Crotalus cerastes

Desert Sidewinder

Viperidae

One of three rattlesnake species found in the Mojave region, Crotalus cerastes is potentially the least dangerous. A small rattler, this snake is known best for its characteristic sidewinding locomotion when crossing areas of loose sand or silt. Though less aggressive and venomous than Crotalus scutulatus, the Mojave green rattlesnake, C. cerastes is still a venomous snake, and can inflict a painful, and potentially lethal, bite. As with all venomous snakes, keeping one's distance and letting the snake have its space is the best way to interact with them.

Aside from the snake's distinctive locomotion, one of the most iconic features of this species are its supraocular scales, giving the snake the appearance of having horns just above its eyes. These are handsome snakes, and if given their space, are a pleasant treat to see when in the field.

Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea

Old Man Cactus

Cactaceae

Slightly less common that Opuntia basilaris is Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea, also known as Old Man Cactus or Grizzlybear Pricklypear. Unlike O. basilaris, this plant has much more of the typical cactus appearance, with multiple long spines projecting from its areoles. At a distance, this dense "foliage" gives the plant a grizzled, white appearance, hence the common name.

The flowers are typically orange to yellow in color, emerging early to mid summer.

Lichanura trivirgata

Rosy Boa

Boidae

One of two spcies of Boidae native to the united states, L. trivirgata is an uncommon sight in the canyons of the Mojave. Found occupying rocky, granitic outcrops, these snakes are almost obligately ambush predators, being too slow moving to hunt down and capture prey. Like all members of Boidae, these snakes are non-venomous constrictors, capturing prey and

suffocating it by progressively tightening its body as the prey exhales.

They tend to be active during the warmer parts of the day, while staying under shelter during the hottest and coldest times of the year. These boas, like most members of the family, are ovoviviparous, giving birth to live young, usually in broods of six.

Mimulus cardinalis

scarlet monkeyflower

Phrymaceae

Found in the waterways of Surprise canyon and the adjoining riparian areas, M. cardinalis is a herbaceous perennial. Once included in Scrophulariaceae, it has been moved to Phrymaceae thanks to recent genetic taxonomy. M. cardinalis is a popular landscaping plant, thanks to its showy foliage and striking trumpet shaped flowers.

Like many tubular, red flowers, M. cardinalis is hummingbird pollenated.

Opuntia basilaris

Beavertail cactus

Cactaceae

One of the few commonly occurring cacti in the Mojave, Opuntia basilaris is an unobtrusive, low growing "sub-shrub" found mostly in canyons. Not growing much more than 1.5-ft tall at most, its easily overlooked most of the year. Yet, in the spring, it puts on a spectacular show, bursting into deep-magenta flowers.

Like almost all members of cactaceae, and the opuntia group in particular, O. basilaris is armed with defensive spines. However, the spines are not the large, fixed structures that one commonly associates with cacti. Instead, they're armed with a type of spine called a glochid, which are fine, barbed and detach from the cactus on contact. Even casually touching a patch of the glochids is enough to leave dozens of them lodged in the skin, which easily break off at the skin's surface level, leaving the tips of the spines lodged underneath. It can take days for the spines to eventually work their way out, and the irritation caused by their presence can be maddening, depending on how deeply they get embedded.

Sairocarpus kingii (syn. Antirrhinum kingii)

Least Snapdragon

Scrophulariaceae

Easily passed up, Sairocarpus kingii is yet another of the small plants of the Mojave and neighboring regions that rarely gets much attention except from the people who know to look for it. Found growing in canyon scree and washes, these plants aren't usually more than 1 ft. tall, and are not very robust, meaning they do not stand out among the other plants of the region. Even when in bloom, they do not stand out unless one looks closely.

Scrophulariaceae has recently undergone a massive taxonomic upheaval, where many different genera have been re-distributed into new families based on DNA sequencing.

Though many familiar groups have been redistributed, Sairocarpus has remained in its original family. However, this upheaval has lead to an issue with which scientific binomial is going to end up being used. At the moment, the Jepson Manual, which is the accepted key for the state, lists it as Antirrhinum kingii, while NRCS, the national database for plants, lists it as Sairocarpus kingii. It is likely going to take years to resolve the discrepancies between the various sources and finally settle on one name for the species.

Selaginella watsonii

Watson's spikemoss

Selaginellaceae

Not all plants found in the desert regions are seed bearing. One of my personal favorites, this species belongs to Lycopodiophyta, which is considered the oldest of the extant plant lineages, having descended from a division in the plant family that occurred around 410 million years ago. Found in the mountainous regions at the base of rocks and outcroppings, they are easily missed and generally ignored.

Despite its moss like appearance and name, S. watsonii is a true vascular plant, and has leaves, roots, and stems. Unlike seed plants, this species reproduces by spores. Like all members of its lineage, the leaves are an independently evolved structure from those of either the lignophyte (seed plant) or pteridophyte (fern) line. In essence, they're much like the wings of a bird vs. the wings of a bat. They are a similar structure that performs the same function, but arose separately and independently.

Because of the small size of these plants, and that they perform very little in the ecology they occupy, this species, as well as other members of its lineage, get only minor attention in the scientific community. While this is understandable, it also does them injustice, as they represents something that has persisted since before mammals, or even reptiles, entered the scene.