Five botanists, including Curator of Botany Jon Rebman, have been collecting plants from near the base camp at El Chivato, in a large canyon near Dos Hermanos Ranch, and from the higher elevations of the Sierra Cacachila on top of Cerro El Llano, where they stayed overnight. On that peak, they discovered a completely unfamiliar species of the genus Senecio, in the daisy or Aster family. This plant may turn out to be a new species to science, or possibly a disjunct population of a known species from somewhere else. Lots of research back in the herbarium will be needed to tell the tale.
They also collected plants like Mirabilis exerta and Bidens nudata, endemic cliff-dwellers that hang on the north-facing cliffs along the highest ridge. These plants display specialized adaptations that allow them to flourish in their precipitous habitats. And, on their first day, they observed plants of a subshrub species Heliotropium displaying interesting reproductive phenomena that probably have never before been described.
All in all, exciting discoveries! For more details, visit theNAT’s Botany Department Facebook page.