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Desert Botanical Garden, Part 5

Midway through the wildflower trail, one comes to a view of one of the hills in Papago Park. This one has always reminded me of Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars. I don't know if it has an official name — so I'll stick with my choice.



Oh, look! A Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly. Remember that many wildflowers attract butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators. According to Wikipedia, "This butterfly frequents warmer, more temperate environments, and can be found mostly in open grasslands, woodlands, meadows, and backyard gardens."


I confess, these butterflies all were encountered in the Butterfly House not on the wildflower trail. Some are not native to Arizona and the Garden is quite careful to not allow them to escape to the wild.

This one is a Monarch butterfly. It is perhaps the best known butterfly in North America. It winters in Mexico, California and Florida. When the weather turns warmer, they migrate to the northern parts of the U.S. and southern Canada.


Next up is a White Peacock butterfly. It is found in the southeastern United States, Central America, and throughout much of South America. Wikipedia adds, "The males of the species display a unique territorial behavior, in which they stake out a territory typically 15 meters in diameter that contains larval host plants. They perch in this area and aggressively protect it from other insects and other male white peacocks."


Here we see a Zebra Longwing butterfly. They are found in Central and South America as well as southern Texas and parts of Florida. They do migrate northward during the warmer months.


This lovely butterfly is named Julia. It is native to Brazil, southern Texas and parts of Florida. It does migrate to the northern U.S. during the summer. It has an impressive wingspan of up to 92 mm (3.62 inches).

An interesting detail from Wikipedia, "It feeds on the nectar of flowers, such as lantanas (Lantana) and shepherd's-needle (Scandix pecten-veneris), and the tears of caiman, the eye of which the butterfly irritates to produce tears."


Next up is a Buckeye butterfly — I assume its name is related to the large eye-spots found on the wings. They are thought to have originated in Africa and then spread to Asia.


These are familiar to anyone who has spent time in California — California Poppies. They grow in profusion in California producing flowers that are orange, yellow or white — and occasionally pink.


Wow! This Prickly Pear cactus has a bumper crop of buds and flowers. Quite impressive.


And this looks like a gathering of Prickly Pear plants competing for the prize for "Best Flowers"


Surprise, surprise, surprise. You turn when you hear the noise of a hummingbird flapping its wings up to 70 times per second!!! They don't seem to fear humans very much but you have to be quick with your camera to locate them with your viewfinder, focus and press the shutter release. I was lucky that day.


I don't know the name of this species but I call it the Lazy cactus. It seems to be laying down on the job. But what spectacular flowers!

This marks the end of this visit to the Desert Botanical Garden. Next week, a new adventure eventually including dinosaurs.



Life is good.

Aloha,
B. David

P. S., All photos and text © B. David Cathell Photography, Inc. — www.bdavidcathell.com