Annual Plant Species of the Borrego Desert: Seedling Pictures Arranged by Morphology
Lupinus concinnus, bajada lupine. | 
Eremalche rotundifolia, five spot. |
| Fig. 1. The cotyledons (seed leaves) and first true leaves of our plants in the Borrego Desert are amazingly variable, allowing many species to be identified at the baby stage. Left: note how richly-textured the cotyledons of bajada lupine are, and how incredibly-fuzzy-hairy the first true leaves are. Right: five spot not only has an extremely-showy flower, it possibly has the most charismatic cotyledons of any of our plants, with a distinctive green color, red veins and edges, and those cute projections at its tip.
Click on the pictures for larger versions. | |
The seedling pictures (of annuals, perennials and shrubs) shown here are organized by shape of the cotyledons and first true leaves. For a list in family order (which may not be fully up to date as more pictures are added), see Annual Plant Species of the Borrego Desert: Seedling and Flower Pictures. Also see Fred Melgert and Carla Hoegen's Pictures of Baby Plants.
Cotyledons sometimes have unusual "pinched tips" when the seed coat sticks to the tips of the cotyledons too long. That can happen to any species, but seems to happen more frequently to Collinsia concolor. See the two pix below for Camissoniopsis pallida which shows pinched cotyledons in the pix on the left, and normal cotyledons in the pix on the right.
The first-order organization of this page is as follows:
Table 1. Entire cotyledons, entire first true leaves ("entire" means leaves that have no lobes or teeth)
Table 2. Weakly-toothed or weakly-lobed cotyledons and/or first true leaves
Table 3. Entire cotyledons and lobed first true leaves
Table 4. Lobed cotyledons and entire-to-lobed first true leaves
Senegalia greggii has entire cotyledons that stay below ground, so only has its pinnate first true leaf above ground. It has been placed in Table 3. Examples of other species that keep their cotyledons below ground include the garden pea, California peony, and Marah macrocarpa. This mechanism of germination is called hypogeal; epigeal plants have cotyledons above ground.
The second-order organization of this page is as follows.
- In Tables 1 and 2, the pictures are ordered from narrower to wider leaves, where the narrowness is defined as the ratio of the length to the width of the cotyledons.
- In Table 3, the pictures are ordered from least-lobed true leaves to more-lobed true leaves.
- In Table 4, the pictures are ordered from least-lobed cotyledons to most-lobed cotyledons.
These baby plants have been identified from a number of different approaches:
- Some plants, like the Nama demissa, were followed at the same location until they bloomed, since we initially weren't quite sure what the species was.
- Some are babies seen in areas that we've heavily botanized in prime time so we know what grows there. That's the only way we can tell the Loeseliastrum and Amsinckia species, and the Phacelia crenulata varieties, since otherwise the taxa look identical to us until they flower. We keep photographing such species at all stages in the hope that we can eventually discover something that gives away their determination before flowering.
- Some are baby plants growing alongside plants in bloom, from different germination cohorts, that pretty clearly look like the same species, giving a reasonable certainty to their determination.
- Many of these are species we've seen through a number of years, such as Phacelia distans, watching them progress from babies to adults in different areas.
- Some, like the Monoptilon, we've never successfully identified as babies. Note that there is a bud on the plant in its picture given below, giving away its determination.
Fundamentally, of course, this is an exercise in matching the items in column A (baby plants) with items in column B (adult plants). The flora of an area gives us the list of adult plants. Hence when the list of baby plants is complete, the errors should be absent.
Table 1. Entire cotyledons, entire first true leaves, ordered from narrower to wider leaves
Chaenactis fremontii | 
Malacothrix glabrata | 
Palafoxia arida |
Plantago ovata Leaf hairiness is quite variable; some young leaves are nearly glabrous | 
Cryptantha angustifolia | 
Cryptantha_maritima |
Monoptilon bellioides | 
Cryptantha_barbigera | 
Pectocarya recurvata |
Camissonia pallida ssp. pallida (#1 of 2) Camissoniopsis pallida ssp. pallida Note the "pinched tips" of the cotyledons due to the seed coat sticking to the tips too long. | 
Camissonia pallida ssp. pallida (#2 of 2) Camissoniopsis pallida ssp. pallida | 
Nama demissum var. demissum Nama demissa var. demissa |
Amaranthus albus or Amaranthus blitoides | 
Loeseliastrum matthewsii | 
Loeseliastrum schottii |
Bebbia juncea var. aspera | 
Senecio mohavensis | 
Plagiobothrys arizonicus |
Filago californica Logfia filaginoides | 
Geraea canescens | 
Mimulus bigelovii |
Simmondsia chinensis | 
Tidestromia oblongifolia | 
Calyptridium monandrum |
Antirrhinum filipes Note the hairy base of the petioles (the lower stem is hairy, too) | 
Justicia californica | 
Nemacladus rubescens |
Eriophyllum wallacei | 
Centrostegia thurberi | (intentionally blank) |
Encelia farinosa (#1 of 3) | 
Encelia farinosa (#2 of 3) | 
Encelia farinosa (#3 of 3) |
Encelia frutescens (#1 of 3) | 
Encelia frutescens (#2 of 3) | 
Encelia frutescens (#3 of 3) |
Ditaxis lanceolata | 
Ditaxis neomexicana (merged into D. serrata at iNat) Cotyledons are shriveled | (intentionally blank) |
Nicotiana clevelandii | 
Nicotiana obtusifolia | 
Parietaria hespera var. hespera |
Mirabilis bigelovii var. retrorsa Mirabilis laevis var. retrorsa These two Mirabilis species may have the biggest cotyledons of any of our species | 
Mirabilis tenuiloba These two Mirabilis species may have the biggest cotyledons of any of our species | 
Cucurbita palmata (#1 of 2) from Karyn Sauber |
Table 2. Weakly-toothed or weakly-lobed cotyledons and/or first true leaves, ordered from narrower to wider cotyledons or leaves
Hesperocallis undulata A monocot with only one cotyledon. First true leaf appears in later years. and is usually undulate. | 
Baileya_pauciradiata Cotyledons not visible in this pix | (intentionally blank) |
Oenothera deltoides ssp. deltoides | 
Camissonia claviformis ssp. peirsonii Chylismia claviformis ssp. peirsonii (#1 of 2) | 
Camissonia claviformis ssp. peirsonii Chylismia claviformis ssp. peirsonii (#2 of 2) |
Volutaria tubuliflora | 
Rafinesquia neomexicana | (intentionally blank) |
Lepidium lasiocarpum Linear entire cotyledons (#1 of 2) First true leaf can be entire (shown above) to lobed | 
Lepidium lasiocarpum Linear entire cotyledons (#2 of 2) First true leaf can be entire to lobed (shown above) | 
Trichoptilium incisum |
Chenopodium murale (#1 of 3) | 
Chenopodium murale (#2 of 3) | 
Chenopodium murale (#3 of 3) |
Abronia villosa var. villosa | 
Psorothamnus schottii | 
Psorothamnus spinosus |
Cucurbita palmata (#2 of 2) from Karyn Sauber | (intentionally blank) | (intentionally blank) |
Table 3. Entire cotyledons and lobed first true leaves, organized from least-lobed true leaves to more-lobed true leaves
Mentzelia involucrata (#1 of 2) | 
Mentzelia involucrata (#2 of 2) | 
Perityle emoryi |
Dithyrea californica | 
Dicoria canescens | (intentionally blank) |
Gilia latifolia Aliciella latifolia (#1 of 3) | 
Gilia latifolia Aliciella latifolia (#2 of 3) | 
Gilia latifolia Aliciella latifolia (#3 of 3) |
Phacelia crenulata var. ambigua (#1 of 2) | 
Phacelia crenulata var. ambigua (#2 of 2) Leaves are quite variable | 
Phacelia campanularia ssp. campanularia Photo by Don Rideout |
Phacelia crenulata var. minutiflora (#1 of 2) | 
Phacelia crenulata var. minutiflora (#2 of 2) Leaves are quite variable | 
Phacelia minor Photo by Don Rideout; verification needed in March 2024 |
Sonchus oleraceus Note that the first true leaf is unlobed, but subsequent leaves are lobed. | 
Nemacladus glanduliferus | 
Pterostegia drymarioides True leaves range from entire to deeply lobed (shown; upper leaf is missing one lobe) |
Eucrypta micrantha from Carla Hoegen / Fred Melgert | 
Eucrypta chrysanthemifolia var. bipinnatifida | 
Langloisia setosissima ssp. setosissima |
Emmenanthe penduliflora | 
Phacelia distans | 
Ambrosia dumosa Cotyledons not visible |
Lotus salsuginosus var. brevivexillus Acmispon maritimus var. brevivexillus |
Lotus strigosus Acmispon strigosus | 
Astragalus palmeri from Carla Hoegen / Fred Melgert |
|
Lupinus concinnus (hairiness is variable) | 
Lupinus arizonicus | 
Astragalus didymocarpus var. dispermus |
Fagonia laevis (note narrowly-elliptic leaflets) | 
Fagonia pachyacantha (note obovate terminal leaflets) | (intentionally blank) |
Pholistoma auritum var. arizonicum | 
Pholistoma membranaceum Note the much longer petioles on the cotyledons compared to Pholistoma auritum | 
Apiastrum angustifolium |
Eschscholzia minutiflora Leaves are variable, and can look similar to E. parishii | 
Eschscholzia parishii Leaves are variable, and can look similar to E. minutiflora | 
Senegalia greggii Cotyledons are below ground! Plant grown from seed. Pix is 23 days after planting the seed, and 11 days after shoot emergence above ground. We do not know what the linear structures are just above the base of the stem; perhaps a large bract and a small undeveloped leaf. Note the small red slightly recurved prickles, seen best in the link pix. |
Parkinsonia florida Note the blue-glaucous stem color, with single curved spines at the leaf nodes. | 
Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana Neltuma odorata Note the double stout spines at the base of the leaf nodes. | (intentionally blank) |
Table 4. Lobed cotyledons and entire-to-lobed first true leaves, ordered from least-lobed cotyledons to most-lobed cotyledons
Camissonia californica Eulobus californicus | 
Eriogonum davidsonii | 
Brassica tournefortii |
Salvia columbariae | 
Salvia eremostachya by Don Rideout (cotyledons not visible) | 
Salvia vaseyi |
Eremalche exilis |
Eremalche rotundifolia | (intentionally blank) |
Erodium texanum | 
Erodium cicutarium | (intentionally blank) |
Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia Amsinckia intermedia | (intentionally blank) | (intentionally blank) |