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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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Introductory
SPECIES: Salazaria mexicana | Bladdersage
ABBREVIATION :
SALMEX
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
SAME
COMMON NAMES :
bladdersage
paperbagbush
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name for bladdersage is Salazaria
mexicana Torr. [1,17,23]. There are no recognized subspecies, varieties,
or forms.
LIFE FORM :
Shrub
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
Julie Tesky, January 1994
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
NO-ENTRY
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Tesky, Julie L. 1994. Salazaria mexicana. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Salazaria mexicana | Bladdersage
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Bladdersage is found in the Mojave, Sonora, and Colorado deserts from
southern California to southern Utah, western Arizona, southwestern
Texas, and northern Mexico [8,15,20,23,31].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES40 Desert grasslands
STATES :
AZ CA NM TX UT MEXICO
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
BIBE DEVA GRCA JOTR LAME
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
7 Lower Basin and Range
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K039 Blackbrush
K041 Creosotebush
K042 Creosotebush - bursage
K044 Creosotebush - tarbush
K053 Grama - galleta steppe
K054 Grama - tobosa prairie
K057 Galleta - three-awn shrubsteppe
K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
SAF COVER TYPES :
238 Western juniper
239 Pinyon - juniper
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Bladdersage is commonly found in the desert grasslands, creosotebush
(Larrea tridentata) scrub, blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima) scrub,
mixed desert shrub communities, Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia)
woodlands, and pinyon (Pinyon spp.)-juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodlands
[9,11,17,18,31]. Nichol [33] described a Mojave yucca (Yucca
schidigera)-bladdersage association found on rocky soils in the Mojave
Desert of Arizona. In addition to the above mentioned species,
bladdersage is commonly found associated with California buckwheat
(Eriogonum fasciculatum), spiny hopsage (Grayia spinosa), Nevada ephedra
(Ephedra nevadensis), green ephedra (E. viridis), and Mojave desertrue
(Thamnosma montana), [18,27].
Bladdersage is listed as a codominant species in the following
publication:
The natural vegetation of Arizona [33].
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Salazaria mexicana | Bladdersage
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Bladdersage is grazed only lightly by cattle and horses except on ranges
where little other forage is available [9].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
Some arroyo habitats where bladdersage occurs provide den sites for the
desert tortoise [16].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Salazaria mexicana | Bladdersage
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Bladdersage is a native, perennial, rhizomatous, rounded to straggly,
intricately branched shrub 1 to 3.5 feet (0.3-1 m) tall [8,15,17,29,31].
It is usually sparsely leaved [23]. The mature plants form a dense
tangled clump of intertwined living and dead stems [4]. The branches
are spine tipped with papery bladders scattered over the surface [15].
The leaves are 0.3 inch (8 mm) wide and 0.2 to 1 inch (5-25 mm) long,
thickish, and leathery [23]. The flowers are in loose racemes 2 to 4
inches (5-10 cm) long [15,17,29,31]. The calyx is pouch shaped and
about 0.37 inch (0.95 cm) long. At maturity it is bladdery and inflated
(0.5 to 0.75 inch [1.3-1.9 cm] in diameter), enclosing four nutlets
[29].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Bladdersage reproduces by seed. The flowers are animal pollinated and
the seeds are dispersed by wind [19]. Seeds are highly viable during
the first year after they are produced, but viability decreases by 1.5
years. The percent germination of bladdersage seeds collected in summer
and late fall of 1973 was as follows [22]:
storage conditions
date observed warehouse -15 deg C 4 deg C room temp.
December 1973 84 N/A N/A N/A
January 1975 92 83 94 91
May 1975 33 44 44 43
Bladdersage also reproduces by sprouting from rhizomes [4]. Comstock
and others [4] described the growth of bladdersage on a Mojave Desert
study site as follows: Shoots originated from underground rhizomes and
reached a height of 1.6 to 3.3 feet (0.5-1.0 m) in the first year. For
the next 2 to 5 years whorls of short side branches originated
repeatedly from the uppermost nodes forming short floral shoots and ever
more tangled whorls of old twigs. Twig lifespans were variable. Shoots
originating from rhizomes lasted 3 to 5 years and the short floral
side branches often died back during their first drought [4].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Bladdersage is commonly found on sandy, gravelly, or clayey soils in dry
washes and canyons, on desert hillsides and mesas, and along arroyos
[8,11,20]. It grows best on sunny sites [26]. Bladdersage commonly
occurs at the following elevations:
Arizona - below 3,000 feet (914 m) [11]
California - below 5,000 feet (1,524 m)[17]
Trans-Pecos Texas - 2,200 to 3,100 feet (670-944 m) [20]
Utah - 3,083 to 4,593 feet (940-1,400 m) [31]
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Facultative Seral Species
Bladdersage can apparently be found in most stages of succession. Wells
[30] described it as a pioneer shrub typically found in disturbed areas.
Bladdersage density was 81 plants per acre (202 plants/ha) and frequency
was 20 percent on a 33-year-old abandoned street system of a Nevada
ghost town [30]. In the Mojave Desert bladdersage is a long-lived shrub
present in later stages of desert succession [27,28]. According to
Vasek and Barbour [27] bladdersage prefers undisturbed sites and usually
decreases in relative abundance with soil disturbance. On a sandy
bajada in California, bladdersage was present in an old, stable
creosotebush scrub community [27].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Bladdersage generally flowers from March through June [15,17,23]. Its
leaves are drought deciduous [4].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Salazaria mexicana | Bladdersage
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Regeneration of bladdersage after fire is not described in literature
currently available. Because of its sprouting ability, it probably can
regenerate from underground rhizomes if top-killed by fire. Bladdersage
probably also colonizes burned areas via wind-dispersed seeds.
Fire frequency in the communities where bladdersage occurs depends on
productivity and continuity of fuels. In creosotebush scrub
communities, fires generally occur in those occasional years when
exceptionally heavy winter rains have produced abnormally high number of
annuals [10]. Fires are also rare in blackbrush communities; however,
these communities have been known to burn under conditons of high
temperature, high wind velocity, and low relative humidity [10].
Pinyon-juniper communities historically burned every 10 to 30 years
[32]. Fires in mountainous areas of the Mojave Desert where bladdersage
occurs usually cover limited areas but may be highly destructive to the
woody tissues of bladdersage plants. These mountain burns are very
susceptible to erosion and revegetate slowly [10]. Where livestock
grazing has reduced grass cover and accelerated erosion, fire frequency
has decreased [14,32].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Rhizomatous shrub, rhizome in soil
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Salazaria mexicana | Bladdersage
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Information was not available regarding the immediate effects of fire on
bladdersage. However, bladdersage is probably top-killed or killed by
fire. Severe fires may kill belowground rhizomes.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
NO-ENTRY
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Salazaria mexicana | Bladdersage
REFERENCES :
1. Benson, Lyman; Darrow, Robert A. 1981. The trees and shrubs of the
Southwestern deserts. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press.
[18066]
2. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
3. Cody, M. L. 1986. Spacing patterns in Mojave Desert plant communities:
near-neighbor analyses. Journal of Arid Environments. 11: 199-217.
[4411]
4. Comstock, J. P.; Cooper, T. A.; Ehleringer, J. R. 1988. Seasonal
patterns of canopy development and carbon gain in nineteen warm desert
shrub species. Oecologia. 75(3): 327-335. [22222]
5. Dittberner, Phillip L.; Olson, Michael R. 1983. The plant information
network (PIN) data base: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, and
Wyoming. FWS/OBS-83/86. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Fish and Wildlife Service. 786 p. [806]
6. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
7. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
8. Hickman, James C., ed. 1993. The Jepson manual: Higher plants of
California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 1400 p.
[21992]
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Mohave County: A study in range condition. Bulletin 244. Tucson, AZ:
University of Arizona, Agricultural Experiment Station. 79 p. [4440]
10. Humphrey, Robert R. 1974. Fire in the deserts and desert grassland of
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ecosystems. New York: Academic Press: 365-400. [14952]
11. Kearney, Thomas H.; Peebles, Robert H.; Howell, John Thomas; McClintock,
Elizabeth. 1960. Arizona flora. 2d ed. Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press. 1085 p. [6563]
12. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
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National Monument. No. 037/01. Las Vegas, NV: University of Nevada,
Department of Biological Sciences, Cooperative National Park Resources
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14. Leopold, Aldo. 1924. Grass, brush, timber, and fire in southern Arizona.
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15. MacMahon, James A. 1985. The Audubon Society nature guides: Deserts. New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 638 p. [4956]
16. McArthur, E. Durant; Sanderson, Stewart C. 1992. A comparison between
xeroriparian and upland vegetation of Beaver Dam Slope, Utah, as desert
tortoise habitat. In: Clary, Warren P.; McArthur, E. Durant; Bedunah,
Don; Wambolt, Carl L., compilers. Proceedings--symposium on ecology and
management of riparian shrub communities; 1991 May 29-31; Sun Valley,
ID. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-289. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station: 25-31. [19091]
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University of California Press. 1086 p. [4924]
18. Pemberton, Robert W. 1988. The abundance of plants bearing extrafloral
nectaries in Colorado and Mojave Desert communities of southern
California. Madrono. 35(3): 238-246. [6163]
19. Pendleton, Rosemary L.; Pendleton, Burton K.; Harper, Kimball T. 1989.
Breeding systems of woody plant species in Utah. In: Wallace, Arthur;
McArthur, E. Durant; Haferkamp, Marshall R., compilers.
Proceedings--symposium on shrub ecophysiology and biotechnology; 1987
June 30 - July 2; Logan, UT. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-256. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research
Station: 5-22. [5918]
20. Powell, A. Michael. 1988. Trees & shrubs of Trans-Pecos Texas including
Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks. Big Bend National Park,
TX: Big Bend Natural History Association. 536 p. [6130]
21. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
22. Rowlands, Peter G. 1980. Recovery, succession, and revegetation in the
Mojave Desert. In: Rowlands, Peter G., ed. The effects of disturbance on
desert soils, vegetation & community processes with emphasis on off road
vehicles: a critical review. Special Publication, Desert Plan Staff.
Riverside, CA: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land
Management: 75-119. [20680]
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Desert. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 2 vols. [21016]
24. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
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National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
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their erosion-control and wildlife values. Washington, DC: U.S.
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27. Vasek, Frank C.; Barbour, Michael G. 1977. Mojave desert scrub
vegetation. In: Barbour, M. G.; Major, J., eds. Terestrial vegetation of
California. New York: John Wiley and Sons: 835-867. [3730]
28. Vasek, F. C.; Johnson, H. B.; Eslinger, D. H. 1975. Effects of pipeline
construction on creosote bush scrub vegetation of the Mojave Desert.
Madrono. 23(1): 1-13. [3429]
29. Vines, Robert A. 1960. Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of the Southwest.
Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. 1104 p. [7707]
30. Wells, Philip V. 1961. Succession in desert vegetation on streets of a
Nevada ghost town. Science. 134: 670-671. [4959]
31. Welsh, Stanley L.; Atwood, N. Duane; Goodrich, Sherel; Higgins, Larry
C., eds. 1987. A Utah flora. Great Basin Naturalist Memoir No. 9. Provo,
UT: Brigham Young University. 894 p. [2944]
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and southern Canada. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 501 p. [2620]
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Index
Related categories for Species: Salazaria mexicana
| Bladdersage
|
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