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Project Noah Nature School
You are welcome. These spiders are frightening when they pop out of nowhere — but once your heartbeat calms down, they're neat to watch. :-)
Blooming on the Sonoran Desert right now. As the flowers age they turn from purple/mauve to a faded white. Haven't seen any berries yet. Leaves often hide the thorns. It belongs to the Nighshade (potato) family which also includes sacred datura aka jimsonweed. Ten species of Lycium i AZ.
Desert mistletoe is blooming now on the Sonoran Desert. The tiny greenish-yellow flowers — a favourite of bees — produce masses of orangey-red berries, a favourite of phainopeplas who are often seen perching on top of palo verde & ironwood trees. They are favourite hosts of this semi-parasite which will often kill them. Six species in Arizona.
Possibly a new set of cactus "leaves" forming at the end of a cactus arm?
Would this be a type of flax?
This looks like a garden flower we used to call bachelor('s) buttons ... Centaurea, as StirredMocha mentioned. An import into North America from Europe.
A type of prickly pear, per chance? (Opuntia spp)
