Current Projects
Grasses of New Mexico
An on-going project at the herbarium is the study of the Grasses of New Mexico. This project attempts to keep a current, accurate listing of all the grasses occurring in the state, whether native, adventive, cultivated, or introduced. We also try to verify nomenclature and classification, investigate taxonomic problems, and authenticate distributions. The booklet, "A Field Guide to the Grasses of New Mexico", summarizes our findings thus far, with keys to genera and species, distribution maps, and numerous illustrations. Distribution maps of New Mexico grasses may be accessed online at the map site prepared by the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
The herbarium houses about 10,000 specimens of grasses, mostly from New Mexico and northern Mexico. In addition, specimen information from the grass collection is maintained in a data base available for searching.
As presently understood, the grass flora of New Mexico comprises 8 subfamilies, 15 tribes, 120 genera, 434 species, and 480 total taxa. The largest genus is Muhlenbergia, with 42 species.
We are always interested in new information about the grass flora of New Mexico, and will be happy to help with identifications in exchange for specimens.
Mosses of New Mexico
The mosses (Bryophyta: Musci) from New Mexico are imperfectly known. We are continuing a project to inventory the moss flora of the state and to document with voucher specimens the known species. The most recent listing is available at the link below. It records for New Mexico 36 families, 119 genera, and 291 species and varieties.
The checklist is reprinted from EVANSIA 18(1):1-18. 2001. Š American Bryological and Lichenological Society, used by permission.
A Field Guide to the Flora of the Jornada Plain
Edition 5, June 2005
The Jornada Plain in central Doņa Ana County lies at the southern end of the famous Jornada del Muerto (Journey of the Dead). It is bounded on the west by the Rio Grande and on the east by the San Andres Mountains. The area under study is home to the Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (formerly the College Ranch) of New Mexico State University and much of the Jornada Experimental Range, operated by the USDA.
The flora of the Jornada Plain includes 72 families, 290 genera, and 502 species of seed plants (conifers and flowering plants), and eight families, 17 genera, and 22 species of spore plants (ferns, horsetails, spikemosses, and true mosses), totaling 80 families, 307 genera, and 524 species. The predominant plant families are the Asteraceae with 64 genera and 98 species, the Poaceae with 37 genera and 84 species, and the Fabaceae with 19 genera and 37 species.
The first "A Field Guide to the Flora of the Jornada Plain" was published in 1988 as Bulletin 739 of the Agricultural Experiment Station, New Mexico State University. All succeeding editions have been issued as Contributions from the Range Science Herbarium: Edition 2 in 1997; edition 3 in 2000; edition 4 in 2003; and now edition 5 in 2005
A copy may be obtained by sending a request to:
Kelly Allred
MSC Box 3-I
Department of Animal & Range Sciences
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM 88003