The Sierra Mazatán (also known as the Sierra Huerfana by locals) is at the southern edge of the Sky Island region. The range is on Sonora's coastal plain and the nearest high country to Hermosillo. It is dominated by thorn-scrub on slopes and oak woodland at higher elevations.
A new species of shrub in Sonora, Diospyros reinae, named for Ana Lilia Reina-Guerrero (well deserved!). Diospyros reinae described in 2015 article here.
In the course of a revision of the New World Ebenaceae for "Flora Neotropica" and some regional floras, specimens from ca. 100 herbaria have been studied. Diospyros reinae, a new species from Sonora (northwestern Mexico) is described here. The taxa D. rosei standl. and D. sinaloensis Blake are relegated into synonymy of D. sphaerantha standl. and D. sonorae standl., respectively.
Also known as the Sierra Huerfana by locals, this granitic mound east of Hermosillo harbors beautiful oak woodland and lush thorn-scrub on it's slopes. Find more info about this range at our Sky Island Profile. This trip was a Madrean Archipelago Biodiversity Assessment trip, recording flora and fauna from the mountain.
The western and southern edges of the Madrean Sky Island region are poorly defined and have received little study. After exploring mountains in these areas, we documented range extensions and additional records for several species of interest. Although many of these disjunct mountains have not been considered Sky Islands, their flora and fauna are similar to other areas within the region. Therefore, we suggest their biota indicate they require inclusion as part of the Madrean Sky Island region.
Presently, the flora of the Sierra de Mazatán contains 357 species of vascular plants distributed in 248 genera and 80 families. The families with the most species are Asteraceae (48), Fabaceae (45), Poaceae (28), Euphorbiaceae (18), and Acanthaceae, Cactaceae, Scrophulariaceae, and Solanaceae (11 each). The results show that the flora of the Sierra de Mazatán is diverse. However, with additional collections, the number of species could double.
