Part 3

The species of Mistletoe that parasitize such trees as Ironwood, Mesquite, and Catclaw have small, scale-like tawny-brown leaves and stems. The tiny yellow-green flowers which appear in spring are fragrant and secrete nectar which attracts Honeybees and other insects. The handsome coral-pink berries are a major food, during the winter months, for Phainopeplas and other birds. The Arizona Verdin often builds its nest in the protected center of a clump of Mistletoe. Birds are believed to be instrumental in spreading this parasite from tree to tree.

Mistletoe saps the energy of the host tree and, where abundant, may cause considerable damage, killing branches and sometimes the entire tree. Papago Indians dry the berries in the sun and store them for winter food.

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Common Names: DESERT-TOBACCO, TREE-TOBACCO Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Nicotiana glauca_). Pale yellow. All year. California desert: (_Nicotiana trigonophylla_). Green-yellow. All year. Potato family. Size: Tree-tobacco (_N. glauca_) up to 12 feet. Desert-tobacco, 1 to 3 feet high.

Several species of wild tobacco are found in the desert. Of these, Tree-tobacco is conspicuous because of its rank growth, its large leaves, and the spectacular clusters of tubular, yellow flowers. In addition to nicotine, Tree-tobacco contains an alkaloid, anabasine. This conspicuous plant occurs in moist locations below 3,000 feet elevation and bears flowers throughout the entire year. Although now thoroughly naturalized in the Southwest, it is a native of South America.

Desert-tobacco, sometimes perennial in southwestern Arizona, is a dark-green herb common and widespread throughout the desert areas of the Southwest. It is not nearly as noticeable as its larger relative although it, too, blossoms the year around. Flowers are a pale yellow, almost greenish-white. It provides dense ground cover in rocky canyons and along desert washes.

Leaves, which are somewhat bad smelling, were smoked (and still are during ceremonials) by the Yuma and Havasupai Indians who are reported to have cleared land, burned the brush, and scattered the seeds of Desert-tobacco in an effort to promote the growth of strong plants with many large leaves.

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Common Names: TACKSTEM Arizona desert: (_Calycoseris wrighti_). White. March-May. California desert: (_Calycoseris parryi_). Yellow. March-April. Sunflower family. Size: 4 inches to a foot tall.

One of the handsomest of desert spring annuals, _Calycoseris_ is common on plains, mesas, and rocky slopes at elevations between 1,200 and 4,000 feet from western Texas to southern Utah, southern California, and south into Mexico.

The name Tackstem comes from the presence of numerous tack-shaped glands which protrude from the stems.

Taking advantage of the cool, moist weather of winter, the Tackstems produce their beautiful rose, white, or yellow blossoms in early spring, and mature their seeds before the advent of hot, dry weather.

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Common Names: BRICKELLBUSH, DESERT BRICKELLIA, (_PACHABA_) Arizona desert: (_Brickellia coulteri_). Yellow-white. September. California desert: (_Brickellia desertorum_). Pale yellow. Midsummer. Texas-New Mexico deserts: (_Brickellia californica_). Yellow-white. July-October. Sunflower family. Size: Small, much-branched perennial shrub, up to 3 feet in height.

Intricately branched and brittle-stemmed, this shrub with blossom heads holding from 8 to 18 yellowish flowers is common throughout the Southwest from western Texas and Colorado to Nevada, Sonora and Lower California.

It grows among rocks and in rocky locations throughout much of the desert country from 3,000 up to 7,000 feet.

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Common Names: WILD-ZINNIA Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Zinnia pumila_). Pale yellow. April-October. Sunflower family. Size: Low, dense-growing perennials in rounded clumps, 4 to 8 inches high.

Closely related to the garden Zinnia, which is a native of Mexico, desert Zinnias are attractive herbs suitable for trial as ornamental border plantings.

_Z. pumila_ prefers caliche soils and is found on dry mesas and slopes from Texas westward to southern Arizona and northern Mexico. It is often found blossoming in association with the Paperflower (_Psilostrophe cooperi_) which it superficially resembles. The pale yellow flowers of the Wild-zinnia turn white with age.

_Z. pumila_ may be easily recognized by the single heavy rib running the length of each narrow leaf.

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Common Names: CATCLAW, CAT’S-CLAW, TEARBLANKET, DEVILSCLAW Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (_Acacia greggi_). Pale yellow. April-October. Pea family. Size: Up to 20 feet tall.

The numerous thorns, short and curved like a cat’s claw, serve readily to identify this common, often abundant, shrub or small tree.

There are several species, some with large, bright-yellow flowers, but _A. greggi_ is the most common and occurs throughout all of the deserts of the Southwest, at elevations below 4,000 feet, often forming thickets along streams and washes.

Flowers, like pale yellow, fuzzy caterpillars, are one of the important sources of nectar for honeybees, the trees being alive with insects during the period of heaviest blooming in April and May.

In mid-August, the light green fruit pods begin to turn reddish and, if abundant, make a colorful display.

Seeds of the Catclaw were at one time widely used as food by the Indians of Arizona and Mexican tribes. They were ground into meal and eaten as mush or cakes.

Catclaw is one of the most heartily disliked plants in the Southwest, especially by riders and hikers, because of the strong thorns which tear clothing and lacerate the flesh.

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Common Names: MORMON-TEA, BRIGHAM-TEA, JOINTER, (_POPOTILLA_), (_TEPOSOTE_), (_CANATILLA_) Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Ephedra trifurca_). Pale yellow. Spring. California desert: (_Ephedra californica_). Pale yellow. Spring. Jointfir family. Size: Harsh, stringy perennials, from 2 to 10 feet tall and sometimes 5 or 6 feet in diameter.

Apparently leafless, these common Southwestern shrubs do have leaves, although they are reduced to tiny scales. The harsh, stringy stems are green to yellow-green and, when dried, were used with the flowers in making a palatable brew, particularly by the Utah pioneers; hence the names Mormon-tea and Brigham-tea. The beverage was also popular with Indians and settlers in treating syphilis and other afflictions, as it contains tannin and certain alkaloids. Flowers are small, pale yellow, and appear in the spring at which time the plants are quite noticeable, and attract large numbers of insects.

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Common Names: TELEGRAPH PLANT, CAMPHOR-WEED Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Heterotheca subaxillaris_). Pale yellow. March-November. Sunflower family. Size: Grows 2 to 6 feet tall.

The flowers are not particularly attractive, but become conspicuous as the seed-heads develop, because of the white, densely-haired tufts. Stems are tall and straight “like telegraph poles,” and the crushed leaves give off a slight camphor-like odor.

Although the plant occurs from the east coast across the southern portion of the United States, it is found in the desert at elevations between 1,000 and 5,000 feet.

Camphor-weed is a tall, coarse, robust, straight-stemmed plant which is abundant and conspicuous along roads and ditchbanks, and in the open desert following winters of heavy precipitation.

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Common Names: PALOVERDE, YELLOW PALOVERDE, BLUE PALOVERDE Arizona deserts: (_Cercidium microphyllum_). Pale yellow. April-May. Arizona desert. (_Cercidium floridum_). Bright yellow. April-May. Pea family. Size: Green-barked tree up to 25 feet high.

Arizona Paloverdes (meaning green stick) are large shrubs or small trees abundant along washes in the hotter, drier portions of the Sonoran Desert. When in blossom in the springtime, they appear as masses of pale yellow or golden bloom, and are a glorious sight, both as individual trees and massed as borders along the courses of washes which they mark with a line of color winding across the desert floor. During the dry season, they are without leaves, but are readily recognized by the bark, yellowish green in the case of _C. microphyllum_; blue green in _C. floridum_.

After the petals form, seeds form in bean-like pods which are not relished by livestock, but are eaten during periods of drought and when other forage is scarce. Indians ground the seeds into meal.

When the trees are in blossom, they attract myriads of insects, some of which, including Honeybees, seek the nectar. Wood is soft and the branches are brittle and easily broken. It is unsuited for fuel as it burns rapidly, leaves no coals, and gives off an unpleasant odor.

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Common name: CLAMMYWEED Arizona desert: (_Polanisia trachysperma_). Pale yellow. June-September. Texas desert: (_Polanisia uniglandulosa_). Pale yellow. June-September. Caper family. Size: 1 to 3 feet tall.

Clammyweed is not limited in its range to desert areas, but is found as far north as Saskatchewan and British Columbia. However, it is also a common annual in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona at elevations between 1,200 and 6,000 feet, and is usually found in abundance in the sandy channels of dry stream beds.

It somewhat resembles both Yellow Beeweed (_Cleome lutea_) and Jackass-clover (_Wislizenia refracta_.)

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Common names: PUNCTUREVINE, BURNUT, BULLHEAD, (_TORRITO_) Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (_Tribulus terrestris_). Pale yellow. Summer. Caltrop family. Size: Prostrate, stems 2 to 6 feet long.

A troublesome annual vine-like weed naturalized from southern Europe, the Puncturevine has established itself throughout the Southwest below 7,000 feet. Although fairly readily controlled by cultivation, the plant spreads rapidly in sandy, dry wastelands, often taking over vacant lots in towns, and areas in the desert where it finds sufficient moisture.

The fruits, which are produced in quantities, are armed with strong spurs which become embedded in the feet and fur of animals and in automobile tires. Fruits are also carried by irrigation or flood waters. Although the spurs are too short to puncture automobile tires, they make bicycles almost useless in some localities, and are an aggravation to children who go barefoot—and to dogs.

Flowers and fruits in various stages of maturity may be found on this fast-growing plant at almost any time during the summer months. Botanically, Puncturevine is closely related to the Creosotebush and also to the Arizona-poppy.

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Common names: ARIZONA-POPPY, CALTROP Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Kallstroemia grandiflora_). Bright yellow. February-September. Caltrop family. Size: 1 to 2 feet tall.

Although superficially resembling in size, shape, and color the blossoms of the Goldpoppy, the blossoms of the large-flowered Caltrop have five petals instead of four, and the plant is a close relative of the Puncturevine and the Creosotebush. One of the most attractive of the desert’s summer annuals, Arizona-poppy is found at elevations below 5,000 feet in the drylands of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico.

Large-flowered Caltrop may be distinguished from Goldpoppy by (1) sprawling open habit of growth, (2) compound leaves, (3) season of blossoming, and (4) the fact that the plants grow singly rather than in masses.

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Common names: GREASEWOOD, CREOSOTEBUSH, (_HEDIONDILLA_) Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (_Larrea tridentata_). Yellow. Spring. Caltrop family. Size: Shrub, 2 to 8 feet high.

No one could justifiably question the statement that Creosotebush is the most successful, widespread, and readily recognized desert plant of the hot, arid regions of North America. It often occurs over wide areas in such pure stands as to constitute true _Larrea_ plains. Its common companion is the grayish Burrobush or Bur-sage.

Following winter rains, the Creosotebush may put out a few yellow blossoms in January, but usually bursts into full flower in April or May, to be followed in a short time with the equally spectacular fuzzy white seed balls making the bushes appear to be covered with a light frosting of snow. After a rain, the plants give off a musty, resinous odor which is the basis of the Mexican name _Hediondilla_ (freely translated, “Little Stinker”). Lac occurs as a resinous incrustation on the branches, and was used by the Indians for mending pottery, making mosaics, and for fixing arrow points.

Leaves of the Creosotebush are covered with a “varnish” which often glistens in the sunlight, and helps reduce evaporative moisture loss, thereby enabling the plant to resist the desiccating effect of hot, dry winds.

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Common name: JACKASS-CLOVER Arizona desert: (_Wislizenia refracta_). Yellow. May-September. Caper family. Size: Up to 4 feet in height.

Conspicuous in late summer along roadsides and dry streambeds, the large number of yellow flowers and the widespread presence of these much branched, annual plants justify the inclusion of Jackass-clover in this booklet as one of the common flowers of the desert.

The plant ranges across the Southwest from western Texas to southern California at elevations between 1,000 and 6,500 feet. The flowers themselves are small, although the flower heads are quite conspicuous.

Since the leaves somewhat resemble the tri-foliate leaves of Clover, the plant is commonly called Jackass-clover. It is usually found in sandy locations.

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Common names: EVENING-PRIMROSE, SUNDROP Arizona and California deserts: (_Oenothera brevipes_). Yellow. March-May. Texas-New Mexico deserts: (_Oenothera primiveris_). Yellow. March-May. Evening-primrose family. Size: Usually low, but some up to 5 feet.

Among the commonest but most beautiful and delicate of the flowering plants of the desert are the Evening-primroses. Flowers are usually large, with the four petals either white or yellow, turning to red or pink with age. Many species are low-growing herbs with large, delicate petals; while others may be shrub-like, sometimes attaining a height of 5 feet. As the name implies, the flowers open in the evening and wilt soon after sunrise.

In the low, warmer sections of the desert, plants in blossom may be found as early as February.

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Common names: ALGERITA, BARBERRY, HOLLYGRAPE Arizona desert: (_Berberis haematocarpa_). Yellow. February-April. California desert: (_Berberis fremonti_). Yellow. May-July. Texas desert. (_Berberis trifoliolata_). Yellow. Spring. Barberry family. Size: Shrubs, 3 to 8 feet.

The pendant clusters of golden blossoms are particularly noticeable because of their delightful fragrance, and the small purple berries are juicy and of pleasant flavor. They make excellent jelly and are readily eaten by birds and some of the small mammals. Due to the holly-like leaves and the fragrant blossoms and fruits, the plants would make attractive ornamentals for landscape and decorative plantings were it not for the fact that they are secondary hosts for the black stem rust of the cereals, hence cannot be used in communities where grains are grown. Indians use the root as a tonic, and obtain from it a brilliant yellow dye.

Some botanists prefer to use the generic name _Mahonia_ or _Odostemon_ for this group of plants.

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Common names: BLADDERPOD, BEAD-POD Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Lesquerella gordoni_). Yellow. February-May. California desert: (_Lesquerella palmeri_). Yellow. March-May. Mustard family. Size: 6 to 8 inches high.

Extensive sections of the desert are gilded in springtime with this low-growing annual herb which is one of the earliest of the desert flowers.

Following moist winters, it covers dry mesas and plains below 4,000 feet from Oklahoma west to Utah, and southward into northern Mexico. After the seed pods have matured, the plant is reported to furnish valuable forage for range stock.

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Common names: BUFFALO-GOURD, COYOTE-MELON, (_CALABAZILLA_), (_CHILI COYOTE_) Arizona desert: (_Cucurbita digitata_). Yellow. June-October. California desert: (_Cucurbita palmata_). Yellow. July-September. Texas desert: (_Cucurbita foetidissima_). Yellow. May-August. Gourd family. Size: Trailing perennial with stems 4 to 15 feet long.

Gourds are conspicuous, trailing, rank-growing plants common along roadsides and in the open desert. Leaves are grayish-green, and blossoms yellow and trumpet-shaped. The striped fruits are about the size and shape of a tennis ball, although some are egg-shaped.

The fruits which are very conspicuous after the vines and leaves have been winter-killed, are sometimes collected, painted in gay colors, and used as ornaments about the house.

Although Indians considered the fruits as inferior and suitable only for coyotes, they ate them either cooked or dried, and made the seeds into a mush. Pioneers used the crushed roots of these plants as a cleansing agent in washing clothes.

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Common names: FIDDLENECK Arizona desert: (_Amsinckia intermedia_). Yellow. Spring. California desert: (_Amsinckia tessellata_). Yellow. Spring. Borage family. Size: Bristly erect herbs, 8 to 18 inches.

An annual of the Creosotebush belt, and very abundant on gravelly or sandy soils in dry, open places, Fiddleneck is found from western New Mexico to California and north to eastern Washington.

_A. tessellata_ occurs also in Chile and Argentina. Plants are reported to make good spring forage where they grow in heavy stands, but indications have been found that cirrhosis of the liver may result in cattle, sheep and horses that eat the nutlets.

Following moist winters, Fiddleneck is often so abundant as to form vast fields of yellow or orange-yellow blossoms, especially on the Mohave Desert in southern California.

The curling habit of the opening flower heads somewhat resembles the neck of a violin, hence the name.

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Common names: TARBUSH, VARNISHBUSH Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Flourensia cernua_). Yellow. July-December. Sunflower family. Size: A small shrub 3 feet, occasionally 6 or 7 feet high.

These resinous, much-branched, perennial shrubs are found on plains and mesas at elevations around 4,000 feet from western Texas to eastern Arizona and south into Mexico. The yellow, nodding flower heads are small, and the leaves have a hop-like odor and a bitter flavor unpalatable to cattle.

In northern Mexico the leaves and dried flower heads are sold in the drug markets under the name of _hojase_, recommended, in the form of a brew, as a remedy for indigestion.

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Common names: MESQUITE, HONEY MESQUITE Arizona, California and Texas deserts: (_Prosopis juliflora_). Yellow. April-June. Pea family. Size: Tree 15 to 25, rarely 30 feet high.

Mesquite (mess-KEET) is one of the commonest and most widespread of desert trees, often growing in extensive thickets. It occurs at elevations below 5,000 feet, usually along streams, desert washes, or in locations where the water table is relatively high, from Kansas to California and south into Mexico. Roots are reported to penetrate to a depth of 60 feet with more wood below ground than above. In some parts of the desert, blowing sand settles around Mesquite clumps forming hummocks through which rodents tunnel.

The numerous branches are armed with sturdy, straight thorns. In the spring when covered with bright green leaves and laden with catkin-like clusters of greenish-yellow flowers, Mesquite is a particularly handsome shrub or tree. Blossoms are fragrant and attract myriads of insects, including Honeybees.

During pioneer days, Mesquite wood was of the utmost importance to settlers as fuel, and was also used extensively in building corrals and in making furniture and utensils. With the exception of Ironwood, Mesquite is the best firewood to be found in the desert, giving off a characteristic aroma and forming a long-lived bed of coals.

Fruits of the Mesquite, which resemble string beans, ripen in autumn and are eaten by domestic livestock and other animals. They are rich in sugar and still form a staple food among natives. Indians made wide use of Mesquite, the fruits often carrying them over periods when their crops failed. _Pinole_, a meal made by grinding the long, sweet pods, was served in many ways. When fermented, it formed a favorite intoxicating drink of the Pimas. The gum, which exudes through the bark, was eaten as candy, and was used as a pottery-mending cement, and as a black dye.

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Common names: SCREWBEAN, FREMONT SCREWBEAN, SCREWPOD MESQUITE, (_TORNILLO_) Arizona, Texas, and California deserts: (_Prosopis pubescens_). Yellow. May-June. Pea family. Size: Shrub, or tree up to 20 feet.

Although the Screwbean, so called because of the tight spiral curl formed by the seed pod, is not as common as Honey Mesquite, it is nearly as widespread, being found below 4,000 feet from western Texas to southern Nevada, and southern California to northern Mexico. The majority of the trees are small and shrubby.

Fruits, in common with those of Honey Mesquite, are used by Indians and livestock for food. Bark from the roots was used by the Pima Indians to treat wounds. Where abundant, the wood is used for fence posts, tool handles, and fuel. Birds, particularly the Crissal Thrasher, make use of the shreddy bark for nest-lining material.

Where Screwbean and Honey Mesquite grow together, they may be distinguished in the winter when trees are leafless and fruits have fallen or been removed by animals, by the gray-barked twigs of the Screwbean, those of the Honey Mesquite being brownish red.

Some botanists prefer to classify Screwbean as genus _Strombocarpa_.

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Common names: GOLDFIELDS Arizona desert: (_Baeria chrysostoma_). Yellow. March-May. Sunflower family. Size: Low growing, usually under 6 inches.

After winters of particularly heavy precipitation, these small close-growing annuals with their sunflower-like blossoms cover large patches of desert with a carpet of gold. Individual flowers are so small and so inconspicuous among larger plants that they are easily passed unnoticed, but millions of the plants all in blossom at the same time make a spectacular display that attracts visitors from considerable distances.