New Mexico has many symbols and emblems that are associated with its attractions and history.  Overall New Mexico is known as the Land of Enchantment with its broad skies and amazing vistas and sunsets, forested mountains and expansive valleys and mesas.  In this holiday ornament we have highlighted seven of New Mexico’s official State emblems but there are many more including the state guitar (the New Mexico Sunrise), the State Aroma (roasting green chilis in the Autumn), as well as the State Tie (a bolo tie).

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Working clockwise from the bow at the top of the ornament, the emblems included are:  the State Bird (Greater Roadrunner); the State Butterfly (the Sandia Hairstreak); the State Question (Red or Green Chili?); the State Fish (New Mexico Cutthroat Trout);  the State Tree (Pinon Pine); the State Mammal (Black Bear); and the State Flower (Soaptree Yucca).

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First is the State Bird of New Mexico, the Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) known by a wide variety of names including Chaparral Bird, el corrre caminos, and el paisano.  The Greater Roadrunner is found throughout much of New Mexico, mostly at lower elevations (up to 7,000 feet), and is most frequently seen running alongside the roads and trails of the state.   Roadrunners feed on a wide variety of prey items including snakes, lizards, beetles, small birds and rarely cactus fruits.

 

Second is the Sandia Hairstreak, which is the State Butterfly. occurring in 24 of the state’s 33 counties.   It was originally described in 1960 from a specimen taken in the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque. The wing span ranges from 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 inches. The underside of the wings are a beautiful golden-green with a white line bordered with black toward the base of the wing.  The upper side of the wing in the male is brown, female is reddish-brown with a narrow black border. The larval food plant is Beargrass (Nolina species) in the Agave Gamily (Agavaceae) where the caterpillars feed on the flowers and fruits.  Caterpillars are widely colored ranging from pink to maroon to green.  Their habitat is dry hillsides with Beargrass.  At times this is the most abundant spring butterfly within its range.  Adults are more active in the morning and retreat to the base of Beargrass at night.  The species is well adapted to droughts.

 

Third is the red and green chiles (capsicum annum L.), New Mexico’s state vegetable, an essential part of the New Mexico diet.  The early Spanish settlers brought the chile plant to New Mexico from the Valley of Mexico, where the Aztecs had cultivated the plant for centuries.  Chile is a pungent pepper which is harvested in the early fall, toasted, peeled and served as a delicious stew, stuffed with cheese or made into a favorite recipe. When the chile ripens it turns bright red. It is then strung as chile ristras and hung out to dry.  It is also key to the State Question of “Red or green?” which asks which chile you want on your meal.  Answering Christmas means you want both.

 

The fourth emblem is that of the Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) also known as the New Mexico Cutthroat Trout.  This species is native to cold mountain streams and lakes of much of northern New Mexico.  They have a yellow-green to gray-brown body with scattered black spots.  The latter third of the fish is heavily spotted with black.  There are several red streaks under the throat which give it it’s name.  Typical adults are up to 10 inches in length and weight about 1 pound.  Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout live up to 8 years. The species feeds on a wide variety of aquatic invertebrates including insects, zooplankton and crustaceans.  They breed in spring and early summer and prefer water temperature between 48-52 degrees Fahrenheit.  Females lay a wide range in the number of eggs from 200 to 4,500.  They are laid in a gravel nest in flowing water where there are high levels of dissolved oxygen.

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The fifth emblem included on the wreath is the Pinon Pine, which is the State Tree. Few plants or animals are more ingrained in the culture and biology of New Mexico than the Piñon Pine (Pinus edulis).  It is also sometimes called Two Needle Piñon.  The species is found mostly in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona with small populations in some of the adjacent states. The species grows very slowly, often in more dry habitats in the mountains at an elevation of 4,500 up to about 8,000 feet.  The adult trees are usually within 15-35 feet tall.  The round to ovate cones are distinctive.   Seeds (pine nuts) of the plant were collected by Native Americans for centuries.  This was noted by the first Spanish settlers arriving in the 1600’s.  Every few years Piñon Pine will produce a bumper crop of nuts which are gathered by people, and eaten by birds, bears and other wildlife.  Jays, especially Piñon Jays, depend heavily on nuts of this plant and even help to spread the plant by caching deposits of seeds.   Piñon wood fires warm New Mexicans across the state and give off a distinctive and very pleasant incense smell.  

 

The sixth emblem is the State Mammal, a black bear.  The American Black Bear (Ursus americanus), or Oso Negro is found from Alaska to northern Mexico and occurs widely in wooded areas throughout the state.  They are omnivorous, feeding mostly on a wide variety of plants but also on animals (mostly small rodents) in addition to carrion.  Large individuals can weigh in excess of 400 pounds.  Females usually breed every two years and two or three, rarely four cubs, are born after a seven- or eight-month gestation period. Smokey Bear, probably the most famous bear in the history of the United States, was a cub first found cowering and injured in a tree after a 17,000 acre forest fire in the Lincoln National Forest near Capitan, NM.  

 

The seventh emblem is one of the various species of yucca plants and a common sights across lower elevations in New Mexico.  One of these, Soaptree Yucca (Yuca elata) is one of the more widespread species and is the State Flower.  Yucca are members of the Family Agavaceae.  Yucca (pronounced “yuh-ka”) are hardy plants that thrive under trying conditions. Soaptree Yucca can grow up to 30 feet, rarely to 35, in height with roots stretching for a hundred feet or more in search of water.  This is easily seen in areas where there are moving sand dunes such as at White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo.  Flowers are a creamy white and borne on a long slender stalk.  Some individuals grow low while others form a tall stalk topped with broad, sharp-edged leaves. The flowers can be eaten and are fed on by cattle during times of drought.  Settlers would crush the roots and stems for a soap substitute.  Leaf fibers were once used to make rope and twine. It occurs in sandy soils, gypsum area, rocky areas, grasslands and similar areas from the lowest elevations up to 6,000 feet.