Title: Flowers of the Southwest Deserts
Author: Natt N. Dodge
Illustrator: Jeanne R. Janish
Release date: November 2, 2016 [eBook #53432]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
By Natt N. Dodge
Drawings by Jeanne R. Janish
SOUTHWESTERN MONUMENTS ASSOCIATION
POPULAR SERIES NO. 4
Globe, Arizona
1954
Copyright 1951, 1952, 1954
by the Southwestern Monuments Association
U. S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Southwestern National Monuments
Gila Pueblo, Globe, Arizona
This booklet is published by the Southwestern Monuments Association in keeping with one of its objectives, to provide accurate and authentic information about the Southwest.
Other numbers of the Popular Series now in print are: (2) “Arizona’s National Monuments,” 1946; (3) “Poisonous Dwellers of the Desert,” in its fourth printing, 1951; (5) “Flowers of the Southwest Mesas,” 1951; (6) “Tumacacori’s Yesterdays,” 1951; (7) “Flowers of the Southwest Mountains,” 1952; and (8) “Animals of the Southwest Deserts,” April, 1954.
A Technical Series will embody results of research accomplished by the staff and friends of Southwestern National Monuments.
Notification of publications by the Association will be given upon date of release to such persons or institutions as submit their names to the Executive Secretary for this purpose.
Dale Stuart King, Executive Secretary
Harry B. Boatright, Treasurer
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DALE STUART KING, Editor
Naturalist, Southwestern National Monuments
First Edition, 5,000 copies, published April 9, 1951
Second edition, revised, of 7,500 copies, January, 1952
Third edition, revised, of 10,000 copies, March, 1954
Printed in the United States of America by
Rydal Press, Santa Fe, N.M.
Desert Areas of the West—this booklet deals with the common plants of three of them: (1) the Chihuahua; (2) the Sonoran; and (3) the Mojave.
Plants of the higher plateau country of from 4,500 to 7,000-feet elevation are shown and described in “Flowers of the Southwest Mesas,” companion volume to this one, by Pauline M. Patraw and Jeanne R. Janish, 1951.
Mountain zone vegetation (from the Ponderosa Pine belt, or about 7,000 feet, on up) is the subject of “Flowers of the Southwest Mountains,” the third of the triad, by Leslie P. Arnberger and Jeanne R. Janish.
By Natt N. Dodge
Drawings by Jeanne R. Janish
In order that you may get full value from this booklet, it is important that you understand how to make the greatest use of it. The purpose of the booklet is double: (1) to introduce the common desert flowers to newcomers to the Southwest; and (2), to give a little background of information about the plants’ interesting habits and how they have been and are used by animals, by the native peoples, and by the settlers. Every effort has been made to present accurate, if not always complete, information.
Since there are more than 3,200 plants recorded from Arizona alone, and this booklet attempts to introduce you to the common plants of desert areas in Texas, New Mexico, and California in addition to Arizona, it is apparent that you will find an enormous number of flowers which are not included. Therefore, a painstaking effort has been made to select the commonest or most spectacular; that is, those which you will naturally stop to look at and say, “Who are you?”
For ease in identification, flowers are arranged in this booklet according to color of the flower petals. When you meet a flower to whom you would like an introduction, first note the color of its petals. Don’t jump too quickly to a conclusion, for what at first glance may seem to be pink, careful examination may prove to be lavender, violet, or purple. Once you feel reasonably sure of the color, turn to the section of the booklet in which flowers of that color are listed and examine the sketches. Find something that looks similar?
Now check the size of the plant as indicated in the sketch and text. Does the text list the flower as occurring in the particular desert area (see map on next page) where you are? Is the blossoming season correct? Do other details check? If so, the chances are that you have the right flower—or at least a close relative. Close enough, anyway, so that you may be reasonably safe in calling the flower by its common name. Of course if a botanist happens along, he may point out that you have Penstemon parryi whereas you thought you had struck up an acquaintance with Penstemon pseudospectabilis. However, it’s a penstemon, even tho’ a sister of the one you thought you were meeting. Perhaps you’ll run across a dozen other brothers and sisters before you happen onto the member of the genus common enough to be listed specifically in our Desert Who’s Who.
Certain of the desert flowers change color with age. Also, during off seasons, some of the really common flowers don’t show up in large numbers while a few of the rarer ones may take their turn at brightening up the desert. Furthermore, in a few cases such as the Oleander, the species comes in two colors, red flowers on one plant and white on another. The Bird-of-Paradise flower has yellow petals, but the rest of the flower is red, so it’s a toss-up which color you might call it. The Beavertail Cactus has magenta flowers while those of its very close relative, Engelmann’s Prickly Pear, have yellow blossoms, yet in this booklet it has been necessary to put them both on the same page in the “yellow” section.
So, this booklet makes no claims to perfection, and these discrepancies add certain hazards to the game. You may strike out several times before getting to first base. As you become accustomed to using the booklet, home runs will come more frequently, and you will soon begin to have a lot of fun. If any particular species especially interests you, once you are certain of its identity you can readily find out more about it by following up in one or more of the publications listed in this booklet under the heading “References.”
A few of the common desert flowers have been left out of this booklet—purposely. The reason is that, although they are well represented among desert flowers, they are even more common throughout non-desert parts of the Southwest. You will find them all in a companion booklet: Polly Patraw’s “Flowers of the Southwest Mesas.” They belong principally to the following groups: Cottonwood, Rabbit-brush, Snakeweed, Saltbush, Apacheplume, Clematis, Squawbush, Blanketflower, Sunflower, Groundsel, Elder, Blazing Star and Morningglory.
It has often been said that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Although the statement is literally true, we are often disappointed, perhaps offended, when we find some flower friend of long acquaintance called by another, and, to our minds, inferior name. Also, we dislike the attachment of a name which we have long associated with a certain plant to another, and perhaps less attractive, flower.
Common names are by no means standardized in their usage, and a well known plant in one part of the country may be called by an entirely different name somewhere else. Also, certain names are applied to a number of plants which more or less resemble one another. For instance, the name “Greasewood” is applied to almost any plant that has oily or highly inflammable leaves; and with the avid reading by eastern people of Zane Grey’s and other “westerns,” any shrubby plant with grayish foliage covering large areas of western land immediately becomes “Sagebrush.” This is particularly irritating to inhabitants of the desert areas treated in this booklet because true Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) rarely grows below elevations of 6,000 feet. The loose application of common names is a confusing annoyance to wildflower enthusiasts.
In an effort to avoid this confusion and to establish a method of naming that will be uniform throughout the world, botanists have developed a system using descriptive Latin names and grouping plants into genera and families based upon their relationships to one another as determined by their physical structure. Unfortunately for the layman, this system is so technical and the Latin names so unintelligible that he becomes completely bewildered. Furthermore, advanced botanical studies result in continual regroupings and changes in names so that the amateur botanist finds it impossible to keep up. Botanists who specialize in plant nomenclature have a tendency to become so involved with the technicalities of naming that their writings bristle with minute descriptions of anatomical details and the reader searches in vain for such basic information as a simple statement of the color of the flowers.
The majority of common flowers have several to many common names. This is particularly true in the Southwest where some plants have names in English, Spanish, and one or more Indian languages. In addition, of course, each species has its scientific name. An effort has been made in this booklet to give as many of the names applied to each selected flower as are readily available. This not only aids in identifying the plant, but adds to its interest. The reader then finds himself in the enviable position of being able to scan the field and choose whichever name appeals to him with the reasonable assurance that he is right—at least in one locality.
Since this booklet was written by a layman for the use and enjoyment of other laymen, it violates a number of botanical, or taxonomic, principles. These violations have been committed with no spirit of disrespect, but in an effort to avoid confusion, conserve space, and keep a complicated and involved subject as simple as possible. The writer believes that the visitor to the desert who has a normal pleasure in nature is interested in the flowers because of their beauty and their relationships with other inhabitants of the desert, including mankind.
In this booklet we are dealing with DESERT flowers, so it seems logical to take a moment to check upon the desert itself. What is a desert, and how may we recognize one when we see it?
“A desert,” stated the late Dr. Forrest Shreve, “is a region of deficient and uncertain rainfall.” Where moisture is deficient and uncertain, only such plants survive as are able to endure long periods of extreme drought. Desert vegetation is, therefore, made up of plants which, through various specialized body structures, can survive conditions of severe drought. In general, the deserts of the world are fairly close to the equator, so they occur in climates that are hot as well as dry. Plants in the deserts of the Southwest must endure long periods of heat as well as drought.
In North America, major desert areas are located in the general vicinity of the international boundary between Mexico and the United States. Due to various differences in elevation, climatic conditions, and other factors, certain portions of this Great American Desert favor the growth of plants of certain types. Based on these general vegetative types, botanists have catalogued the Great American Desert into four divisions, as follows (see map):
It is of especial interest to note that certain plants such as Creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) seems to thrive in several of these desert areas while others are found in great abundance in only one. Plants that grow in profusion in only one desert are spoken of as “indicators” of that particular desert. Any person interested in desert vegetation soon learns the major indicators, not only of the different deserts, but of different sections or elevations in the same desert. Here are some of the better-known indicator plants:
This publication deals with the common plants and flowers of the Chihuahuan, Sonoran, and Mohave-Colorado Deserts. Since these names are strange to many visitors to the Southwest, the writer has taken the liberty of applying descriptive names as synonyms. In this booklet the Chihuahuan Desert is called the Texas Desert, the Sonoran Desert is referred to as the Arizona Desert, and the Colorado-Mohave Desert is considered as the California Desert.
Whenever possible, the desert in which a particular species of plant is most common is indicated; however, this should not be interpreted too rigidly as most of the plants in this book grow in more than one desert and some grow in all.
Because the Great Basin Desert is a region of higher elevation and is influenced by other factors which are not common to the three portions of the Great American Desert covered in this booklet, its vegetation is more like that of the plateaulands and foothills of the Southwest. Therefore, the flowers of the Great Basin Desert are included in a companion booklet, Polly Patraw’s “Flowers of the Southwest Mesas.”
Someone has called National Parks and Monuments “The Crown Jewels of America.” A part of their beauty and irreplaceable value is because the approximately 180 units of the National Park System which extends from Florida to Alaska and from Hawaii to Maine, are and have been wildflower sanctuaries. Not only do native plants live under natural conditions, but they are protected from picking, from grazing of domestic livestock, and from the competition of exotic species, and from other activities of mankind that would disrupt their normal habitat or disturb their native way of life.
Men in the uniform of the National Park Service feel complimented whenever visitors show an interest in the natural features of the areas they protect, and are happy to assist them in locating rare species or especially beautiful or spectacular specimens. Range and grazing specialists are more and more using the natural vegetation of National Parks and Monuments as “check plots” to aid them in studying ways and means of preserving the level of grazing value on the open ranges.
Within the desert areas of the Southwest there are a number of National Parks and Monuments. Three Monuments (Joshua Tree in California, Organ Pipe Cactus and Saguaro in Arizona) have been created primarily to save from exploitation and destruction outstanding areas of typical desert vegetation. Although the others have been established to protect and preserve geologic, historic, or archeologic values of national significance, they are all wildflower sanctuaries. In California, Death Valley National Monument is outstanding in its variety of desert flowers. Lake Mead National Recreation Area, of which Hoover Dam is the center, has exceptional displays of various forms of desert plants. A great variety of desert vegetation will be shown and, if desired, explained to the interested visitor, by National Park Service rangers at Chiricahua, Tonto, Montezuma Castle, Casa Grande, and Tumacacori National Monuments in Arizona. Of course the really great displays of desert botany and ecology are featured at Organ Pipe Cactus and Saguaro National Monuments.
In New Mexico, Chihuahuan Desert vegetation is particularly abundant at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. A number of desert forms, especially interesting because of the effect upon them of the ever-moving gypsum dunes, are found at White Sands National Monument, near Alamogordo. Another outstanding Chihuahuan Desert wildflower sanctuary is Big Bend National Park in southwestern Texas.
Photography is encouraged in all of the National Parks and Monuments. By asking a ranger, you will be able to learn where the various flower displays may be found, the best time of day to obtain good results, and other suggestions helpful in obtaining photographs of desert wildflowers at their very best.
Each year the following magazine and radio program present bulletins on moisture and other pertinent conditions in the desert, spotlight areas in which outstanding wildflower displays are developing, and advance suggestions relative to areas in which spectacular displays may be expected.
Many people think of a desert as an area of shifting sand dunes without vegetation except in areas where springs provide moisture. This is by no means true of our Southwestern deserts which are characterized by a rich and diversified plant cover. However, the majority of true desert plants are equipped by Nature to meet conditions of high temperatures and deficient and uncertain precipitation. The way in which desert plants, closely related to common species found growing under normal temperature and moisture conditions, have adapted themselves to meet the severe requirements of desert life is truly remarkable and forms an absorbing and fascinating study.
Shreve groups desert plants into three categories based on the manner in which they have contrived to conquer the hazards of desert life.
These are:
Drought-escaping plants are the “desert quickies,” or ephemerals. Taking advantage of the two seasons of rainfall on the desert (midsummer showers and midwinter soakers) they develop rapidly, blossom, and mature their seeds which lie dormant in the soil during the rest of the year, thus escaping the season of heat and drought. There are two groups of these “quickies,” the summer ephemerals and the winter ephemerals. The former are hot-weather plants; the latter are species that thrive during the cool, moist weather of winter and early spring. These “quickies” present their spectacular floral displays only following seasons of above-average precipitation.
Drought-evading plants (in common with the deciduous plants of northern and colder climes which remain dormant while below-freezing temperatures prevail), meet the heat and drought by reducing the bodily processes to maintain life only, dropping their leaves, and remaining in a state of dormancy until temperature and moisture conditions, suitable to renewed activity, again prevail.
The drought-resisting plants are the bold spirits which take the worst that the desert has to offer without flinching, or resorting to evasive tactics. Chief among these are the cacti which store moisture in their spongy stem or root tissues during periods of rainfall, using it sparingly during drought. To reduce moisture loss to a minimum, they have done away with their leaves, the green skin of their stems taking over the function of foliage. Other plants, such as the Mesquite, develop deep or widespread root systems that extract every drop of moisture from a huge area of soil. The majority of the drought-resisters either cut down their leaf surface to an irreducible minimum, or coat the leaves with wax or varnish, thus restricting the loss of moisture.
Methods, techniques, devices, or body modifications which desert plants have developed or evolved to enable them to withstand the rigors of long-continued drought and heat are legion. Many of them are known and understood, but it is probable that there are many others which scientists have not yet discovered.
For numerous helpful suggestions, lists of common flowers, herbarium and fresh specimens for use in preparing illustrations, and for assistance in many other ways, the author and illustrator proffer sincere thanks to the following: Glen Bean, L. Floyd Keller, Walter B. McDougall, and William R. Supernaugh of the National Park Service; Dr. Norman C. Cooper, research associate, Allen Hancock Foundation; Mrs. Robert Gibbs, Isle Royale National Park, Mich.; Leslie M. Goodding, St. David, Arizona; Edmund C. Jaeger, Riverside Junior College, California; Thomas H. Kearney, California Academy of Sciences; Robert H. Peebles (who kindly reviewed the manuscript), director of the U. S. Field Service Station, Department of Agriculture, Sacaton, Arizona; Paul Ricker, president, Wildflower Preservation Society, Washington, D. C.; and Barton H. Warnock, head of biology department, Sul Ross State College, Alpine, Texas.
Largest of the U. S. cacti, this species occurs only in southern and western Arizona and adjoining northwestern Mexico and sparingly in extreme southeast California. It is an indicator of the Sonoran Desert.
This giant is such a spectacular example of desert vegetation that it is used as a trademark of the desert. It is the state flower of Arizona. Blossoms unfold at night, remaining open until late the following afternoon, attracting swarms of insects which in turn attract birds. Fruits mature in July, resembling small, egg-shaped cucumbers. When ripe, they burst open revealing a scarlet lining and deep red pulp filled with tiny black seeds. Fruits are eagerly sought by birds and rodents.
Because of its enormous capacity for storing water in its spongy stem tissue, the Saguaro (sah-WAR-oh) produces flowers and fruits even during droughts of long duration. When other foods failed, the Pima and Papago Indians could depend upon the Saguaro harvest.
Saguaros are believed to live to a maximum age of 200 years, usually succumbing to a necrosis disease transmitted by the larvæ of a small moth. Grazing cattle trample out the young plants and much of the desert occupied by Saguaros is being placed under cultivation. Both Saguaro National Monument and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument preserve and protect spectacular stands of these desert behemoths.
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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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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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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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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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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.
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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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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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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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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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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
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.