WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO
The term “shrub” can be applied to any perennial plant with woody base and stems, often with multiple, branching limbs, and as a rule of thumb, less than 15 feet tall. In optimal habitats, many shrubs can develop into small trees. Plants with single or several small trunks that extend upward to a branching canopy tend toward the tree category.
Shrubs are one of the keystone plant types of desert, steppe, and foothill ecosystems. With deep roots that can reach subsurface moisture, they can outcompete shallow-rooted grasses and wildflowers in arid or degraded habitats. A century of overgrazing by cattle of Chihuahua Desert grass and shrub lands has eradicated the grasses and turned more than 90 percent of the desert ecosystem into scrublands dominated by creosote bush, mesquite, sand sage, and saltbush. In higher deserts and plateaus, sagebrush (Artemisia species) dominate a diverse vegetation community of shrubs, perennial and annual wildflowers, and grasses. In foothills and montane forests, a mixed understory of shrubs and small trees adds layers of biodiversity to the ecosystem.
The same features that make shrubs and small trees critically important in ecosystems make them beautiful additions to home landscapes. With a well-developed root system, they are drought tolerant; woody branches develop leaf and flower buds ready to burst open as soon as spring temperatures warm up; early flowers provide a bonanza of nectar and pollen for emerging and summer nesting pollinators, and summer and fall fruit provide a long-lasting food source for birds; and dense branching provides birds with protected nesting and roosting sites.
SHRUBS and small tress
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WHITE FLOWERING SHRUBS
YELLOW to CREAM FLOWERING SHRUBS
RED TO PINK FLOWERING SHRUBS
BLUE TO PURPLE OR MAGENTA FLOWERING SHRUBS
Leaves alternate
Berberis haematocarpa (Mahonia haematocarpa)
Barberry Family, Berberidaceae
Evergreen shrub
Leaves opposite
Leaves alternate
Leaves alternate
Leaves whorled (or absent)
Ericameria nauseosa (Chrysothamnus nauseosus)
Aster Family, Asteraceae
Evergreen shrub
Ribes cereum (Ribes inebrians)
Gooseberry or Current Family, Grossulariaceae
Deciduous shrub
Leaves alternate
Leaves opposite or whorled
Leaves opposite
Leaves absent
Koeberlinia spinosa
Crucifixion Thorn Family, Koeberliniaceae
Leafless shrub
Paxistima myrsinites
Staff-Tree (Bittersweet) Family, Celastraceae
Evergreen subshrub
Sambucus mexicana (S. cerulea, S. nigra ssp. cerulea)
Viburnum Family, Viburnaceae
Deciduous shrub, small tree
Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii
(Sapindus drummondii)
Soapberry Family, Sapindaceae
Deciduous small tree or shrub
Symphoricarpos rotundifolius
(incl. S. oreophilus)
Honeysuckle Family, Caprifoliaceae
Deciduous shrub
