Hi Shanticristo,
I was quite surprised to find there is little information available
online about cacti specific to north central New Mexico. What I found
was that north central New Mexico does not generally fall into the
broad major desert regions of the U.S. where cacti typically grow,
though it does border them. You might check out this link for a
detailed description and illustration of the range of the four major
desert areas of the U.S.
http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/bto/desertecology/northame.htm#top
However, the area you're interested in borders both the Great Basin
and Chihuahuan deserts, so it may have cacti indigenous to these
neighboring desert areas. The scientific name for the cactus family is
"cactaceae," so when researching, look for that name in the scientific
description. Also, here's a good page on cacti in general that may
help you in identification:
http://eduscapes.com/nature/cactus/index1.htm
Along those lines, since cacti do flower, they are usually included in
comprehensive wildflower guides, though you'll have to study the guide
to learn which plants are actually cacti, and which are not. Here are
links to a couple of wildflower sites for your area:
This one from New Mexico Highland University does include a few cacti:
http://www.nmhu.edu/English/flowers/default.htm
Desert USA wildflower field guide (w/further links):
http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/FieldGuide/fieldguide.html
http://www.desertusa.com/flora.html
Harvard University North American Flora page search result for New
Mexico:
http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/Flora/flora.pl?FLORA_ID=12395
Also, here's a link to a list of rare plants of New Mexico that might
have some useful information for you:
Map of counties:
http://nmrareplants.unm.edu/nmrptc/county.htm
Rare plant list:
http://nmrareplants.unm.edu/nmrptc/county.htm
In addition, the Museum of Southwestern Biology at the University of
New Mexicoin Albuquerque maintains an Herbarium with research
collections of New Mexico plants, including over 3,000 species of
cactacaea. You might consider contacting them to see if they can
provide you a list of cacti indigenous to your area of interest.
Their website is here:
http://www.nmculture.org/cgi-bin/instview.cgi?_recordnum=MSB and the
link to the Herbarium info is here:
http://www.nmculture.org/cgi-bin/collview.cgi?_recordnum=208
There are printed materials and books available that have much more
information, and I did find a fairly comprehensive list of
publications, which you could try to find either in your local public
library or bookstore:
http://web.nmsu.edu/~kallred/herbweb/newpage5.htm
You might also try online at:
http://www.amazon.com or
http://www.bn.com
Good luck with finding your cacti. They're immensely interesting
plants. Please let me know if you need any clarification before
rating/closing your question so I can be sure you're satisfied with
your answer.
Best wishes,
--Byrd
Search terms used:
new mexico cacti OR cactus OR cactaceae
new mexico wildflowers
desert regions united states
united states cacti OR cactus OR cactaceae |
