Wild or Plains Zinnia - Zinnia grandiflora
East of Hillsboro, NM, USA
May 25, 2016
This has been a good year for the Wild Zinnia - Zinnia grandiflora. The photographs shown here were taken on May 25 of this year east of Hillsboro, on the west side of Ready Pay Gulch.
This species was first described by Thomas Nuttall in 1840.
It is known by a variety of common names, including; Plains Zinnia, Rocky Mountain Zinnia, Prairie Zinnia, Little Golden Zinnia, Yellow Zinnia, and Wild Zinnia. Its scientific synonym is Crassina grandiflora.
The genus Zinnia’s name honor’s Johann Gottfried Zinn (1727 - 1759) a renowned German botanist (and anatomist) who at one point in his short life was collecting Zinnia seeds in Mexico when he was confronted by bandits. After searching him and hearing his story they left him unharmed, thinking that perhaps he was crazy.
The specimen shown below was collected in New Mexico by Charles Wright in 1851.
Photograph immediately above
North Wicks Canyon, East of Hillsboro
May 23, 2020
City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico
August 18, 2020
