles are New Mexico’s most problematic and harmful invasive thistles,” according to our guide. “Stem patches from root shoots can be so large and dense that they eliminate wetland-specific vegetation. It’s damaging the system.”
Milk thistle is a 3- to 5-foot-tall biennial that is found mainly on roadsides at elevations of 4,500 to 9,800 feet and can be controlled by hand digging.
Scotch thistle is a large, attractive plant native to Scotland, but it is not welcomed in New Mexico. The national emblem of Scotland, the tree was introduced to New Mexico at some point in the 1980s, where it was found in “rough soils, grasslands, pinyon and juniper forests, ponderosa pine forests (and) in riparian areas (and) elevations between 4,000 and 7,600 feet.” The guide says you can see it. state. It can be identified by its gray filamentous stems and spiny, wing-like leaves descending the stems, and purple flowers.
Then there is the large purple-flowered musk thistle, which grows in abundance on rough soils such as roadsides, urban developments, fallow fields, and grazed mountain pastures, according to the guide. Occasionally, musk thistle can grow naturally in undisturbed habitat.
The seed thistle weevil was introduced to New Mexico to control musk thistle growth, according to Guides, but so far has been ineffective at high altitudes because the thistle blooms late, and some native thistles is said to be attacking
Musk thistles bear a striking resemblance to the endangered Sacramento mountain thistle.
In addition to the invasive thistle, two species of thistle are listed as endangered, including the Sacramento Mountains thistle, which is known to grow only in Sacramento, and the recently endangered Wright’s thistle. I’m here.
According to our guide, the Sacramento Mountains thistle is one of the native thistles that the seed weevil eats away. It resembles musk thistle and has purple flowers, but it is not as prolific as musk thistle. The Sacramento Mountains thistle is endangered due to insect predators, grazing, and aquifer depletion.
Light thistles are described in guides as having white or pale purplish-pink flowers and semi-fleshy or leathery leaves.
Other non-threatened species of thistle native to New Mexico include the Arizona thistle, which is native to the western half of New Mexico and is found on high-altitude rocky slopes and canyons. . Alpine thistle, endemic to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. Graham thistle, which is very rare and only found in southern Catron County, and New Mexico thistle, which blooms in late spring rather than late summer like most thistles, and is found in most of New Mexico.
