Part 3

Ranging in size from delicate 6-inch annuals to coarse, woody perennials 4 feet high, the globemallows vary in color from creamy white to pink, rose, peach, and lavender. Desert-mallows flaunt their graceful, blossom-covered stems along roadsides or on the banks of sandy washes. Because some people are allergic to them, globemallows are called “sore-eye poppies” in parts of southern Arizona, and in Lower California are known as _plantas muy malas_ (very bad plants).

_Sphaeralcea ambigua_ Mallow Family

43. Five-stamen tamarisk

Sometimes confused with tamarack because of the similarity of names, five-stamen tamarisk, locally called “salt-cedar,” is one of several small tree species from southeastern Europe and western Asia which have become naturalized in North America. “Salt-cedar” often forms dense thickets on alkaline soils along stream and reservoir banks at elevations below 5,000 feet. Flowers, which vary in hue from deep pink to white, cover the trees with graceful plumes of color from March to August. Although valuable in retarding soil erosion, tamarisk requires large quantities of water, an especially undesirable characteristic in the arid Southwest.

_Tamarix pentandra_ Tamarix Family

44. Yellow mentzelia

Many species of _mentzelia_, all herbs, occur in the West. Barbed hairs cover leaves and stems, causing the plant to cling to what it touches, hence a common name “stick-leaf.” Flowers grow at ends of branches, and some species open fully only in sunlight. A close relative, _Mentzelia involucrata_, “sand blazing-star,” is an annual, 4 to 16 inches high, blooming February through April, found in sandy washes below 3,000 feet in southwestern Arizona, southeastern California, and northern Sonora. _Pumila_ grows in dry stream beds and on roadsides from 100 to 8,000 feet elevation, flowering February to October. It ranges from Wyoming and Utah to southeastern California and Northern Mexico.

_Mentzelia pumila_ Loasa Family

45. Rock-nettle

Also called “stingbush,” this low, rounded bush is usually found growing from crevices in cliffs. When covered with large blossoms from April to September the plant has a striking appearance. The pale green leaves are covered with stinging hairs, strong enough to impale such small creatures as bats emerging from cave entrances where they grow. Rock-nettle is common in desert ranges of southeastern California, especially in the Death Valley area, to western Arizona and southern Nevada.

_Eucnide urens_ Loasa Family

46. Night-blooming cereus

Easily overlooked, when not in blossom, as a group of slender, fluted, gray-green stems hidden beneath a shrub, this cactus is truly a glorious thing when in flower. Beauty and fragrance of its blossoms have earned it the name, in Mexico, of _reina-de-la-noche_, meaning “queen-of-the-night.”

Buds unfold soon after sunset in late June or early July, perfuming the desert air and attracting night-flying insects. They wilt soon after sunrise the following morning. The large, tuberous root, which serves as a water-storage organ, usually weighs from 5 to 15 pounds, but specimens have been found weighing more than 80 pounds. Indians at one time dug the tubers for food. The bulbous fruits become red when mature, and are almost as spectacular as the flowers. This species is found from west Texas to western Arizona and northern Mexico.

_Peniocereus greggii_ Cactus Family

47. Saguaro

Largest of the cactuses in the United States, the saguaro (suh-WAR-oh) is limited in its principal range to southern Arizona and northern Mexico. Although rarely exceeding 30 feet in height, specimens 50 feet tall and weighing up to 10 tons, are on record. Blossoms form as huge bud clusters at the branch tips, opening a few at a time each night, usually in May, and remain open until mid-afternoon of the following day. Fruits of the saguaro are eaten by birds and other animals, and at one time were important in the diet of desert Indians. The state flower of Arizona and the subject of a US. postage stamp issued in February 1962 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Arizona’s statehood, the saguaro is also commemorated and protected in the National Monument of that name near Tucson.

_Carnegiea gigantea_ Cactus Family

48. Organpipe cactus

Limited in its range to northwestern Mexico and the vicinity of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southwestern Arizona, this columnar cactus grows in clumps of spine-covered stems, some of which may be 10 to 15 feet in height, rarely branching, and with no central trunk. Blossoms open at or near the stem ends during May nights, and close the following day. The spine-covered fruits, about the size and shape of a hen’s egg, have long been harvested by the Papago Indians, who boil the sweet juice to the consistency of syrup and store the pulp and seeds for winter food. The fruits are locally called _pitahaya dulce_, or sweet cactus fruit.

_Lemaireocereus thurberi_ Cactus Family

49. Claretcup echinocereus

Not only are there many species of _Echinocereus_, popularly called the “hedgehog cactuses,” but there are also several varieties of _Echinocereus triglochidiatus_. One variety sometimes develops into cushion-like mounds composed of several hundred oblong stems huddled together with a seemingly precarious foothold in crevices among the rocks or on rocky slopes of the Mojave desert. Another grows in loose clusters of cylindrical stems in the higher desert grasslands up to the oak belt in the mountains of southern New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico. When blossoming in May and June these clustering “hedgehogs” create a spectacular display.

_Echinocereus triglochidiatus_ Cactus Family

50. Strawberry echinocereus

One of the more common species of “hedgehog,” sometimes called “Engelmann echinocereus,” the strawberry echinocereus grows as 2 to 12 or more robust, cylindrical stems up to a foot in height, among the creosote bushes and bur-sages of the Sonoran and Mojave-Colorado Deserts, flowering from February to May. Flowers close at night and reopen the following morning. Blossoms vary considerably in color from purple to lavender. Spines, too, are variable, from gray and yellow to dark brown. In southeastern California, where it is common, this species is called “calico cactus” because of its many-colored spines. Fruits of some varieties (of which there are many) are edible, forming an important item in the diet of birds and rodents.

_Echinocereus engelmanii_ Cactus Family

51. Rainbow echinocereus

Far from common but among the more beautiful of the “hedgehogs” is the rainbow echinocereus, also called “rainbow cactus,” so named because of the horizontal bands of alternating red and white spines encircling the single, sturdy stem. It grows in rocky situations in the mountains of southern Arizona and northern Mexico, blossoming from June to August. The large flowers, of which there may be from one to four crowding around the crown of the plant, are often larger than the plant itself. Spines are small and lie densely flat over the somewhat fluted stem, which is from 3 to 14 inches high.

_Echinocereus pectinatus_ Cactus Family

52. Yellow pitaya echinocereus

Sometimes called “Texas golden rainbow,” the yellow pitaya of the Chihuahuan Desert is similar in appearance, except for the color of its blossoms, to the rainbow echinocereus. Quite common in portions of Big Bend National Park, the Stubby, upright stems usually grow singly but sometimes occur in small clusters. The term _pitaya_ or _pitahaya_ is commonly applied along the Mexican border to cactuses bearing edible fruits. In Texas the term refers to the low-growing floral hedgehogs; in Arizona to the columnar cactuses. Pricklypear cactuses having soft, juicy, edible fruit are known as _tunas_.

_Echinocereus dasyacanthus_ Cactus Family

53. Barrel cactus

Massive, cylindrical, and covered with clusters of stout spines, the central one hook-shaped, these desert giants are often mistaken for young saguaros. There are several species, all locally called _bisnagas_, with some quite small and others attaining a height of 5 or 6 feet. The majority produce clusters of orange to red flowers on their crowns in late summer, but the yellow-flowered California barrel cactus blossoms in the spring. Their tendency to lean toward the light causes many of these heavy-bodied plants to tip in a southwesterly direction, giving them the name “compass cactus.” This group is naively believed by some people to contain water. Actually the slimy, alkaline sap obtained by mashing the pulpy flesh might conceivably save someone lost in the desert from dying of thirst. The pale yellow fruits are not spiney, and are eaten by birds, rodents, deer, and other desert animals.

_Ferocactus wislizenii_ Cactus Family

54. Fishhook cactus

There are a number of species of the low-growing, usually dome-shaped mammillarias, the solitary kinds often so small as to be overlooked except when blooming, in late spring or early summer. Some are known as “fishhook cactuses” because of their long, slender, hooked spines, others as “pin-cushion cactuses” because of the shape of the plants. The large, colorful blossoms which encircle the stems mature usually to red, in some species green, nipple-shaped fruits. Members of this genus are widespread in grasslands or rocky mesas and slopes throughout the Southwest.

_Mammillaria microcarpa_ Cactus Family

55. Beavertail cactus

Limited in its principal range to the Mojave-Colorado Desert, the beavertail is a low-growing species with flat joint-pads and bluish-green stems without spines. In their place are clusters of brownish spicules set in slight depressions in the wrinkled pads. The plants blossom in March and April, adding materially to the color of the spring flower display. The plants thrive in sandy desert soils, at elevations from 200 to 3,000 feet above sea level, and are found as far east in Arizona as Wickenburg. Cahuilla Indians cook the fruits with meat, and Panamint Indians dry the pads and boil them with salt.

_Opuntia basilaris_ Cactus Family

56. Engelmann pricklypear

Most widely distributed of the pricklypears, Engelmann plants are large and spreading, sometimes forming spiney bushes 3 to 5 feet high and up to 15 feet in diameter. The branching stems may have from 5 to 12 pad-joints. Flowering in April and May, the petals at first are yellow but turn to pink or rose with age. The plants prefer washes and benches in the desert grasslands, often growing with paloverdes, saguaros, mesquites, and lechuguilla agaves. Excessive abundance often indicates an overgrazed range. Fruits, called _tunas_, are purple to mahogany when mature, and are eaten by many birds and rodents, as well as by desert Indians.

_Opuntia engelmannii_ Cactus Family

57. Jumping cholla

Also known as “silver cholla” (CHOY-AH) and “teddybear cactus,” this stocky bush cactus, with a short sturdy trunk and compact, densely spined crown, is common on hot rocky, south-facing hillsides. Joints are extremely brittle and the barbed spines catch so easily in the hair of animals or clothing of persons that the joints appear to jump from the plant. Joints broken off by the wind fall to the ground and take root in the sandy soil, gradually developing forests of this striking cactus, easily recognized by the silvery sheen of the spines. The attractive flowers which appear from March to May blend inconspicuously with the spiney joints.

_Opuntia bigelovii_ Cactus Family

58. Pencil cholla

Common along banks of washes and on desert flats, this cholla, also called “tesajo,” or “Christmas cholla,” is so slender-stemmed and sprawling in growth habit that it is easily overlooked in a tangle of vegetation. Its flowers, appearing in May and June, are small and inconspicuous, but the orange to scarlet fruits about the size and shape of olives, are striking eye-catchers in the fall and winter months. In the open the shrubby plants are rarely more than 2 feet high, but in thickets of northern Mexico some have become almost vinelike, growing up through mesquite or paloverde trees to a height of 12 feet or more. The species grows at elevations of 200 to 5,000 feet from Texas to western Arizona and northern Mexico.

_Opuntia leptocaulis_ Cactus Family

59. Whipple cholla

This low-growing cholla of the higher desert above 3,500 feet, is characteristic of the plateau grasslands, forming mats of short but erect stems usually less than 2 feet high. It blossoms in June and July. The tender young stems and yellow, fleshy fruits are browsed by pronghorns, and the fruits are also used by the Hopi Indians for food and as a seasoning. Because of its customary low-growing habit it is something of a hazard to hikers. It is considered the most widely distributed cholla in Arizona.

_Opuntia whipplei_ Cactus Family

60. Walkingstick cholla

Flowering in May and June and common throughout southwestern New Mexico, southern Arizona, and northern Mexico, the walkingstick cholla is best known because of its persistent clusters of yellow fruits. These remain throughout the winter, giving persons the first-glance impression that the large shrubby cactus, sometimes 8 feet high, is in bloom. The fruits are eaten by cattle. This species is typical of desert grasslands and is most abundant in the open country below the edge of the oak belt in desert mountains. Stems of the dead plants leave a hollow cylinder of attractive wooden meshes when the soft tissues decay, and are favored for making canes, as the stem is long and straight, hence the name walkingstick cholla.

_Opuntia spinosior_ Cactus Family

61. Evening-primrose

Also called “sun-drops,” these plants are particularly welcome because they bloom early in the springtime. Many species of evening-primrose are large flowered, abundant along roadsides and sandy flats, and notably fragrant. White-flowered species are more common, but there are several with yellow flowers. Blossoms open at night and begin to wilt, turning pink during the following day. These are among the handsomest of desert plants and during favorable years make a spectacular spring display, sometimes growing with goldpoppies and sandverbenas to produce a riot of color.

_Oenothera trichocalyx_ Evening-primrose Family

62. Ocotillo

Common to all of the deserts crossed by the boundary between the United States and Mexico, ocotillo (oh-koh-TEE-yoh) is a spectacular shrub, its many long, stiff, green-barked and thorn-guarded stems bearing at their tips clusters of bright red flowers from April to June. Following rains, the stems cover themselves with clusters of bright green leaves. When drought comes these leaves are shed, to be renewed again after another rain. This procedure may be repeated half a dozen times in one year. Cahuilla Indians eat both flowers and seeds, and make a beverage by soaking the blossoms in water. When planted as hedgerows the thorny wands make an impenetrable fence.

_Fouquieria splendens_ Ocotillo Family

63. Field bind-weed

Also known as “wild morning glory,” this naturalized perennial has become a serious agricultural pest throughout the Southwest. In California it is considered the State’s worst weed. Once established, its deep root system spreads widely, sending up shoots that grow rapidly with climbing, vine-like stems and morning glory-like white to pink flowers that bloom from May to July. In the desert it is usually found on road shoulders, where it makes an attractive display. The name _convolvulus_ comes from the Latin and means “to entwine.” A blood-clotting substance has been found in this plant.

_Convolvulus arvensis_ Convolvulus Family

64. Santa Fe phlox

Usually found in desert mountain ranges, at elevations between 5,000 and 6,000 feet, this ground-hugging, herbaceous perennial blossoms in May and June. Flowers are larger than those of the several other desert species of phlox, most of which have longer flower stems and vary in color from white to purple.

_Phlox nana_ Phlox Family

65. Starflower

More commonly known as “gilia” in honor of the eighteenth-century Italian botanist Felippo Luigo Gilii, the many species of gilias are common and widespread throughout the deserts of the Southwest at nearly all elevations. Since the flowers are usually small and range in color from white to lavender, pink, and yellow, they are not as well known as more spectacular genera. Some are annuals but there are also many perennial species. Starflower is found from west Texas and Chihuahua to western Arizona at elevations from 1,000 to 8,000 feet on dry plains and mesas, especially on limestone soils. It blossoms from March to October.

_Gilia longiflora_ Phlox Family

66. Phacelia

Known also as “scorpionweed” and “wild heliotrope,” phacelia is a handsome plant with coarse foliage, somewhat hairy and sticky. Among other plants it often grows to a height of 18 inches, but on dry, open desert flats is usually much shorter. Flowers, which may be found from February to June, are sweet scented, but the foliage has a disagreeable odor. _Crenulata_, which is one of many species, grows from New Mexico and southern Utah throughout Arizona to Lower California. It is conspicuous among the spring-blooming flowers of the desert. The curling flower heads which bear some resemblance to the erect tail of a scorpion are responsible for the name “scorpionweed.”

_Phacelia crenulata_ Waterleaf Family

67. Nama

In favorable years these ground-hugging plants form broad, colorful mats, but in dry seasons these annuals may be tiny, each with a single flower almost as large as the rest of the plant. Flowering from February to May, bloom is heaviest in March and April. This species, also called “purplemat,” is common on flat, sandy, open desert soils from southeastern California and Baja California to southeastern Arizona at elevations below 3,500 feet. Because of its low-growing habit, nama requires that you lie prone to examine it closely, hence is one of the many small desert herbs called “bellyflowers.”

_Nama demissum_ Waterleaf Family

68. Buffalobur

Believed to be the original host of the Colorado potato beetle, this annual is a pest on rangelands because of its spine-covered stems and fruits. Spines are long, straight, sharp, and straw-colored. It is common on desert plains and mesas at elevations from 1,000 up to 7,000 feet, blooming from June to August. The leaves and unripe fruits of this and several other species are reportedly poisonous, as they contain an alkaloid, solanin.

_Solanum rostratum_ Potato Family

69. Silverleaf nightshade

Also known as “white horse-nettle,” “bull-nettle” and “trompillo,” silverleaf nightshade is a showy plant when in blossom May to October along roadsides and in open fields at elevations from 1,000 to 5,500 feet from Kansas and Colorado to Arizona, California, and south to tropical America. It is an agricultural pest in irrigated areas, difficult to eradicate. Pima Indians used the crushed fruits as an additive to milk in making cheese. A close relative, _Solanum jamesii_ is known as wild-potato as it produces small tubers eaten by desert Indians.

_Solanum elaeagnifolium_ Potato Family

70. Sacred datura

One of the really striking flowers of the deserts and mesas, the large, showy, trumpet-shaped blossoms and broad, dark green leaves of the datura or “western jimson” arouse the curiosity of persons seeing them for the first time. Quite common along roadsides below 6,000 feet from California to Texas and Mexico, the white blossoms remain open at night but close and droop soon after sunrise. The summer-blooming plants often grow in large clumps with buds, flowers, and maturing fruits all present at the same time. Indians used the plants for various medicinal purposes, a dangerous practice, since all parts of the plant contain various alkaloids, including atropine. Roots are narcotic and were sometimes eaten by Indians to induce visions.

_Datura meteloides_ Potato Family

71. Tree tobacco

Sometimes growing to a height of 10 or 12 feet, the graceful swaying branches of tree tobacco bear at their ends clusters of tubular, greenish-yellow blossoms 2 to 3 inches long. The leaves contain the alkaloid anabasine, which is poisonous to livestock. Leaves of the closely related and much smaller desert tobacco, _Nicotiana trigonophylla_, contain nicotine and have long been smoked by desert Indians. The plant is still so used on ceremonial occasions. _Nicotiana_ was named for Jean Nicot, French ambassador to Portugal, who introduced tobacco to France about 1560.

_Nicotiana glauca_ Potato Family

72. Ceniza

Although restricted in its range to the Chihuahuan Desert, ceniza, sometimes called silverleaf, is so spectacular when in blossom that it invariably attracts attention and arouses interest. The small, abundant, ash-gray leaves give this 3- to 4-foot shrub a distinguished appearance throughout the year, but when it suddenly bursts into bloom, usually in September, it becomes a thing of rare beauty. It is so sensitive to moisture that it may blossom a few hours after a soaking rain, which gives rise to the popular belief that it can forecast wet weather and in consequence it is sometimes called “barometer bush.”

_Leucophyllum frutescens_ Figwort Family

73. Desert beardtongue

Penstemons, or “beard-tongues,” of various species are numerous on the desert as well as throughout the higher, moister parts of the Southwest. This one blooms in spring and early summer below 6,000 feet from southwestern New Mexico to southern California. It, and the similar Parry Penstemon, are among the more noticeable desert species because of their showy flowers covering the clumps of erect stems two to four feet tall. Both are fairly common on mesa slopes and mountain canyons with individuals well scattered, hence not contributing to the mass flower displays of the desert springtime.

_Penstemon pseudospectabilis_ Figwort Family

74. Palmer penstemon

Known in southern California as “scented penstemon” because of its fragrance, this regal “beardtongue” comes to the height of bloom in May. However, it may be found in flower from March to September. When the tall, flower-covered stems grow in abundance, as often occurs in gravelly washes at elevations between 3,500 and 6,500 feet, the sight is remarkable. This species prefers limestone soils in both the Mojave-Colorado and Sonoran Deserts. The sweet nectar attracts bees.

_Penstemon palmeri_ Figwort Family

75. Paintbrush