Pozo Verde Mountains

This small range hugs the border west of Sasabe, Sonora. The Baboquivari Mountains gradually diminish at their southern end, just before the border, where the Pozo Verde Mountains pick up–being somewhere between small mountains and large hills. Primarily they are semi-desert grasslands and loaded with saguaros, ocotillo, and mesquite. They are extremely granitic with aesthetically pleases boulder fields and formations, with course granitic sand eroding down their flanks that host quite a diversity of plants.

In canyons and on some hillslopes, the vegetation community is attempting to form thornscrub-like density. Interesting species include hop bush (dodonaea viscosa), coursetia (Coursetia glandulosa), desert hackberry (Celtis pallida), kidneywood (Eysenhardtia orthocarpa), catclaw (Senegalia greggii), wait-a-minute bush (Mimosa aculeaticarpa var. biuncifera), and others. An interesting note is that both regional barrel cactus species are found, somewhat intermixed, in the area–Ferocactus wislizeni and Ferocactus emoryi. The current northernmost record for Tésota (Senegalia occidentalis) is in deep granitic soil on the south side of these mountains.

There is a large bowl-shaped landscape feature (maybe a 3 kilometer diameter) on the west side of the mountains that is very flat in the bottom and almost entirely surrounded by mountain and hill. It is mesquite grassland dominated and scaled quail can be found here.

This range has copious signs of pre-historic human habitation with extensive sherds, rock flakes, and well-used grinding holes. I would guess the abundant mesquite and saguaro food sources helped support residents. Rancho Pozo Verde on the west side of the mountains is an important spot historically and pre-historically. There is a spring that has supported travelers and human habitation for thousands of years, and the general area is littered with artifacts.

A few oaks dot higher north-facing hills.