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Wild Plants And Nuggety' Areas - Geobotany


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Just Wondering if the Forum has any good wild plant stories? Care to share  any Tips' of Real Nugget Digs associated w/ plants , flowers, trees.etc.

I don't besides Horsetail(see pic) is supposed to grow in Gold" ground. 

"Geobotany" Starts Here:

Vegetation as a Guide. Sometimes the vegetation on the two different rocks, especially when decidedly unlike in composition, is so different that the line of contact may be traced by it alone. In open countries free from heavy timber, like Arizona, this is strikingly the case. Probably the most distinctive vegetation in those localities is the various forms of "yucca," of which the "Spanish bayonet" is a sample; and the "ocotilla" (o-ko-te-ya). The yucca is confined to the granite or quartzite rocks, evidently liking a soil abounding in silica (quartz); the ocotilla is as decidedly confined to the clay-slate regions, the line of contact being often drawn on a hillside by these two plants as if defined by a fence; while the cactus frequents the limestone outcrops and the areas of eruptive rocks. In other words, for successful growth, the yuccas require quartz, the ocotilla clay, and the cactus lime. In the broad washes or beds of summer torrents, called "arroyos," where the rocks are mixed, all three may be found growing if the debris is of a suitable character.

A fissure may also be defined by the vegetation growing on it being different in character, or a line of contact may be traced by the same means, as in California, where the rim rock of the gravel channels, even where covered and obscured by dense brush (chaparral) can be followed along the mountain side by the elderberry bushes, the white flowers of which are very conspicuous in the gray brush in spring. These bushes require permanent water and have located themselves along the bed rock rim where the water in the gravel flows over it or on the top of the pipe-clay just below the lava cap.

Cheers to All from IdahoGold

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I have found faults because of varied vegetation many times. sometimes they jump out at you and are obvious and other times they are subtle. my favorite gold loving, growing vegetation is manzanita! if you don't find gold or the brush wont let you in, you can smash it, break it, whatever. it makes great therapy. next time im with Paul, I think ill take him thru some. I think someone told me long time ago about old timers finding water in deserts based on different plants which would seem common sense. good luck

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Californiagold  -----how to find water:

Cheers, IG

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The desert trumpet plant thrives in mineralized soils and is present in the goldfields that I frequent throughout Nevada and Arizona:

IMG_0325.JPG

https://www.google.com/amp/nuggeteer.com/gold-prospecting-and-metal-detecting-adventures/desert-trumpet-plant-eriogonum-inflatum/amp/?client=safari

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I have definitely found nuggets near trumpet plants.  But this mineralization usually covers a very large area and there are many trumpet plants throughout these areas.  I just take it as another sign that I might be close.  I have never thought to use it to identify hidden contact zones.  Interesting thought.

I must add that I have found more than a number of barrel cactus sticking out of quarts reefs that set off my detector and make me "think" the cactus has a hearty skeleton full of gold.   Only to be sadly disappointed digging a crater around said cactus.

Funny, I did spelunking before nugget hunting and we would look for agave as possible areas for caves.  Just happens they like a specific type of limestone.  But again, it was just an added sign.

Interesting topic ...

 

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 Around here there is a thorn bush called Buck Brush (White thorn). The bigger the brush patch and the longer the thorns mean more nuggets. Poison Oak also seems to be a good indicator.

 Due to my generous nature I usually let Sourdough Scott check those areas first.

 I had a botanist friend that spent a year for a Nevada mining Co. studying plant- mineral relationships somewhere I have the study results. There was some success in finding correlations.

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I guess it would depend on the area. Where I am I look for digger pine, western holy, poison oak,and some what I call buck brush or coyote brush. I have never lost out on these with the right types of rock and soil color.

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I look for our OZ native pines, what is called copper grass (short coppery coloured flower grass), red anthills amongst the white ones or vice-versa. Or just any distinct vegetation change line that stands out like dog b.... when you look at from a high ridge. Basically any change in vegetation is worth a look especially when it follows the local fault line direction but not always as often the enriched leader runs at 90deg to main fault line, in which case you`ll snag it (or hopefully will) as you follow the vegetation change line.

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