Part 2

One of the most delicately beautiful of the flowers for which the desert is famous, “Queen of the Night” is waxy-white with thread-like stamens that give it the appearance of wearing a halo. The night on which the Cereus blooms is eagerly awaited by desert dwellers of long residence. All of the buds on a single plant, from two to six or seven in number, may open on the same night or may time their opening over a period of a week or more, usually in late June or early July, depending upon the season and other factors.

It is not unusual for nearly all of the plants in one locality to blossom on the same night. Buds unfold in the early evening, the flowers wilting permanently soon after sunrise the following morning. Fragrant, with a heavy, cloying perfume, they attract large numbers of night-flying insects.

The long, slender, fluted, lead-colored stems of the Nightblooming Cereus are inconspicuous and unattractive. Usually growing upward from beneath a Creosotebush or other desert shrub, they are partially supported and almost entirely hidden by the larger plant.

The beet-like root, which serves as a moisture-storage organ, may weigh from 5 to 85 pounds and is reportedly eaten by desert Indians. Fruits are podlike, pointed at the ends, and the size of a large pickle. They turn dull red when mature.

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Common Names: WESTERN-JIMSON, THORNAPPLE, GIANT-JIMSON, SACRED DATURA Arizona, California, and Texas deserts. (_Datura meteloides_). White. May-October. Potato family. Size: Up to 3 feet tall, and spreading over as much as 50 square feet of ground.

All portions of this coarse, vine-like herb are poisonous, and are used by some Indians as a narcotic to induce visions.

Seeds are sometimes administered to prevent miscarriage.

The plants with their large, gray-green leaves and showy, white, sometimes lavender-tinted flowers which open at night and close soon after contact by rays of the morning sun, are a common and arresting sight along roadsides and washes at elevations from 1,000 to 6,500 feet in Texas, New Mexico, southern Utah, southern California, and Mexico.

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Common Names: PRICKLYPOPPY, THISTLEPOPPY, (_CHICALOTE_) Arizona, California, and Texas deserts. (Argemone platyceras). White. Blooms all year. Poppy family. Size: Up to 30 inches in height.

One of the commonest and most noticeable perennials of the Southwest, the Pricklypoppy ranges from South Dakota and Wyoming to Texas, Arizona, southern California, and northern Mexico. A coarse, prickly plant with large flowers and yellowish sap, it is easily recognized.

It is sometimes facetiously called “cowboys’ fried egg.”

Flowers are normally white with large, tissue-paper petals and yellow centers. In southern Arizona an occasional plant with pale yellow petals is found; and in Big Bend National Park, Texas, a form with rose-colored petals and a deep red center is occasionally encountered.

Plants are drought-resistant, unpalatable to livestock, and may be found in blossom during any month in the year, although much more prolific during the spring and summer. When abundant on cattle range, they are an indication of over-grazing. Seeds are reported to contain a narcotic more potent than opium.

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Common Names: DESERTLILY, (_AJO_) Arizona and California deserts. (_Hesperocallis undulata_). White. March-April. Lily family. Size: Narrow-leafed perennial, 6 inches to 2 feet.

One of the showiest and most famous of the desert wildflowers, although limited in distribution to sandy areas below 2,000 feet elevation, the Desertlily greatly resembles the Easterlily of greenhouse habitat.

In some seasons, the blossoms are abundant and their delicate fragrance perfumes the surrounding atmosphere. During “off” seasons, visitors may scour the desert to find only a very few of the fragile blossoms.

Named “Ajo” by Spanish explorers because of the large, edible bulb resembling garlic, the Lily has passed on its name to a mountain range, a broad valley, and a thriving town in southwestern Arizona where it grows in profusion. Its range is limited to southwestern Arizona, southeastern California, and probably northern Sonora.

Papago Indians eat the bulbs which have an onion-like flavor. Bulbs are difficult to obtain because they grow at a depth of 18 inches to two feet beneath the surface of the hard-packed desert soil. Flowers remain open during the day, and propagation is principally by seeds.

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Common Names: DESERT-DANDELION, GOATSBEARD Arizona and Texas deserts. (_Rafinesquia neomexicana_). Bright white. March-May. California desert. (_Rafinesquia californica_). Dull white. April-May. Sunflower family. Size: About a foot high.

In early springs that follow winters of more than average rainfall the Desert-Dandelion is one of the conspicuous annuals helping to carpet the deserts with a ground-cover of flowers.

Although much more delicate, longer stemmed, and less coarse and robust than the common Dandelion, the flowers sufficiently resemble those of the better-known yellow Dandelion to stimulate recognition.

Desert-Dandelion is found below 4,000 feet in desert situations from western Texas to Lower California and northward to southern Utah.

WHITE

Common name: OLEANDER Arizona, California, and Texas deserts. (_Nerium oleander_). White, yellow, or red. Spring and summer. Dogbane family. Size: Robust, spreading shrub up to 20 feet high.

Well known and widely grown because of its large clusters of red or white blossoms and glossy, evergreen leaves, the Oleander is one of the handsomest shrubs found under cultivation in towns and cities of the desert. Requiring sub-tropical conditions, easily rooted from cuttings, and rapid in growth, the Oleander thrives in Southwestern desert areas if supplied with plenty of water. It is used individually and as hedgerows in ornamental plantings.

Although blossoms may be present at almost any time of year, the principal flowering season extends from early spring well through the summer. Both the red-flowered and the white-flowered plants are popular and may be grown separately or intermixed. Recently a yellow-flowered form has come into use.

These handsome shrubs immediately attract the attention of northerners visiting desert towns, and arouse their curiosity as to their identity.

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Common name: THREADPLANT Arizona desert. (_Nemacladus glanduliferus_). Purple-white. March-May. California desert. (_Nemacladus rigidus_). Purple-white. March-May. Bellflower family. Size: 2 to 12 inches tall.

The tiny, slender-stemmed, profusely-branched Threadplant is so small that it is completely overlooked by the majority of visitors to the Southwest, yet it is one of the most common and most attractive of desert flowers. Under a magnifying glass, the shape and coloring of the minute, delicate flowers make them appear as beautiful as orchids. The white flowers are touched with tints of red, brown, yellow, or purple.

Plants are abundant below 1,800 feet elevation on dry, gravelly or rocky soils, frequently along the shoulders of highways from Nevada throughout western Arizona and southern California to Lower California. Be on the lookout for this small but interesting and beautiful plant.

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Common name: DODDER Arizona and Texas deserts. (_Cuscuta indecora_). White. July-August. California desert. (_Cuscuta denticulata_). Pale yellow. July-August. Convolvulus family. Size: Vine-like, covering host plant.

Rootless, leafless, and with pale yellow to brownish stems which twine in vine-like embrace about the host, the parasitic Dodders are immediately noticeable because of their strange appearance.

Frequently the automobile traveler’s attention is arrested by a pale yellowish blotch in the green of the roadside vegetation. Examination shows this to be caused by the matted yellowish stems and the white to pale yellow, fleshy blossoms. These flowers are attractive and often abundant enough to make a showy display.

Dodder is found widespread throughout the United States and is often a serious parasitic pest on crops of economic importance. Desert species are usually found infesting Mesquite, Goldenrod, Aster, Burrobush, Seepwillow, and Arrowweed. Although certain Dodders show a preference in choosing hosts (_C. denticulata_ common on Creosotebush), most of them grow readily upon various plants.

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Common Names: JOSHUA-TREE, TREE YUCCA, GIANT JOSHUA California desert. (_Yucca brevifolia_). Green-white. February-April. Lily family. Size: 15 to 35 feet high; spread of 20 feet.

Because the presence of the grotesque Joshua-tree marks, more effectively than any other plant, the limits and extent of the Mohave Desert, this species is worthy of special recognition. This tree Yucca holds, in the Mohave Desert, similar status to the Saguaro in the Sonoran Desert. Strangely enough, in west-central Arizona, the Saguaro and Joshua-tree are found growing together and there the Sonoran and Mohave Deserts overlap.

And, just as in southern Arizona an area has been set aside as Saguaro National Monument to preserve and protect that species, so in southern California we find the Joshua Tree National Monument.

The Joshua-tree is outstanding among the many species of Yucca because of its short leaves growing in dense bunches or clusters, and because the plant has a definite trunk with numerous branches forming a crown. Great forests of these sturdy trees are found in parts of southern California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and northwestern Arizona where rainfall averages 8 to 10 inches per year.

Flowers of this Yucca develop as tight clusters of greenish-white buds at the ends of the branches, but do not open wide as do the flowers of other Yuccas. Joshua-trees do not bloom every year, the interval apparently being determined by rainfall and temperature. Birds, a small lizard, wood rats, and several species of insects are closely associated with the Joshua-tree, making use of it for food, shelter, or nest-building materials. Indians use the smallest roots, which are red, for patterns in their baskets.

The name “Joshua-tree” was given by the Mormons because the tree seemed to be lifting its arms in supplication as did the Biblical Joshua.

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Common Names: BROAD-LEAF YUCCAS, SPANISH BAYONET, (_AMOLE_), (_DATIL_), SOAPWEED Arizona desert. (_Yucca arizonica_). Creamy. April-May. California desert. (_Yucca schidigera_). White-purple. March-April. Texas desert. (_Yucca torreyi_). Creamy. March-April. Lily family. Size: Reaches height of 10 to 15 feet.

Although, in general, the Broad-leafed Yuccas do not reach tree size, the Giant Dagger (_Yucca carnerosana_) of Big Bend National Park reaches a height of 20 feet. In dense stands or “forests” these Yuccas, with their huge clusters of creamy, wax-like, lightly scented, bell-shaped flowers produce a never-to-be-forgotten display in blooming season.

The Yucca is the state flower of New Mexico.

Yuccas are often confused by newcomers to the desert with three other groups of plants: the _Agaves_ (Century Plant), _Dasylirion_ (Sotol) and _Nolinas_ (Beargrass).

The plate on the opposite page has been devoted to a comparison of the four groups, and by studying it carefully, the characteristics by which each may be identified can be determined.

Yucca leaf fibers have long been used by Indians for fabricating rope, matting, sandals, basketry, and coarse cloth. Indians also ate the buds, flowers, and emerging flower stalks. The large, pulpy fruits were eaten raw or roasted, and the seeds ground into meal.

Roots of the Yuccas have saponifying properties and are still gathered by some tribes and used as soap, especially for washing the hair. Flowers are browsed by livestock. (See Narrow-leaf Yuccas and Joshua-tree). _Yucca baccata_, a broad-leaf species found in the Southwest outside of the desert areas, is discussed in “Flowers of the Southwest Mesas.”

CREAM

Common Names: BEARGRASS, BASKETGRASS, (_SACAHUISTE_) Arizona desert: (_Nolina microcarpa_). Tan-cream. May-June. California desert: (_Nolina parryi_). White-cream. May-June. Texas desert: (_Nolina erumpens_). White-cream. May-June. Lily family. Size: Ragged clumps 4 to 8 feet in diameter and flower stalks up to 8 feet high.

The _Nolinas_ are sometimes confused with Sotol and the _Yuccas_ and occasionally with the _Agaves_. However, the _Nolinas_ resemble huge clumps of long-bladed grass, whereas Sotol leaves are ribbon-like and _Yucca_ leaves taper to a sharp point. Flower stalks of the _Nolinas_ are usually drooping and plume-like, and the numerous flowers are tiny. The many papery, dry-winged fruits often remain on the stalk until late autumn.

Beargrass does not grow on the flat mesas or sandy flats as do the Yuccas, but is confined to exposed locations on rocky slopes above the 3,000-foot elevation. The Parry Nolina of the California Desert is a larger and more spectacular plant than the species found in the Arizona and Texas-New Mexico Deserts. Indians are reported to use the very young flower stalks for food. Leaves are browsed by livestock in times of drought, sometimes with harmful results in the case of sheep or goats.

CREAM

Common Names: SOTOL, SPOONPLANT Arizona desert: (_Dasylirion wheeleri_). Creamy. May-August. Texas desert: (_Dasylirion leiophyllum_). Creamy. May-August. Lily family. Size: Leaves 3 feet; flower stem 5 to 15 feet.

At first glance, this plant may readily be mistaken for a Yucca, but its ribbon-like leaves (which are usually split at the tips instead of sharp-pointed) and tiny flowers instead of the bell-like blossoms of the Yucca, are distinguishing characteristics. The round heads of these plants grow close to the ground with the thick, woody stem beneath the soil. Leaves, when stripped from the head, come away with a broad, curving blade.

When trimmed and polished, they are sold as curios called “desert spoons.” In some portions of the desert near large cities, exploitation of the plants for this purpose has endangered the species and aroused the ire of conservationists.

The cabbage-like base, after the leaves are removed, is split and fed to livestock as an emergency ration during periods of drought.

The rounded heads of these plants are high in sugar which is dissolved in the sap of the bud stalk. This sap, when gathered and fermented, produces a potent beverage called “sotol,” which is the “bootleg” of northern Mexico.

CREAM

Common Names: NARROW-LEAF YUCCA, (_PALMILLA_), OUR-LORD’S-CANDLE, SPANISH-DAGGER, SOAPWEED, SPANISH-BAYONET Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Yucca elata_). Creamy. May-July. California desert: (_Yucca whipplei_). Creamy-white. May-June. Lily family. Clumps 8-12 feet; _Y. elata_ sometimes to 20 feet.

CREAM

The Narrow-leaf Yuccas are frequently confused with the _Agaves_ (Century plant), _Dasylirion_ (Sotol), and _Nolinas_ (Beargrass) but may readily be recognized by the fibers protruding from the margins of the leaves. To permit comparison and bring out the differences so that the four groups may be recognized and confusion avoided, sketches of all four appear on the same plate (p. 21).

In many grassland areas of western Texas and southern New Mexico, _Y. elata_ dominates the landscape for miles. This species has been used as emergency rations for range stock during periods of drought, the chopped stems being mixed with concentrates such as cottonseed meal. A substitute for jute has been made from the leaf fibers. Indians eat the young flower stalks, which grow rapidly and are relatively tender.

In its relationship with a moth of the genus _Pronuba_, the Yucca illustrates one of Nature’s interesting partnerships. The moth, which visits the Yucca flowers at night, lays her eggs in the ovary of a flower where the larvae will feed upon the developing seeds. But to be sure that the seeds do develop, the moth must place pollen on the stigma of the flower. Dependent upon the moth for this vital act of pollenization, the Yucca repays its winged benefactor by sacrificing some of its developing seeds as food for the moth’s larvæ. Fruits of the Narrow-leaf are dry capsules in contrast to the fleshy fruits of the Broad-leaf Yuccas.

_Yucca whipplei_ is a much smaller plant than _Y. elata_, but produces a stouter flower stalk with a great spreading plume of small, delicate flowers. These graceful plumes appear at night as if aglow with an inner light, hence the name “Our Lord’s Candle.” (See Broad-leaf Yucca [p. 19] and Joshua-tree [p. 18].)

Common Names: CLEMATIS, LEATHERFLOWER Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Clematis drummondi_). Cream. March-September. California desert: (_Clematis ligusticifolia_). Cream. May-September. Crowfoot family. Size: Climbing, vine-like perennial with stems 6 to 8 feet long.

By no means limited to the desert, Clematis is found throughout the Southwest. Several species are grown as ornamentals, foliage, flower clusters and the cotton-like masses of hairy fruits all being effective. Petals are absent or rudimentary, the sepals which furnish color to the blossoms being either creamy or purplish-brown. The name “Leatherflower” has been applied to the latter group.

CREAM

Common Names: COMMON REED, (_CARRIZO_), RIVERCANE, GIANTREED Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (_Phragmites communis_). Creamy. July-October. Grass family. Size: 8 to 12 feet tall.

Among the largest of the grasses, the Common Reed and its close relative Giantreed (_Arundo donax_) with their jointed stems resembling Bamboo, are coarse perennials with broad, flat, grass-like leaves found in marshes and stock tanks, along irrigation canals, and on river banks throughout the desert country of the Southwest. Common Reed is found throughout the world where conditions are suitable. The flower stalks are long, tassel-like, and at the ends of the stems.

In Arizona and New Mexico, Common Reed is called _Carrizo_. The hollow stems were used by the Indians for making arrow shafts, prayer sticks, pipe stems, and loom rods. Mats, screens, nets, and cordage, as well as thatching, are made from the leaves. The plants are useful as windbreaks and in controlling soil erosion along streams.

CREAM

Common Names: SEEPWILLOW, WATERMOTIE, WATERWALLY, WATERWILLOW, BROOM BACCHARIS, ROSINBUSH, (_HIERBA-DEL-PASMO_) Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Baccharis glutinosa_). Creamy. March-December. California desert: (_Baccharis sarathroides_). Yellow-white. September-February. Sunflower family. Size: Up to 7 feet tall.

Genus _Baccharis_ is composed, in the desert, of coarse shrubs with a number of common species. The flowers themselves are not beautiful, but the female plants with their flower heads that develop glaring-white pappus hairs, are spectacular and quite attractive.

_B. glutinosa_ is a common shrub along watercourses, often forming dense thickets. The straight stems are used in native houses as matting across ceiling timbers to support the mud roof. _B. sarathroides_ and several other species are often referred to as the Desert Brooms. They are common along desert washes and roadsides in sandy soil, their pale yellow, bristly flower heads, during the fall and winter months, appearing in sharp contrast to the vivid green branchlets and dark stems of the bushes. Among some Indians, the stems are chewed as a toothache remedy.

CREAM

Common Names: PLANTAIN, WOOLLY-PLANTAIN Arizona desert: (_Plantago purshi_). Buff. February-July. California desert: (_Plantago insularis_). Straw. January-May. Texas-New Mexico desert: (_Plantago argyraea_). Straw. June-August. Plantain family. Size: A few inches to 2 feet tall.

Plantains are not noted for the beauty of their blossoms but the larger, coarser species are sufficiently noticeable to attract attention, both in their blossoming and fruiting stages. The smaller winter annuals known as Indianwheat carpet the desert floor, in January and February, in some places, producing a straw-colored “pile” of tiny blossom spikes.

CREAM

Common Names: (_TASAJILLO_), CHRISTMAS CHOLLA, DIAMOND CACTUS, (TESAJO), DARNING-NEEDLE CACTUS, PENCIL-JOINT CHOLLA, HOLYCROSS. Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Opuntia leptocaulis_). Green-yellow. May-June. California desert: (_Opuntia ramosissima_). Green-yellow. May-September. Cactus family. Size: Much branched, shrubby, 2 to 4 feet tall.

Flowers of these small, slender-stemmed, shrubby chollas (CHOH-yahs) are small, sparse, and so inconspicuous as to be rarely noticed. However, the fruits, particularly those of _O. Leptocaulis_, are scarlet, egg-shaped, about 1 inch in length, and occur in such profusion that they immediately attract attention to the plants during the late fall and winter months, giving these plants the appropriate name of Christmas Cholla.

A large Cholla, _O. bigelovi_, also has greenish to pale yellow flowers but inconspicuous fruits and short, heavy joints so densely covered with silvery spines as to give it the name Teddybear Cholla. Found in south central and southwestern Arizona and westward into southern California, southern Nevada, and south into Sonora and Lower California, the Silver Cholla is noticeable at any season. Propagation is chiefly by joints which drop from the plant and take root, the new plants forming dense thickets on desert hillsides. Because the joints are so easily detached, they actually seem to jump at a passerby, this characteristic giving the plant the name Jumping Cactus.

YELLOW

Common Names: MISTLETOE, DESERT MISTLETOE Arizona and California deserts: (_Phoradendron californicum_). Yellow-green. March. Texas-New Mexico deserts: (_Phoradendron cockerelli_). Yellow-green. Spring. Mistletoe family. Size: Pendant, vine-like strands several feet long.

Because they form conspicuous, dense, shapeless masses in Mesquite, Ironwood, Acacia, Cottonwood, or other trees (depending upon the species of Mistletoe), these parasitic plants attract the attention and arouse the curiosity of persons unfamiliar with the desert. _P. macrophyllum_, which parasitizes Cottonwood trees, is widespread throughout the Southwest, and, because of its large gray-green leaves and glistening white berries is much in demand as a Christmas green. The Mistletoe is the state flower of Oklahoma.