In Awe - The Plant Tales of New Mexico

by Richard C. Raynard, Ph.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist

A Wonder

The emotion of awe is the wondrous, sometimes unexpected realization you are part of something so much bigger.

Outside the back door of our home in New Mexico was land that I learned was undisturbed for 5 million years. Here are some of the wonders of its living plants whose ancestors were that old.

A roadside plant often grows alone, inconspicuously, looking whitish-green. It becomes surprisingly sturdy, with branches with buds at the tips, growing to about 2 feet.  By then it is chalky-white with streaks of green at the tips. The flowers, pure white, bloom only at night and close up quickly at sunrise. No bees seem to visit, but perhaps the night moth does. This solitary plant I call the "Ghost Plant".

A small nest of twigs starts in early Spring, looking quite fragile. With amazing speed, by June it grows into a miniature rounded Oak tree about 5 feet tall, without a single leaf, just pale green branches.  Its shape is globular, symmetrical, and exquisitely branched. By the end of July, it has turned, just as quickly, into a brown, still leafless statuette. This is the "Desert Bonsai".

A white buttercup starts up in late Spring, growing with others in large groupings. In about a month, slender green tendrils grow out close to the ground, sometimes leading to new flowers. These tendrils snake and weave, and grow and grow, until there is a mat woven about 2 inches thick, quite tangled and nearly impenetrable.  Such a cute beginning!  I call this "Tanglefoot".

A common plant in the high desert starts in early spring looking just like a dandelion: flat, splayed, serrated. Then a sprout develops in the middle. An asparagus? A vine? No, it grows into a tall dandelion, the same leaves around a sturdy, tall stalk. Then, in July, after reaching 3 - 4 feet, it shoots off a corona of lacy branches at the top with a burst of tiny, yellow star-flowers. The "Dandelion Rocket".

A solemn plant resembles a grouping of hands of monks pointing to the sky, cupped in prayer. They take turns  blooming, the "fingers" becoming a circle of green spikes around a pale, yellow flower, like a medieval turret. They all turn to greet the rising sun. The "Monk's Salutation".

All these wonders made me reverent and awed at the ancient high desert land and plants. I, too, evolved from some such ancient landscape, a larger whole.  I learned to tread carefully.

About Dr. Raynard
Dr. Richard Raynard is a licensed clinical psychologist with 35 years experience resolving a broad range of emotional problems. As a cognitive-behavioral therapist who has specialized in anxiety and phobic disorders since 1980, he has spent the last 35 years fulfilling his life-long desire to explore and define the true purpose of emotions and how people can easily use emotions to create meaning and satisfaction in their lives. Dr. Raynard's series of books on emotions can be found on Amazon.com. His other books include Don't Panic, and Anxiety & Panic Medications.