Part 6

Common names: PURPLEMAT, PURPLE ROLL-LEAF Arizona, California and Texas deserts: (_Nama demissum_). Red-purple. March-May. Waterleaf family. Size: Tiny plant, an inch or so high.

Although the plants are very small, they grow close together and the blossoms are often quite large in comparison. The reddish-purple color of the flowers stands out in sharp contrast to the green of spring vegetation so that a widespread growth of the plants forms patches or mats of colorful desert carpeting.

Masses of the plants are usually found on open flats, often among Creosotebush, and on either clay or sandy soils. In dry years, growth is restricted and a tiny plant may bear but a single flower, the blossom sometimes almost as large as the rest of the plant.

PURPLE

Common names: SPIDERLING, WEST INDIAN BOERHAAVIA Arizona, California and Texas deserts: (_Boerhaavia caribaea_). Red-purple. May-September. Four-o’clock family. Size: Trailing stems up to 4 feet in length.

A common roadside perennial, Spiderling becomes an annoying garden weed when it invades open fields and areas of cultivation. Its trailing stems and sticky foliage interfere with tillage. The flowers are small but numerous and grow in attractive, colorful clusters. This species is widely distributed, not only throughout the deserts of the Southwest, but also in tropical and subtropical America.

In addition to _B. caribaea_, other species of _Boerhaavia_ are widespread throughout areas of the Southwest below 5,500 feet elevations. The plants usually grow where they are exposed to full sunlight, although sometimes found in open brushlands, and reach full flower in late summer and autumn months.

PURPLE

Common names: OWLCLOVER, (_ESCOBITA_) Arizona and California deserts: (_Orthocarpus purpurascens_). Red-purple. March-May. Figwort family. Size: 4 to 8 inches high.

This short, leafy annual ranging in color from rich velvet red to purple is noticeable even as an individual plant, but, following winters of above average rainfall, it often grows en masse, covering portions of the desert floor with a carpet of bright purple; sometimes in pure stands, often mixed with Goldpoppy, Lupine, and other spring flowers.

Since _Escobita_ is limited in range to southern and western Arizona, California, and Lower California at elevations below 3,000 feet, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is well within its range, and in that area can be seen at its spectacular best.

The California variety has the lower lip of the blossom tipped with rich yellow.

PURPLE

Common names: CHOLLA, CANE CACTUS, WALKINGSTICK CHOLLA, BUCKHORN CHOLLA Arizona desert: (_Opuntia spinosior_). Red-purple. May-June. California desert: (_Opuntia acanthocarpa_). Yellow-purple. April-May. Texas desert: (_Opuntia imbricata_). Red-purple. May-June. Cactus family. Size: Shrubby, from 3 to 8 feet high.

Aside from the true Tree Cholla (_Opuntia fulgida_), which is the largest of the branching, cylindrical-jointed cacti and is very common in restricted portions of the desert in the Tucson-Phoenix area, the species listed above are the largest, most representative, and most widely spread of the Chollas (CHOH-yahs).

The bright red to purple flowers of _O. spinosior_ and _O. imbricata_ make them particularly attractive during the blossoming season, while the extreme variability, from yellow to red and purple, of the flowers of _O. acanthocarpa_ make its identification by this means always a matter of uncertainty. Fruits of _spinosior_ and _imbricata_ are quite large, yellow, and at a distance may be mistaken for blossoms.

Flowers of _O. fulgida_ are small, pink, and appear in midsummer followed by fruits which remain on the plant to form long hanging clusters relished by cattle. A hybrid between _spinosior_ and _fulgida_ is reported along the Gila River west of Florence, Arizona.

PURPLE

Common names: THISTLE, WAVY THISTLE Arizona desert: (_Cirsium neomexicanum_). Pink-purple. March-September. California desert: (_Cirsium mohavense_). Pink-white. Summer. Texas desert: (_Cirsium undulatum_). Red-purple. October. Sunflower family. Size: 2 to 4 feet tall, sometimes taller.

Sometimes called Bullthistles, these biennials or perennials with spiny stems, prickly leaves, and heavy flower heads ranging in color from white to purple need no introduction to most people.

The Mohave Thistle is the commonest form found in southern California, being abundant, sometimes in dense stands, in open gravelly valleys, on rocky slopes, or about alkaline seeps in the Mohave Desert. Range of the New Mexico Thistle extends westward to the eastern borders of the Mohave Desert. _Cirsium californica_, with white blossoms, occurs in Death Valley National Monument at elevations between 4,000 and 5,000 feet.

Navajo and Hopi Indians are reported to use the Thistle plant for medicinal purposes.

PURPLE

Common name: SANDVERBENA Arizona and California deserts: (_Abronia villosa_). Pink-purple. March-April. Texas desert: (_Abronia angustifolia_). Pink-purple. March-July. Four-o’clock family. Size: Trailing annual, stems sometimes 2 feet in length.

Sandverbenas are attractive, low-growing herbs with pink-purple to lavender, fragrant flowers forming clusters or heads which cover the plants. Desert species are conspicuous in the springtime when they line roadsides and carpet open, sandy locations, such as dry streambeds, with a mass of purple. Although they are often found in solid patches, they frequently intermingle with other spring flowers such as the Bladderpod producing a gay pattern of color.

Other species are found at higher elevations and are common during the summer months.

Some of the desert species blossom a second time in September.

PURPLE

Common names: HEDGEHOG CACTUS, STRAWBERRY CACTUS, CALICO CACTUS Arizona and California deserts: (_Echinocereus engelmanni_). Lavender-purple. March-April. Texas desert: (_Echinocereus fendleri_). Pink-purple. May-June. Cactus family. Size: 6 to 18 inches high.

Growing in open clumps with stems resembling spine-covered cucumbers standing on end, the Hedgehog is the first cactus to blossom in the spring. Flowers vary considerably in color ranging from lavender through purple to a rich red.

Fruits (called “pitayas” in Texas) are dark mahogany red, juicy, rich in sugar, and may be eaten like strawberries, hence the name Strawberry Cactus. They form an important item in the diet of birds and rodents. Pima Indians consider them a delicacy.

A close relative, the Rainbow Cactus (_Echinocereus rigidissimus_) is restricted in its distribution to elevations between 4,000 and 6,000 feet. It is called “Rainbow” Cactus because of alternating bands of red and white spines encircling the stem and marking growth of different seasons and years. The blossoms of the Rainbow Cactus are pinkish (yellow in western Texas) and are large and showy in comparison with the small size of the single-stemmed plant.

PURPLE

Common names: DESERT-HYACINTH, PAPAGOLILY, BLUEDICKS, COVENA, GRASSNUTS Arizona and California deserts: (_Dichelostemma pulchellum_). Light blue. February-May. Lily family. Size: About 1 foot high.

Very common and abundant in early spring, the pale blue to violet flowers of this small, delicate perennial Lily are conspicuous on open slopes and mesas. Found below 5,000 feet from southwestern New Mexico to California and northward to Oregon, they are widely scattered over the desert areas of the Southwest. Pima and Papago Indians ate the small bulbs, as also did the early white settlers who named them Grassnuts.

BLUE

Common name: WILD-MORNINGGLORY Arizona desert: (_Evolvulus arizonicus_). Sky blue. April-October. Texas desert: (_Evolvulus alsinoides_). Azure blue. April-September. Convolvulus family. Size: Spreading perennial herbs up to 2 feet.

Although _E. arizonicus_ is considered one of the desert’s most beautiful wildflowers, members of the genus are by no means limited to the desert. They are found in sunny locations on desert grasslands, open plains and dry mesas below 5,000 feet from the Dakotas and Montana to Argentina.

The flowers, although rarely more than ½ inch in diameter, are bright azure or sky blue, and seem large in comparison with the small leaves and weak, spreading stems of the plant that bears them.

Although the genus _Ipomoea_ is the true Morningglory, blossoms of _Evolvus_ are similar in appearance, although flattened, hence are sometimes called Wild-morningglory.

BLUE

Common names: CHIA, SAGE, DESERT-SAGE Arizona desert: (_Salvia carnosa_). Sky-blue. Spring. California desert: (_Salvia columbariae_). Blue. March-April. Texas desert: (_Salvia arizonica_). Indigo blue. July-September. Mint family. Size: Herbs and shrubs up to 3 feet high.

The word “Sage” is derived from the idea that these plants had the power to make a person wise or sage. Please do not confuse the Desert-sage with Sagebrush (_Artemisia_) which does not grow in low-elevation deserts but which, due to popular writings and “western” movies, is associated in the public mind with any brushy plant found in the west.

Seeds of the Chia at one time formed a staple article of diet among southwestern Indians, and are still used by natives in Mexico for food and for making mucilaginous poultices.

The flowers of several species of Chia are very ornamental and the plants are quite common, usually in sandy soil.

BLUE

Common names: LARKSPUR, WILD-DELPHINIUM Arizona desert: (_Delphinium scaposum_). Royal blue. March-May. California desert: (_Delphinium parishi_) Sky blue. Spring. Texas desert: (_Delphinium carolinianum_). Blue. Spring. Crowfoot family. Size: Up to 2 feet in height.

Desert Larkspurs are low-growing, spring or early summer-flowering in habit, often occurring in colonies, and frequently intermingle with other spring flowers thereby adding their blue to the colorful tapestry of ground cover. They are readily recognized because of their resemblance to the cultivated varieties called Delphiniums, and because of the tubular extension or “spur.” _D. amabile_ is the most drought-resistant of all southwestern species and may blossom in the desert as early as February.

Because they contain delphinine and other toxic alkaloids, Larkspurs are poisonous to livestock, particularly sheep. On the desert, the plants are small and bear few but beautiful blossoms. They prefer open, gravelly soil.

It is reported that the Hopi Indians grind Larkspur blossoms with corn to produce blue meal.

BLUE

Common names: SMOKETREE, INDIGOBUSH, PEABUSH Arizona and California deserts: (_Dalea spinosa_). Blue-violet. April-June. Texas deserts: (_Dalea formosa_). Purple. March-June. Pea family. Size: Up to 10 or 12 feet tall.

Famous, although not common, throughout the frostless areas of the desert, the Smoketree, because of its gray-green, leafless, plume-like growth resembles at a distance a gray cloud of smoke hovering over a desert campfire. When in flower, in May or June, it is one of the handsomest of desert shrubs. It is always found in the bed of a sandy wash where it obtains moisture from runoff following summer showers or winter rains.

In California, it occurs in portions of both the Mohave and the Colorado Deserts, and in Arizona is restricted to the western part of the state. It is fairly abundant near Quitobaquito in the southwestern corner of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

Other species of Indigobush, of which there are many, are less famous than the Smoketree, but all have purple or indigo flowers and most of them are beautiful and noticeable when in blossom. Indians used an extract from the twigs for dyeing basket material and ate the roots of _D. terminalis_.

BLUE

Common names: WILD-RHUBARB, DOCK, SORREL, _CANAIGRE_ Arizona and California deserts: (_Rumex hymenosepalus_). Pink-green. March-April. Texas desert: (_Rumex mexicanus_). Pink-green. Summer. Buckwheat family. Size: Coarse perennial up to 2 feet tall.

Sturdy, conspicuous flower and seed heads together with the large leaves of these coarse, roadside plants, although hardly to be considered as beautiful, attract considerable attention and arouse the curiosity of the observer. Some species are garden weeds introduced from Europe. In the desert, the large, coarse leaves and pinkish flower stalks make quite a showing in sandy washes and along the roadsides as early as March and April. The plant is being considered as a source of tannin (from its tubers) to replace that formerly obtained from Chestnuts.

GREEN

Common names: GOATNUT, DEERNUT, (_JOJOBA_), WILD-HAZEL, COFFEEBERRY Arizona and California deserts: (_Simmondsia chinensis_). Green-yellow. December-July. Box family. Size: Shrub, 2 to 5 feet high.

_Jojoba_ (hoh-HOH-bah) is another of the desert plants which is noticeable, not because of its flowers, but due to its leathery, gray-green foliage which persists throughout the year. These shrubs are numerous at elevations between 1,000 and 4,300 feet in the lower levels of desert mountain ranges, particularly on the alluvial fans at the mouths of canyons.

The acorn-like nuts, which taste something like filberts, but are bitter because of their tannin content, were long an important item of food among the Indians and the early settlers. The thickly set, evergreen leaves are browsed by Deer and other animals, and the nuts are gathered by Ground Squirrels.

The nuts contain an edible oil (actually a liquid wax) which has some medicinal value and is used in small quantities in the manufacture of hair oil. Attempts to raise the nut in commercial quantities have not proved successful. On occasions the nuts have been roasted and used as a substitute for coffee.

GREEN

Common names: DESERT MILKWEED, BEDSTRAW MILKWEED, (_AJAMENTE_) Arizona desert: (_Asclepias subulata_). Green-yellow. April-October. California desert: (_Asclepias erosa_). Green-white. September-October. Texas desert: (_Asclepias texana_). Green-white. Autumn. Milkweed family. Size: Perennials, up to 5 feet.

Readily recognizable because of their milky sap and the pods filled with silky-winged seeds, the Milkweeds are generally considered as poisonous to livestock, although rarely eaten. Appreciable quantities of rubber are found in the sap of some species.

GREEN

Common names: ALLTHORN, CROWN-OF-THORNS, CRUCIFIXION-THORN, (_CORONA-DE-CRISTO_) Arizona desert: (_Koeberlinia spinosa_). Greenish. May-June. California desert: (_Holacantha emoryi_). Yellow-green. June-July. Texas desert: (_Koeberlinia spinosa_). Greenish. May-June. Koeberlinia is Junco family. Holacantha is Simaruba family. Size: From 2 to 10 feet high.

Two intricately branched, thorny shrubs with green bark and leaves reduced to small scales and otherwise resembling each other are both popularly known by the names of Crown-of-thorns and Crucifixion-thorn, although they are not closely related botanically.

Flowers of both are small and inconspicuous, although when the bushes are in full bloom, they are quite noticeable. Even so, it is the unusual and eye-arresting appearance of these shrubs which appear as leafless masses of robust thorns, making them a conspicuous feature of the desert and arousing the interest and curiosity of observers.

In some locations these shrubs are sufficiently abundant to form thickets which repel livestock. Fruits of _H. emoryi_ remain on the plant for years, and it is usually possible to identify each season’s fruit clusters by the degree of weathering. These masses of brown to black fruits are very noticeable and are often mistaken for parasitic growths or the results of a disease. A somewhat similar shrub, sometimes attaining tree size and superficially resembling the Paloverde (see p. 36), is the Mohave-thorn (_Canotia holocantha_). It is found at elevations between 2,500 and 4,500 feet, over much of southern and western Arizona and northern Sonora, and blossoms from May to August.

Common names: BUR-SAGE, BURROWEED, BURROBUSH Arizona desert: (_Franseria deltoidea_). Greenish. December-April. California desert: (_Franseria dumosa_). Greenish. April-November. Sunflower family. Size: Up to 3 feet high.

Noticeable because of its ashy foliage, Bur-sage is a low, rounded, white-barked shrub, the several species of which are very common on the dry plains and mesas up to 3,000 feet. The flowers are small, without petals, and colorless inasmuch as they are wind-pollenated and do not need to attract insects.

It is classed by A. A. Nichol as one of the major plants of the Paloverde-Bur-sage-Cacti plant association, one of the three plant communities of the Sonoran Desert.

Bur-sage is one of the favorite foods of burros and sheep, and is said to be preferred also by horses.

GREEN

Common names: INKWEED, SEEPWEED, IODINEBUSH, (_QUELITE-SALADO_) Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Suaeda suffrutescens_). Greenish. March-July. California desert: (_Suaeda torreyana_). Greenish. July-September. Goosefoot family. Size: Up to 6 feet tall, and branching.

Seepweed, which is usually an indicator of alkaline soil, is browsed to some extent by cattle when other feed is scarce. The young plants are used for greens by the Pimas and other desert Indians, sometimes eaten with cactus fruits. _Pinole_ was made by roasting the seeds. Coahuila Indians extracted from the plants a black dye which they used in art work.

Flowers of the Seepweed are small, greenish, and without petals. Since the pollen is carried by the wind, color to attract insects to the flowers is not necessary. Because of its tolerance for somewhat salty or alkaline soils, Seepweed thrives along the margins of dry lakes and on salt flats where moisture is near the surface. On the desert of southern California it is often associated with Mesquite and Quailbrush, the sooty-green to brown plants standing out in sharp contrast.

Because it is so common in moist locations throughout the Southwest, and sufficiently unusual in appearance to arouse curiosity as to its identity, Seepweed is included in this publication regardless of the fact that its flowers are small and inconspicuous.

GREEN

REFERENCES

Benson, Lyman; and Darrow, Robert: _A Manual of Southwestern Trees and Shrubs_; University of Arizona, 1944.

Benson, Lyman: _The Cacti of Arizona_; University of Arizona, Second Edition, 1950.

Black, Homer: _Common and Larger Plants Near the Cavern Entrance_; Carlsbad Caverns National Park; mss. 1944.

Cooper, Norman C.: _Check List of Plants of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument_; mss. 1942.

Jaeger, Edmund C.: _Desert Wildflowers_; Stanford University Press, Revised Edition, 1944.

Joint Committee on Horticultural Nomenclature: _Standardized Plant Names_; Second Edition, 1942.

Kearney, Thomas H.; and Peebles, Robert H.: _Flowering Plants and Ferns of Arizona_; Government Printing Office, 1942.

McDougall, W. B.: Vegetation of White Sands National Monument; mss. 1939.

McDougall, W. B.: Check List of the Plants of Death Valley National Monument; mimeo. 1945.

McDougall, W. B.; and Sperry, Omer E.: Plants of Big Bend National Park; Government Printing Office, 1951.

Nichol, A. A.: _The Natural Vegetation of Arizona_; University of Arizona Technical Bulletin No. 68, 1937.

Shantz, H. L.; and Piemeisel, R. L.: _Indicator Significance of the Natural Vegetation of the Southwestern Desert Region_; Government Printing Office, 1925.

Sperry, Omer E.; and Warnock, Barton H.: _Plants of Brewster County, Texas_; Sul Ross State Teachers College Bulletin, Vol. 21, No. 1, Alpine, Texas, 1941.

Taylor, Walter P.; McDougall, Walter B.; and Davis, William B.: _Preliminary Report of an Ecological Survey of Big Bend National Park_; March-June, 1944; mimeo.

INDEX

A Abronia 96 Acacia 28, 33 Acknowledgement 8 Agave 19, 21, 22, 61 Ajamente 105 Ajo 13 Alfilaria 80 Algerita 43 Allionia 67 Allthorn 106 Amole 19 Amsinckia 46 Amaryllis family 61 Aplopappus 55 Apricot-mallow 68 Arizona Desert 5 Arizona-poppy 38, 39 Argemone 12 Arundo 24 Arrowweed 17, 88 Artemisia 4 Asclepias 105 Ashplant 79 Aster 17, 82 Astragalus 86