Part 4

Chapter 42,844 wordsPublic domain

Paintedcups, or “Indian paintbrushes” as they are more widely known, are found from desert lowlands to snow-capped mountain tops. _Castilleja linariaefolia_ is the State flower of Wyoming. The northwestern paintbrush, known in southern California as “desert paintbrush,” has an extremely wide range. The flash of red among other desert plants is actually due to the brightly colored floral bracts, as the flowers themselves are small and inconspicuous. This species blossoms in early spring in rocky or gravelly locations between 2,000 and 7,000 feet, on dry plains and hillsides.

_Castilleja augustifolia_ Figwort Family

76. Owl-clover

Owl-clover is one of the short-stemmed desert spring annuals which, in favorable seasons, carpet the desert floor with a beautiful, colorful mass display. Sometimes growing in pure stands, at others mixed with goldpoppies, lupines, or other spring flowers, it is found throughout southern Arizona, southern California, and Baja California, at elevations between 1,500 and 4,500 feet, blossoming from March to May. Cattle and sheep graze it extensively. The Spanish name _escobita_ means “little broom.” Individual flowers are not conspicuous, but their clusters intermixed with the colorful bracts produce a pretty, feathery effect.

_Orthocarpus purpurascens_ Figwort Family

77. Desert-willow

More properly called “desert catalpa,” this tall shrub or small tree, 6 to 15 feet high, has willow-like leaves, spreading branches, and a short, crooked, black-barked trunk. The violet-scented flowers usually appear from April to August, often after the start of summer rains. They are replaced by long, slender seed pods that remain dangling from the branches for months. Mexicans make from the dried flowers a tea that they believe has considerable medicinal value. Desert-willow is usually found along desert washes below 4,000 feet from west Texas to southern California and northern Mexico. It is frequently cultivated as an ornamental because of its attractive orchid-like flowers.

_Chilopsis linearis_ Bignonia Family

78. Trumpet-bush

A glossy-leafed shrub with golden, trumpet-shaped flowers, the trumpet-bush blooms from May to October on dry, rocky hillsides between elevations of 3,000 and 5,000 feet. It is not common, but occurs from western Texas through southern New Mexico and Arizona southward into tropical America. Trumpet-bush is cultivated as an ornamental in southern parts of the United States and in Mexico. The roots are used medicinally and in making a beverage. Stems and leaves contain small quantities of rubber. The shrubs, which occasionally reach a height of 6 feet, are browsed by bighorn sheep and probably by deer.

_Tecoma stans_ Bignonia Family

79. Louisiana broomrape

Lacking chlorophyll and parasitic on the roots of bur-sage and other desert composites, broomrape is so unusual in appearance as to attract immediate attention. Although fairly common in low-elevation deserts from west Texas and Mexico to southern California, it is occasionally found as far north as southern Utah and Nevada and at elevations up to 7,000 feet. The rather inconspicuous flowers appear from February to September. Navajo Indians made a decoction of the plant as a treatment for sores. Desert Indians ate the tender stems in springtime.

_Orobanche ludoviciana_ Broomrape Family

80. Coyote-melon

Restricted to western Arizona, southern California, and Lower California, _palmata_ has similar-appearing relatives with much wider distribution. Their large leaves and vine-like growth attract attention along roadsides at elevations up to 7,000 feet. Most widespread of these strikingly coarse perennials is _Cucurbita foetidissima_, the buffalo-gourd or calabazilla. This rank-growing, ill-smelling vine-like plant may have prostrate stems up to 20 feet long. The globular fruits, of tennis ball size, were cooked by Indians or dried for winter consumption. Seeds were boiled to form a pasty mush. California pioneers used the crushed roots as a cleansing agent in washing clothes, but found that particles clinging to the cloth were a skin irritant.

_Cucurbita palmata_ Gourd Family

81. Snake-weed

Common throughout the Southwest, particularly on overgrazed rangelands and deserted clearings, this plant, also called “matchweed” or “turpentine-weed,” often occurs in almost pure stands. The resinous stems burn readily, throwing off black smoke. Most abundant on dry hills and mesas, 3,000 to 6,000 feet elevation, this perennial is found from 1,000 to 7,000 feet, blossoming from June to October. Bees obtain nectar and pollen from the small but densely crowded, yellow flower clusters. The many stiff, upright branches cause some plants to appear almost globular in shape and a foot to 2 feet in diameter. Plants of this genus are reported as poisonous to sheep and goats if eaten in quantity, but are apparently unpalatable, as they are rarely grazed.

_Gutierrezia lucida_ Sunflower Family

82. Desertstar

Also known as “desert daisy” and “rock daisy,” this dwarf winter annual grows on sandy or stony mesas at elevations below 3,500 feet, blossoming from February through April. The short stems spread to form a mat or rosette, 5 or 6 inches across, growing flat on the sand, and ornamented with many small flowers, each set off by a small cluster of leaves. Desertstar grows principally in southern Arizona and southern California, but has been recorded from southern Utah and Sonora, Mexico.

_Monoptilon bellioides_ Sunflower Family

83. Mohave aster

Varying in color from violet and lavender to almost white, flower heads of the Mohave aster are numerous, sometimes as many as 20 simultaneously in bloom on one plant. This ornamental perennial prefers dry, rocky slopes below 6,000 feet in southern Utah, Nevada, western Arizona, and southeastern California. Characterized by silvery foliage and large flower heads, the Mohave aster is well worthy of cultivation and does well in hot, dry locations. Flowers appear from March to May, but with the coming of summer heat the stems and leaves become twisted, brown, and unattractive.

_Aster abatus_ Sunflower Family

84. Fleabane

By no means limited to the deserts, fleabane is common throughout the Southwest, including parts of Mexico. In some localities it is known as “wild-daisy.” Six to 15 inches tall, with attractive circular flowers, fleabane often forms noticeable patches along road shoulders and on dry open slopes, blossoming from February to October. Flowers may be an inch in diameter in springtime, but those in summer are usually smaller. The name arises from an ancient belief that the odor of some species repelled fleas.

_Erigeron divergens_ Sunflower Family

85. Broom baccharis

Locally called “desert-broom,” or “Mexican broom,” this species of baccharis is an erect, coarse, evergreen shrub 3 to 6 feet high, frequently encountered on hillsides and bottomlands at elevations between 1,000 and 5,500 feet from southwestern New Mexico to southern and Baja California and northern Mexico. Greening up following summer rains, the shrubs blossom from September to February. Flowers are inconspicuous, but the fruits develop as masses of spectacular cottony threads, giving the shrubs a snow-covered appearance. Among some Indian tribes the twigs are chewed to relieve toothache. In Mexico the shrub is called _hierba del pasmo_.

_Baccharis sarothroides_ Sunflower Family

86. Desert zinnia

From 3 inches to a foot high, desert zinnia is a dwarf shrub with small, stiff, dull green leaves and attractive, four-petaled flowers that are present from April to October. Preferring clayey or rocky, arid soils at elevations 2,500 to 5,000 feet, this species is found from west Texas to southern Arizona and Mexico. Although related to the garden zinnia, which is a native of Mexico, only the large flowered desert species, _Zinnia grandiflora_, is considered worthy of cultivation.

_Zinnia pumila_ Sunflower Family

87. Brittle-bush

Sometimes blossoming as early as November and often lingering until May, brittle-bush is a dome-shaped, winter-flowering bush that brings delight to desert dwellers in Nevada, Arizona, southern California, and northwestern Mexico. Stems of the low-growing, silvery-leaved shrub exude a gum which was chewed by desert Indians and burned as incense by priests in mission churches, giving the plant the local name, _incienso_. Strictly a desert shrub, about 3 feet high, brittle-bush prefers rocky hillsides below 3,000 feet. Growing in masses it often covers entire slopes with a mass of golden bloom, contributing to the early spring flower display. Bighorn sheep are reported to rely on this species for browse.

_Encelia farinosa_ Sunflower Family

88. Silverleaf enceliopsis

Restricted in its range to the region in which Utah, Arizona, and Nevada meet, the “giant sunray,” as it is sometimes called, is spectacular rather than beautiful. Coarse and weedy, the large clusters of silvery leaves and long stemmed, sunflower-like blossoms that appear from April to June invariably attract attention and stimulate curiosity. An even larger species, _Enceliopsis covillei_, with blossoms up to 6 inches in diameter, is found in canyons on the west side of the Panamint Mountains in California.

_Enceliopsis argophylla_ Sunflower Family

89. Crown-beard

Although it is reported from elevations up to 7,000 feet, golden crown-beard is usually found at much lower levels from Kansas south to Texas, California, and northern Mexico. Sometimes growing in clusters, single plants are also common as a weed of roadsides and waste ground. The all-yellow, sunflower-like blossoms are widespread in the desert from April to November. Desert Indians and early pioneers are said to have used the plant to treat boils and skin diseases. The Hopis soaked the plants in water in which they bathed, to relieve the pain of insect bites.

_Verbesina encelioides_ Sunflower Family

90. Douglas coreopsis

Also called “tickseed,” wild coreopsis is closely related to cultivated ornamentals of the same name. The desert species inhabits open locations at elevations between 1,500 and 2,500 feet in southern Arizona, southern California, and Baja California. Plants usually bloom between February and May. The closely related _Coreopsis bigelovii_ is a southern California annual having somewhat larger flowers, up to 2 inches in diameter, with orange centers. Flower stems are naked, with the leaves clustered at their bases.

_Coreopsis douglasii_ Sunflower Family

91. Paperflower

At its best in sandy desert soil, paperflower is a compact, shrubby plant about 1 foot high, with tangled branches. When fully developed it is symmetrically globular in outline. It prefers mesas and desert plains at elevations between 2,000 and 5,000 feet from western New Mexico to southern California and northern Mexico, flowering throughout the year but most abundantly in springtime. Sometimes called “paper-daisy,” the flowers are persistent, fading to straw color and turning papery with age. They may remain on the stems for weeks.

_Psilostrophe cooperi_ Sunflower Family

92. Desert baileya

Commonly called “desert marigold,” baileya blossoms in all seasons, most heavily from March to November, and is one of the better known flowers of the Southwest. Each circular blossom occupies the tip of a foot-high stem. Plants usually have a thrifty, garden-variety appearance. They are common along roadsides and on well-drained, gravelly slopes up to 5,000 feet from west Texas to southeastern California and Chihuahua. The large flower heads are showy and the species is cultivated in California. Cases are on record of sheep and goats on overgrazed ranges being poisoned by eating this plant.

_Baileya multiradiata_ Sunflower Family

93. Goldfields

Covering vast stretches of open desert with a carpet of yellow bloom following wet winters, goldfields is an appropriately named spring flower found at elevations below 4,500 feet. The low-growing plant produces small but attractive blossoms on mesas and plains, March to May, from central and southern Arizona to California, and Baja California. Horses graze _Baeria_ avidly, but are annoyed by a small fly that frequents the fragrant blossoms, giving the plant the name “fly flower” in some localities.

_Baeria chrysostoma_ Sunflower Family

94. Chaenactis

Probably because it is one of the attractive white desert flowers, chaenactis is popularly called “morning bride.” A larger, yellow-flowered species, _Chaenactis lanosa_, found on the California deserts, is called “golden girls.” Both are spring flowering annuals and, in common with other members of the genus, sometimes called “pincushion plants.” “Morning bride” is often found growing about the bases of creosotebushes, thriving at elevations between 1,000 and 3,500 feet in southern Nevada, western Arizona, and southeastern California.

_Chaenactis fremontii_ Sunflower Family

95. Douglas groundsel

Rarely considered beautiful, the groundsels are common and widespread, and are readily recognized by the untidy appearance of the large flowers which are sometimes almost 2 inches in diameter. The rather delicate, stringy foliage is sometimes covered with cottony threads. One species is called “ragwort.” Douglas groundsel is a shrubby plant sometimes as much as 3 feet high, common in sandy washes and on dry foothill slopes. It occurs from southern Utah and Arizona to California and Mexico, between 1,000 and 6,000 feet. At lower elevations these plants bloom at almost any time of year.

_Senecio douglasii_ Sunflower Family

96. New Mexico thistle

Everyone recognizes the thistles with their prickly leaves and stems, and large flowers ranging in color from white to lavender, pink and purple. Several species grow in the deserts, the New Mexico species being widespread at elevations from 1,000 to 6,000 feet in Colorado and Nevada south through New Mexico and Arizona to California, blossoming from March to September. Navajo and Hopi Indians are reported to use thistles medicinally. The nectar of some species is eagerly sought by hummingbirds.

_Cirsium neomexicanum_ Sunflower Family

97. Desert dandelion

A very attractive plant, desert dandelion has several flower stalks from a few inches to a foot tall. Some of the blossoms may be nearly 2 inches in diameter. This annual is common in open, sandy basins, where it is a conspicuous contributor to the spring flower spread, blooming from March through May in the creosotebush belt of Arizona and southern California. It has been reported from as far north as Idaho and Oregon. Sometimes a single plant has 10 or 12 flower heads in blossom at the same time.

_Malacothryx glabrata_ Sunflower Family

98. Malacothryx

There are many species of malacothryx native to the western and southwestern United States. Some are locally called “desert dandelion,” “snake’s head,” “yellow saucers,” and “cliff aster.” _Fendleri_ is one of the smaller species, with stems only 4 or 5 inches long, rising from a rosette of bluish-green leaves. Blooming from March to June, this delicate relative of the common dandelion covers with its pale yellow flowers rocky slopes and sandy plains and mesas, at elevations between 2,000 and 5,000 feet from West Texas to western Arizona.

_Malacothryx fendleri_ Sunflower Family

99. White cupfruit

Also called “tackstem” because of the numerous dark-colored, tack-shaped glands protruding from the stem, this white-flowered, branching annual blossoms from March to May at elevations of 500 to 4,000 feet. It is a conspicuous item of the spring flower display from west Texas to southern California and northern Mexico. A similar species with yellow flowers, _Calycoseris parryi_, common at elevations around 3,000 feet, blooms in March and April. It is found in southwestern Utah, Arizona, and southern California.

_Calycoseris wrightii_ Sunflower Family

100. Prickly sowthistle

Naturalized from Europe and generally considered a weed, sowthistle is found in waste grounds and along roadsides from near sea level to 8,000 feet. It blossoms from February to August, the flowers becoming cottony seed heads as conspicuous as the blooms. A close relative, _Sonchus oleraceus_, which blossoms from March to September, produces a gum from the drying of the sap, reportedly a powerful cathartic. It has also been used as a treatment for persons suffering from the habitual use of opium derivatives.

_Sonchus asper_ Sunflower Family

_Suggestions for Additional Reading_

Armstrong, Margaret, _Field Book of Western Wild Flowers_, C. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1915.

Benson, Lyman, _The Cacti of Arizona_, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1950.

Benson, Lyman, and Darrow, Robert, _The Trees and Shrubs of the Southwestern Deserts_, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, N.M., 1954.

Dodge, Natt, _Flowers of the Southwest Deserts_, Southwestern Monuments Association, Globe, Arizona, 1951.

Hornaday, W. T., _Camp-fires on Desert and Lava_, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1909.

Jaeger, Edmund C., _Desert Wild Flowers_, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1956.

Jaeger, Edmund C., _The North American Deserts_, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1957.

Lemmon, Robert S., and Johnson, Charles C., _Wildflowers of North America in Full Color_, Hanover House, Garden City, N.Y., 1961.

Leopold, A. Starker, _The Desert_, (Life Nature Library) Time Inc., New York, 1961.

McDougall, W. B., and Sperry, Omer E., _Plants of Big Bend National Park_, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1951.

Shreve, Forrest, and Wiggins, Ira L., _Vegetation and Flora of the Sonora Desert_, Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication No. 591, Vol. 1, Washington, D.C., 1951.

Vines, Robert A., _Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Southwest_, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1960.

Index

Adonis lupine _Lupinus excubitus_ 34 Agave _Agave scabra_ 14 Arizona-poppy _Kallstroemia grandiflora_ 41

Barrel cactus _Ferocactus wislizenii_ 53 Beavertail cactus _Opuntia basilaris_ 55 Bird-of-paradise-flower _Caesalpinia gilliesii_ 32 Bladderpod _Lesquerella gordonii_ 24 Blue palo-verde _Cercidium floridum_ 31 Brittle-bush _Encelia farinosa_ 87 Broom baccharis _Baccharis sarothroides_ 85 Buffalobur _Solanum rostratum_ 68

Canaigre _Rumex hymenosepalus_ 17 Catclaw-acacia _Acacia greggii_ 27 Ceniza _Leucophyllum frutescens_ 72 Chaenactis _Chaenactis fremontii_ 94 Claretcup echinocereus _Echinocereus triglochidiatus_ 49 Common reed _Phragmites communis_ 2 Coyote-melon _Cacurbita palmata_ 80 Creosotebush _Larrea tridentata_ 40 Crown-beard _Verbesina encelioides_ 89

Dalea _Dalea fremontii_ 36 Desert baileya _Baileya multiradiata_ 92 Desert beardtongue _Penstemon pseudospectabilis_ 73 Desert dandelion _Malacothryx glabrata_ 97 Desertlily _Hesperocallis undulata_ 4 Desert-mallow _Sphaeralcea ambigua_ 42 Desert mariposa _Calochortus kennedyi_ 7 Desertstar _Monoptilon bellioides_ 82 Desert-willow _Chilopsis linearis_ 77 Desert zinnia _Zinnia pumila_ 86 Douglas coreopsis _Coreopsis douglasii_ 90 Douglas groundsel _Senecio douglasii_ 95

Engelmann pricklypear _Opuntia engelmannii_ 56 Evening-primrose _Oenothera brevipes_ 22 Evening-primrose _Oenothera trichocalyx_ 61

False-mesquite _Calliandra eriophylla_ 26 Field bind-weed _Convolvulus arvensis_ 63 Fishhook cactus _Mammillaria microcarpa_ 54 Five-stamen tamarisk _Tamarix pentandra_ 43 Fleabane _Erigeron divergens_ 84

Giant yucca _Yucca carnerosana_ 11 Golden mariposa _Calochortus nuttalii aureus_ 6 Goldfields _Baeria chrysostoma_ 93

Heron-bill _Erodium cicutarium_ 39 Honey mesquite _Prosopis juliflora_ 29

Joshua-tree _Yucca brevifolia_ 9 Jumping cholla _Opuntia bigelovii_ 57

Lechuguilla _Agave lechuguilla_ 16 Longleaf ephedra _Ephedra trifurca_ 1 Louisiana broomrape _Orobanche ludoviciana_ 79 Lupine _Lupinus sparsiflorus_ 33

Malacothryx _Malacothryx fendleri_ 98 Mariposa _Calochortus flexuosus_ 5 Mescat-acacia _Acacia constricta_ 28 Mexican goldpoppy _Eschscholtzia mexicana_ 20 Mohave aster _Aster abatus_ 83

Nama _Nama demissum_ 67 New Mexico thistle _Cirsium neomexicanum_ 96 Night-blooming cereus _Peniocereus greggii_ 46

Ocotillo _Fouquieria splendens_ 62 Organpipe cactus _Lemaireocereus thurberi_ 48 Owl-clover _Orthocarpus purpurascens_ 76

Paintbrush _Castilleja angustifolia_ 75 Palmer penstemon _Penstemon palmeri_ 74 Paperflower _Psilostrophe cooperi_ 91 Parry agave _Agave parryi_ 15 Pencil cholla _Opuntia leptocaulis_ 58 Phacelia _Phacelia crenulata_ 66 Prairie spiderwort _Tradescantia occidentalis_ 3 Pricklepoppy _Argemone platyceras_ 21 Prickly sowthistle _Sonchus asper_ 100