Desert Broom

[Hank & Priscilla Brodkin]

While most respectable citizens hereabouts curse the invasive Desert
Broom (Baccharis sarothroides, we welcome it.  It is green throughout
the year, holds the soil, shelters many species of birds and insects,
and most of all it is a prime nectar source for many species of
butterfly.
Now - just as the Aspen on Miller Peak is beginning to turn yellow, the
Broom in our back yard and across Carr wash becomes frosted with white.
In the past couple days several of the plants have burst into bloom and
spread a table for the following species: 
Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor), Black Swallowtail (Papilio
polyxenes), Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme), Southern Dogface (C.
cesonia), Cloudless Sulphur (C. philodice), Mexican Yellow (Eurema
mexicana), Tailed Orange (E. proterpia), Sleepy Orange (E. nicippe),
Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus), Reakirt's Blue (Hemiargus
isola), American Snout (Libythana carinenta), American Lady (Vanessa
virginiensis), Painted Lady (V. cardui), Common Buckeye (Junonia
coenia), Queen (Danaus gilippus), and Desert Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus
philetus).
Not bad for one shrub on a lovely Fall afternoon.  Of course the down
side is - the blooming of the Broom is telling us that the first freeze
can not be too far away - and with it most of the butterflies that
graced our yard these past few months.
Cheers!
-- 
	             Hank & Priscilla Brodkin
	          Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ
             SouthEast Arizona Butterfly Association
          http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabasa/home.html