New Mexico Flora (2007)

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Although New Mexico does not have the colors of the eastern sugar maples and oaks in the fall, it has fall colors provided by a variety of deciduous trees, shrubs, and fall blooming composites. Portions of the above images were taken this fall in the foothills of the Manzanos, the Manzano Mountains around Fourth of July Canyon where a remnant population of big tooth maple occur and in the Sandia Mountains.

Fall color also can be seen in southern New Mexico in the Chihuahuan Desert in late September and October if the summer monsoon rains have been abundant. The second bloom period of the desert can be as spectacular as the first if conditions are right. The first bloom period of the Chihuahuan Desert occurs in early spring: late February through May depending on winter moisture and temperature. Last year the rains fell around the Las Cruces - Alamogordo area and this year more to the east around the Carlsbad area. Some of the above pictures are from the Franklin Mountains near Las Cruces and Oliver Lee State Park near Alamogordo last year and outside of Hobbs and Carlsbad this year.

-Judy Dain, NMMNH&S Adjunct Naturalist


»Click here to read about why leaves change color in the fall.

Check out these web sites for more information on the Sandias, Manzanos and National Forests in New Mexico.