Index for Category - Polyptychs

This page last updated on 12/26/2017

What is a Polyptych? Similar to a diptych, which is a photograph that uses two different or identical images side by side to form one single artistic statement, and a Triptych that uses three pictures, a polyptych uses more than three pictures to tell a story or perhaps show more than one facet of an object, place or person. The parts may be from a single picture split in four or more sections, or four related pictures that are designed to be shown together, or four seemingly unrelated pictures that have been put together at the decision of the artist. The images can literally be in contact with each other, or separated by a border or frame. If an image can  speak a thousand words, then can four or more (a Polyptych) be better than one? Click A Title To View Bottle House - Rhyolite, NV Town Jail - Rhyolite, NV Blake Smith - Hiking Partner & Friend Walking Box Ranch - Searchlight, NV Chlorides Most Famous Truck - Arizona Bank of John S Cook & Company Bank - Rhyolite, NV 1917 Cadillac Type 55 Phaeton Exposed They Just Keep Rolling Along Halloween-Polyptychs 1963 Stingray Grand Canyon Railway Mosaic Marble Floors at the Bellagio Conservatory

Index for Category - Spotlight on Rock-hounds

Click on a Title to View Robert Croke and Blake Smith Spotlight on Harvey Smith Spotlight on Bill Terrance Sotlight on Jim Healey Spotlight on Blake Smith

The Mojave Yucca (Yucca Schidigera)

(Fig. 01)

Picture Notes: On 03/26/2013, I captured most of these Mojave Yuccas (Figs. 01 & 02) along the road leading to the Cottonwood Marina inside the Lake Mead National Recreation Area east of Searchlight, Nevada.

(Fig. 02)

Description: The Mojave Yucca (Yucca schidigera), also known as the Spanish Dagger, is a flowering plant in the family Agavaceae. This small evergreen tree can grow 3 to 16 feet tall, with a dense crown of spirally arranged bayonet-like leaves on top of a conspicuous basal trunk. (Fig. 03) The leaves are narrow, linear, and spreading in all directions from the stem, and they are wide-based and have stiff, yellow-green blades 12" to 60" long and 1" to 1-1/2" wide.  They are also tipped with terminal spines and have coarse fibers along the margins, which Yucca whipplei lacks.  The cream-colored flowers (Fig. 05) appear in a long terminal cluster.  The individual flowers are large, pendent, bell shaped and occasionally have a purplish tinge.  The fruit (Fig. 03) is an oblong, elongate berry like capsule to 2" to 4" long with thick, obovoid seeds.  The bark is gray-brown, being covered with brown dead leaves near the top, becoming irregularly rough and scaly-to-ridged closer to the ground. Broad at their base, the leaves are long, concavo-convex, thick, very rigid, and yellow-green to blue-green in color. (Fig. 04) It is native to the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert of southeastern California, Baja California, southern Nevada and western Arizona. This yucca typically grows on dry rocky desert slopes and Creosote desert flats between 900-3600 feet in altitude, yet can be found up to 5,000 feet. They thrive in full sun and in soil with excellent drainage. It also needs no summer water. It is related to the Banana yucca (Y. baccata) (Fig. 04), which occurs in the same general area; hybrids between the two are sometimes found. In contrast, Banana Yucca tend to grow low to the ground on, at most, very short trunks, with leaves that are bluish. They both bloom from April to May. The fibers of the leaves were used by Native Americans to make rope, sandals, and cloth. The flowers and fruit could be eaten and the black seeds were ground into a flour. The roots were used to make soap. Currently extracts from this plant are in animal feed and various herbal medications. Some reports claim that Native Americans washed their hair with yucca to fight dandruff and hair loss. Among the other maladies this yucca has been used to treat are headaches, bleeding, gonorrhea, arthritis and rheumatism. Also used as a natural deodorizer. Used in pet deodorizers.

(Fig. 05)

Gravel Ghost (Atrichoseris platyphylla)

(Fig. 01)

Picture Notes:  I captured the picture in (Fig. 01) on 03/21/2013 while hiking a wash along the west side of Lake Mead’s Southshore Road. I'm pretty sure I have some more pictures of this flower, but haven't been able to locate the yet.

Description:  Gravel Ghost (Atrichoseris platyphylla), a.k.a tobacco weed and Parachute Plant, is an annual herb that is native to California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. It produces a low basal rosette of rounded leaves patterned with gray-green and purple patches at ground level. It sends up a weedy-looking thin branching stem topped with a number of attractive, fragrant white or pink-tinged flowers with layered ray florets about 1 inch across, that are rectangular and toothed.   Because the stems that support them are 1-2.5 feet tall, and very thin, they often appear to hover in the air, hence the common name gravel ghost. because. The flowers are fragrant and readily withering. They are found growing in the Mojave and Sonoran desert valleys and washes at elevations less than 4,500 feet. They flower mostly between March and May.

Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii) at Duck Creek Trail

(Fig. 01)

06/15/2012 Picture Notes: I captured this Desert Cottontail during an early morning hike in the Duck Creek Trail area as it passed along the Las Vegas Wash, just south of the Clark County Wetlands Park. These little fellas were everywhere; we must have seen at least a half dozen darting in and out of their shady resting spots as we walked the roads. Though most of them quickly darted away, I was finally able to get pictures of this one from a distance using a 200mm telephoto lens. Because I was hurrying and shooting "handheld", hoping to capture a picture before he ran away, the focus is not the best.

(Fig. 02)

Description: The Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), is also known as Audubon's cottontail. Cottontails are named after their rounded tail with white fur, which is shaped like a cottony ball (Fig. 01). The desert portion of their common name arises from their distribution across the arid lands of the American Southwest. It can be found throughout the western United States from eastern Montana to western Texas, and in northern and central Mexico. Westwards its range extends to central Nevada and southern California. (Fig. 03) Click Image to Enlarge   Adults are about 14 inches tall, between 13 to 17 inches long and weigh up to 3.3 lbs. Their ears are generally between 3.1 to 3.9 inchs long and are more often carried erect. Their hind feet are quite large, about 3.0 inchs in length (Fig. 03). Their fur is a light grayish-brown in color, with almost white fur on the belly. Females tend to be larger than the males, but have much smaller home ranges, about 1 acre, compared with about 15 acres for a male. Cottontail rabbits are very prolific and those feeding on green growth may have up to five litters of two to four young a year. The young are reared in nests which are made in pear-shaped excavations in the ground with the entrances only about 5 cm in diameter. Below, they are flared out to a width of 15-25 cm; the depth varies from 15 to 25 cm. They are lined with a layer of dried grasses, and the inside is filled entirely with rabbit fur in which the young repose. The female lies or squats over the opening to nurse her young, which are blind and hairless at birth. By 10 days of age the eyes have opened and within another 4 days the young are able to move outside the nest, although they remain near the nest for about 3 weeks. Desert cottontails rarely stray far from their natal or birthplace area. Although they are able to breed throughout the year, most young rabbits are produced in spring when the new growth of plants is most available. At other times of the year, selected foods include twigs, newly emerging grasses, weeds, and even cacti.   Cottontails rarely drink, and free water does not appear to be a requirement for either their survival or reproduction. It gets its water mostly from the plants it eats or from dew. Like most lagomorphs, it is coprophagic, re-ingesting and chewing its own feces: this allows more nutrition to be extracted. The desert cottontail is not usually active in the middle of the day, but it can be seen in the early morning or late afternoon. It mainly eats grass, but will eat many other plants, herbs, vegetables and even cacti. It gets its water mostly from the plants it eats or from dew. Like most lagomorphs, it is coprophagic, re-ingesting and chewing its own feces: this allows more nutrition to be extracted. The cottontail's normal anti-predator behavior is to run away in evasive zigzags reaching speeds of over 19 mph. Against small predators or other desert cottontails, it will defend itself by slapping with a front paw and nudging; usually preceded by a hop straight upwards as high as two feet when threatened or taken by surprise. Cottontails are preyed upon by a number of predators, including golden and bald eagles, great horned owls, ferruginous hawks, badgers, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, domestic dogs and cats and humans. Their life span is 2 years or less.