HELLO!
To witness a big poppy (above) is to marvel at how the wildflower's wrinkled white petals resemble the crepe paper flowers that adorn grade school bulletin boards or the gauzy fabric of a boho broomstick skirt. When in full bloom at the Springs Preserve, these lovely wildflowers become Instagram worthy on their own or as a backdrop for selfies and group snapshots.
Desert poppies in the wild are a testimony to resiliency, surviving in the harsh, dry Mojave Desert. Even so, the smaller yellow desert bear poppy and the Las Vegas bear poppy are exceedingly rare. The wildflowers have disappeared across more than half of their range in Clark County and dramatically decreased across nearly 90 percent of their overall habitat.
Habitat loss is just one threat to the desert bear poppy and its pollinator - the tiny but mighty Mojave poppy bee. These solitary creatures, unlike bees that build hives and collect honey, dig burrows in the ground where they store pollen in balls that they lay their eggs on. Consequently, habitat disturbance can damage their burrows leaving fewer bees to pollinate the poppies resulting in a decline in both species.
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