inVASIVE Plants - ZINE

ABOUT THE ZINE

This 43-page illustrated handbook is a tool for identifying invasive plants in the Sonoran Desert and urban areas around Tucson, Arizona. But more than that, it is an invitation to look deeper.

Rather than framing species as simply “good” or “bad,” this project examines each plant as a reflection of ecosystem conditions. It challenges colonial conservation narratives and honors the deep knowledge and stewardship of Indigenous peoples, who have long cared for this land.

This first edition encourages thoughtful, reciprocal relationships with these plants—recognizing their resilience, exploring their potential uses, and reshaping how we respond to the changing desert around us. It offers practical resources for plant identification, while weaving in alternative perspectives that move us toward restoration and coexistence.

Goals:

  • Mitigate the negative impact of invasive species

  • Explore their beneficial qualities for the collective good

  • Share evolving, community-centered knowledge

  • Reimagine conservation through inclusive, justice-oriented lenses

    • Deepen your relationship to plants & place

    • Climate justice - it impacts us all regionally and globally

    • Many Invasive plants offer benefits: medicine, food and construction

    • Many Common westernized control methods (discarding to landfills, chemicals) can risk resistance, harms native flora, fauna, humans, earth

    • Indigenous people preserve 80% of Earth’s remaining biodiversity despite accounting for only 6.2% of the overall population

    • Outcompete native plants for resources (h2o, sun, nutrients, habitat)

    • Reduces the region’s natural biodiversity (plants, insects, habitat)

    • Better adapted to wildfires unlike native species

    • Can cause extinction of native species

    • Disturbs sacred sites and impacts tribal lands fire hazard & Better Adapted to survive wildfires unlike native species

    • Picture This (free version has been my go-to but sometimes asks you to pay; can ID insects, tree rings, birds, more, 98% accuracy)

    • Seek from I-Naturalist (a popular go-to & very user-friendly, kid-safe, no logins)

    • I-Naturalist (share data, contribute to citizen science, connect w others)

    • Plantnet (citizen science platform)

    • Google Lens (good for cross-refence backup when uncertain of ID)

  • Contribute to community science! Help with mapping, research and mitigation.

* PLEASE NOTE: I am not an expert and this is not a foraging guide or comprehensive list. It’s a growing resource guide.

Please do your own research and gather from credible sources, especially when it comes to consumption as there are often plant lookalikes that can be hazardous and toxic to consume or handle. Even edible and/or medicinal plants can be hazardous when misused. Check the list below to explore further.

* Interested in sharing more about these plants and contributing to this resource page and/or the zine?

Seeking contributors that have interacted with these plants for craft, medicine, food, construction, science, etc. Email revoltaarttucson@gmail.com

upcoming events

  • Buffelgrass removal

    3rd Saturdays

    2nd & 4th Wednesdays

    7:00 AM - 11:00 AM

    Location: A Mountain

    Join Sonoran Desert Weedwackers to help remove buffelgrass in Tucson Mountain Park! Volunteers should be comfortable with strenuous work including hiking up hills and working off trail on rocky terrain. Snacks and drinks provided when we've finished.

  • Giant Reed removal

    Thursdays & Saturdays thru May

    8:00-11:00AM

    Location: Tanque Verde Creek/Wentworth Rd

    Help protect and restore the beauty and flow of Tanque Verde Creek. We're inviting people of all ages and backgrounds to join this community effort.

    Work alongside Watershed Management staff and River Run Network volunteers in a stunning riparian area to remove Arundo Donax (giant reed)—an invasive plant that drinks 3-4 times more water than native species, threatens wildlife habitat, and increases flood and fire risks.

  • Pima County

    Weekly Opportunities

    Education

    Stewardship

    Community Science

    Pima County Conservation Lands and Resources relies heavily on the generosity of volunteers who assist with public education and outreach, stewardship projects, and data taking. Below are some of the volunteer opportunities available.