20. Mexican goldpoppy

Closely related to the orange California-poppy, official flower of the Golden State, the desert species is a bright yellow annual. Following warm, wet winters clusters of these glorious blooms dot the hillsides in late February or early March. By April they may cover the slopes with a blanket of gold interwoven with the blue threads of lupines and purple patches of escobita owlclover. When other early spring vegetation is scarce, cattle graze the plants. Flowers open only during sunny hours, remaining tightly closed at night and on cloudy days.

21. Pricklepoppy

Not restricted to a desert habitat, this spiny-leafed perennial is widespread on dry soils from Nebraska to Wyoming and from Texas to southern California and Mexico. Abundant throughout the summer, the flowers may be found, in warm climates, during every month of the year. Copious spines and the acrid yellow sap make the plants distasteful to cattle, so a heavy growth of pricklepoppy may be an indicator of an overgrazed range. Also called “thistlepoppy,” a single plant may be graced by a dozen or more fragile flowers, each ready to be replaced by one or more prickly buds. The seeds are said to contain a powerful narcotic.

22. Evening-primrose

Also known as “yellow cups,” this plant is limited in its range to the Mohave-Colorado Desert. Having smaller blossoms than the goldpoppy with which it might be confused, this showy annual blooms March to May in dry washes and on stony hills below 4,500 feet. The foot-high plants sometimes form massed displays accented by splashes of bright red where clumps of beavertail pricklypear mark small, rocky islands, or where patches of ocotillos wave their scarlet-tipped wands in the spring breeze.

23. Spectaclepod

Found at elevations above 1,000 feet, spectaclepod is one of the long-flowering species blooming from February to October. The large flower heads are pleasantly fragrant, and the peculiar, flat, double fruits resemble tiny spectacles protruding at right angles to the stem. This species is found in the Petrified Forest area of northern Arizona, and Hopi Indians are reported to use the plant in treating wounds. Another species, California spectaclepod, is often abundant, covering sandy flats of the lower deserts. This species blooms from February through April and sometimes again in the fall.

24. Bladderpod

Another early bloomer, February to May, bladderpod is one of the first spring flowers to spread its yellow carpet across the desert flats. The small, low-growing plants lift numerous clusters of four-petaled flowers, forming an understory of color among the taller herbs. In some localities, bladderpods are called “beadpods” because of the spherical fruits. The plants afford good forage for cattle. A close relative, with white to purple flowers, is found from Texas to Arizona and Mexico, starting to blossom in January during warm winters.

25. Western-wallflower

A showy plant with a large terminal cluster of four-petaled flowers, it is frequently called “desert wallflower.” When growing under shrubs it often extends its stems 2 feet or more to reach up into the sunshine. Usually blossoming in March, some plants may be found blooming at almost any time during the summer to as late as September.

26. False-mesquite

With mimosa-like leaves and long-stamened flowers growing in clusters, false-mesquite, “calliandra,” or “fairy duster” is a small, straggling bush, quite Japanesy in appearance, from a few inches to 3 feet high. It blossoms from February to May, and is quite common below 5,000 feet from west Texas to southern California and northern Mexico. In California it is especially abundant along the east side of the Chocolate Mountains. During periods of drought the leaves enter a state of continued wilt, but revive promptly when rain comes.

27. Catclaw-acacia

Also known by such descriptive names as “tear-blanket” and “wait-a-minute,” catclaw acacia is one of the notoriously thorny shrubs or small slender trees of the rocky hillsides and borders of desert washes. Flowers are fragrant and, during the blooming period in May, attract many insects, including honey bees, which gather and store nectar that makes high quality honey. The stringbean-like fruits turn red in late summer and, if abundant, make a spectacular show. These fruits were ground into meal and used for food by Arizona and Mexican Indians. Thickets of catclaw acacia provide havens of refuge for birds and rabbits pursued by hawks or other predators.

28. Mescat-acacia

Armed with long, slender, straight white spines, giving it the name “white-thorn,” this pretty flowering shrub is abundant over large areas of dry slopes and mesas from Texas to Arizona and Mexico at 2,300 to 5,000 feet. It is often used as a decorative in landscape plantings around buildings. Blossoms are fragrant and sometimes continue from May to August; the shrub occasionally blooming again in November. Cattle and horses eat the bean-like fruits.

29. Honey mesquite

Mesquite (mess-KEET) is a many-branched tree 15 to 23 feet tall, which flowers from late April to June. It is common bordering desert washes, often forming dense thickets. The flowers furnish honey bees and other insects with nectar, and the long, sweet pods ripen in autumn, providing food for livestock. The fruits have long been a staple in the diet of desert Indians, who used the trunks, roots, and branches of the trees for firewood and the dried gum-like sap to mend pottery and as a black dye. The inner bark provided the Indians with materials for basketry and coarse fabrics. Roots of mesquite trees have been reported to penetrate to a depth of 50 to 60 feet to tap sources of ground water.

30. Senna

Blossoming from April to October, this species is common at elevations between 1,000 and 3,000 feet Nevada to New Mexico, Arizona, California, and northwestern Mexico. There are fifteen or more other species, many of which are found in a desert habitat and range in size from low-growing herbs to small shrubs 3-5 feet high. Senna is sometimes called “rattlebox” because the nearly ripe seeds rattle in their woody pods when the plant is stirred, startling the hiker who immediately thinks “rattlesnake!” A closely related species, leptocarpa, is noted for its foul-smelling foliage.

31. Blue palo-verde

Perhaps the most dependable of spring bloomers, blue palo-verde trees cover themselves with masses of yellow blossoms in April and May. Usually found alongside desert washes, they mark these ephemeral stream courses as paths of gold threading the open desert. During much of the year the trees are relatively leafless, the green bark of trunk and branches taking over the function of leaves. The word palo-verde (PAH-low-VEHR-dee) means “green stick” in Spanish, referring to the color of the bark.

32. Bird-of-Paradise-flower

Not a southwestern desert native, this striking shrub, 3 to 10 feet high, was introduced from South America and has escaped from cultivation to establish itself in parts of the desert where conditions are suitable. The blossoms are showy but ill-smelling, and are popular as ornamentals about homes, especially in Mexico. The shrub’s principal advantage in landscape plantings is its long blossoming period, which sometimes lasts from April to September.

33. Lupine

This is but one of many species of lupine, both annual and perennial, common throughout the West at nearly all elevations. Perhaps the most publicized is the “Texas” lupine, or “bluebonnet,” hailed by Texans as their State flower. Desert species are early bloomers, sometimes appearing in protected sandy soils and on highway shoulders in January. In favorable seasons masses of these handsome blue to violet blossoms color desert hillsides with acres of fragrant bloom. Sometimes growing in pure stands, often mixed with a variety of other spring flowers, lupines may usually be found blossoming as late as June.

34. Adonis lupine

Considered one of the more handsome of the desert perennials, the “adonis” lupine, as it is known in southern California, is found near sandy washes in the high desert. It is especially abundant in Joshua Tree National Monument. The name adonis refers to its great beauty. The name lupinus is derived from the Latin lupus meaning wolf, because these plants were at one time thought to be soil predators. Actually, as with other members of the pea family, lupines are able to take atmospheric nitrogen and leave it in the ground, thereby increasing rather than depleting soil fertility.

35. Smoke-thorn

Better known as “smoketree,” this silvery-gray, seemingly leafless shrub grows in and along sandy washes below 1,500 feet, throughout the Mojave-Colorado Desert. At a distance it resembles a plume of smoke rising from a campfire. Its small but violet to indigo flowers cover it with a gorgeous blue blanket in May, making it one of the really handsome desert shrubs. It requires ample supplies of water, hence is restricted to washes that carry runoff from both winter rains and summer downpours. The seeds sprout readily, and the seedlings with their well-formed leaves look very unlike their parents. Few seedlings survive the hazards of drought or being smothered by sand carried down the washes by flash floods following cloudbursts.

36. Dalea

Noted for its royal purple flowers, this low shrub, less than 3 feet high with peculiar zig-zag branches, blossoms from April to June. In common with other daleas (day-LEE-ahs) it is usually called “indigobush” or “peabush.” It is normally found below 3,000 feet in desert mountain ranges from southern Utah through Arizona and southeastern California. There are many species of dalea in the desert, all characterized by deep blue to indigo and rose-violet flowers, which attract attention by their beauty. Indians used the extract from twigs for dyeing basketry.

37. Tesota

Thriving only in a frost-free climate, this is among the largest and most beautiful of desert evergreen trees. It is usually found along sandy washes, mingling with mesquites and paloverdes. It is particularly susceptible to mistletoe infestation, which has killed or weakened many fine trees. Blossoming in May and June, the trees are sometimes laden with lavender, wisteria-like flowers. The wood is extremely hard and heavy, hence the tree is locally known as “ironwood,” or palo-de-hierro, in Mexico. Indians ate the seeds and used the wood for tool handles and arrow-points. Its long-burning qualities made it especially desirable for fuel. As a result, many of the trees have been cut, making it one of the species threatened with extinction.

38. Woolly loco

Many species of “locoweed” ranging in color from deep purple to creamy white are found throughout the desert at nearly all elevations. They sometimes create extensive mass displays but are more commonly found mixed with other flowers. Species with bladder-like pods are called “rattleweed.” Loco in Spanish means “crazy” and refers to the fact that a number of species of astragalus contain selenium, which causes a serious disease among livestock, especially horses, that eat it and as a result “act crazy.”

39. Heron-bill

Also called “alfileria,” this species and its close relative, Texas filaree (Erodium texanum) are both early blossoming annuals, often widespread on plains and mesas, February to May. The flowers, although abundant, are small and so hidden in low-growing foliage that they rarely create a mass display. Texas filaree is native to North America, but alfileria is thought to have come from Europe with the Spaniards, and is now naturalized throughout the Southwest. Corkscrew-like appendages of the fruits are tightly twisted when dry, but untwist when moist, literally screwing the sharp-pointed fruits into the soil. Both species are excellent spring forage for livestock.

40. Creosotebush

Often erroneously called “greasewood,” creosotebush is generally recognized as the most adaptable of all desert plants, and a definite indicator of the Lower Sonoran Life Zone. The shrubs cover thousands of square miles, often in pure stands, and flower throughout much of the year, but most profusely in April and May. Fuzzy white, globular fruits are almost as spectacular as the flowers. The plant can endure long periods of drought. Following rains its foliage gives off a musty, resinous odor, suggestive of creosote, stimulating the Mexican name hediondilla (little stinker). In Mexico the plant is considered to have medicinal values and many uses. The Pima Indians boiled the leaves, using the decoction as an emetic and to poultice sores. They used the lac, found as an incrustation on the branches, to cement arrow-points and to mend pottery.

41. Arizona-poppy

Often abundant on road shoulders and in low spots where rainwater from hot-weather showers provides adequate moisture, “caltrop” or “summerpoppy,” with large blossoms and attractive compound leaves, decorates the desert when other flowers are noticeable by their absence. The long, weak stems, usually prostrate, give the plants a vine-like appearance, but when growing under shrubs they extend upward so that the shrub is mistakenly thought to be blooming. Superficially resembling the springtime goldpoppy, Arizona-poppy has five rather than four petals, and may be found in bloom as late as October.

42. Desert-mallow

Ranging in size from delicate 6-inch annuals to coarse, woody perennials 4 feet high, the globemallows vary in color from creamy white to pink, rose, peach, and lavender. Desert-mallows flaunt their graceful, blossom-covered stems along roadsides or on the banks of sandy washes. Because some people are allergic to them, globemallows are called “sore-eye poppies” in parts of southern Arizona, and in Lower California are known as plantas muy malas (very bad plants).

43. Five-stamen tamarisk

Sometimes confused with tamarack because of the similarity of names, five-stamen tamarisk, locally called “salt-cedar,” is one of several small tree species from southeastern Europe and western Asia which have become naturalized in North America. “Salt-cedar” often forms dense thickets on alkaline soils along stream and reservoir banks at elevations below 5,000 feet. Flowers, which vary in hue from deep pink to white, cover the trees with graceful plumes of color from March to August. Although valuable in retarding soil erosion, tamarisk requires large quantities of water, an especially undesirable characteristic in the arid Southwest.

44. Yellow mentzelia

Many species of mentzelia, all herbs, occur in the West. Barbed hairs cover leaves and stems, causing the plant to cling to what it touches, hence a common name “stick-leaf.” Flowers grow at ends of branches, and some species open fully only in sunlight. A close relative, Mentzelia involucrata, “sand blazing-star,” is an annual, 4 to 16 inches high, blooming February through April, found in sandy washes below 3,000 feet in southwestern Arizona, southeastern California, and northern Sonora. Pumila grows in dry stream beds and on roadsides from 100 to 8,000 feet elevation, flowering February to October. It ranges from Wyoming and Utah to southeastern California and Northern Mexico.

45. Rock-nettle

Also called “stingbush,” this low, rounded bush is usually found growing from crevices in cliffs. When covered with large blossoms from April to September the plant has a striking appearance. The pale green leaves are covered with stinging hairs, strong enough to impale such small creatures as bats emerging from cave entrances where they grow. Rock-nettle is common in desert ranges of southeastern California, especially in the Death Valley area, to western Arizona and southern Nevada.

46. Night-blooming cereus

Easily overlooked, when not in blossom, as a group of slender, fluted, gray-green stems hidden beneath a shrub, this cactus is truly a glorious thing when in flower. Beauty and fragrance of its blossoms have earned it the name, in Mexico, of reina-de-la-noche, meaning “queen-of-the-night.”

Buds unfold soon after sunset in late June or early July, perfuming the desert air and attracting night-flying insects. They wilt soon after sunrise the following morning. The large, tuberous root, which serves as a water-storage organ, usually weighs from 5 to 15 pounds, but specimens have been found weighing more than 80 pounds. Indians at one time dug the tubers for food. The bulbous fruits become red when mature, and are almost as spectacular as the flowers. This species is found from west Texas to western Arizona and northern Mexico.

47. Saguaro

Largest of the cactuses in the United States, the saguaro (suh-WAR-oh) is limited in its principal range to southern Arizona and northern Mexico. Although rarely exceeding 30 feet in height, specimens 50 feet tall and weighing up to 10 tons, are on record. Blossoms form as huge bud clusters at the branch tips, opening a few at a time each night, usually in May, and remain open until mid-afternoon of the following day. Fruits of the saguaro are eaten by birds and other animals, and at one time were important in the diet of desert Indians. The state flower of Arizona and the subject of a US. postage stamp issued in February 1962 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Arizona’s statehood, the saguaro is also commemorated and protected in the National Monument of that name near Tucson.

48. Organpipe cactus

Limited in its range to northwestern Mexico and the vicinity of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southwestern Arizona, this columnar cactus grows in clumps of spine-covered stems, some of which may be 10 to 15 feet in height, rarely branching, and with no central trunk. Blossoms open at or near the stem ends during May nights, and close the following day. The spine-covered fruits, about the size and shape of a hen’s egg, have long been harvested by the Papago Indians, who boil the sweet juice to the consistency of syrup and store the pulp and seeds for winter food. The fruits are locally called pitahaya dulce, or sweet cactus fruit.

49. Claretcup echinocereus

Not only are there many species of Echinocereus, popularly called the “hedgehog cactuses,” but there are also several varieties of Echinocereus triglochidiatus. One variety sometimes develops into cushion-like mounds composed of several hundred oblong stems huddled together with a seemingly precarious foothold in crevices among the rocks or on rocky slopes of the Mojave desert. Another grows in loose clusters of cylindrical stems in the higher desert grasslands up to the oak belt in the mountains of southern New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico. When blossoming in May and June these clustering “hedgehogs” create a spectacular display.

50. Strawberry echinocereus

One of the more common species of “hedgehog,” sometimes called “Engelmann echinocereus,” the strawberry echinocereus grows as 2 to 12 or more robust, cylindrical stems up to a foot in height, among the creosote bushes and bur-sages of the Sonoran and Mojave-Colorado Deserts, flowering from February to May. Flowers close at night and reopen the following morning. Blossoms vary considerably in color from purple to lavender. Spines, too, are variable, from gray and yellow to dark brown. In southeastern California, where it is common, this species is called “calico cactus” because of its many-colored spines. Fruits of some varieties (of which there are many) are edible, forming an important item in the diet of birds and rodents.

51. Rainbow echinocereus

Far from common but among the more beautiful of the “hedgehogs” is the rainbow echinocereus, also called “rainbow cactus,” so named because of the horizontal bands of alternating red and white spines encircling the single, sturdy stem. It grows in rocky situations in the mountains of southern Arizona and northern Mexico, blossoming from June to August. The large flowers, of which there may be from one to four crowding around the crown of the plant, are often larger than the plant itself. Spines are small and lie densely flat over the somewhat fluted stem, which is from 3 to 14 inches high.

52. Yellow pitaya echinocereus

Sometimes called “Texas golden rainbow,” the yellow pitaya of the Chihuahuan Desert is similar in appearance, except for the color of its blossoms, to the rainbow echinocereus. Quite common in portions of Big Bend National Park, the Stubby, upright stems usually grow singly but sometimes occur in small clusters. The term pitaya or pitahaya is commonly applied along the Mexican border to cactuses bearing edible fruits. In Texas the term refers to the low-growing floral hedgehogs; in Arizona to the columnar cactuses. Pricklypear cactuses having soft, juicy, edible fruit are known as tunas.

53. Barrel cactus

Massive, cylindrical, and covered with clusters of stout spines, the central one hook-shaped, these desert giants are often mistaken for young saguaros. There are several species, all locally called bisnagas, with some quite small and others attaining a height of 5 or 6 feet. The majority produce clusters of orange to red flowers on their crowns in late summer, but the yellow-flowered California barrel cactus blossoms in the spring. Their tendency to lean toward the light causes many of these heavy-bodied plants to tip in a southwesterly direction, giving them the name “compass cactus.” This group is naively believed by some people to contain water. Actually the slimy, alkaline sap obtained by mashing the pulpy flesh might conceivably save someone lost in the desert from dying of thirst. The pale yellow fruits are not spiney, and are eaten by birds, rodents, deer, and other desert animals.

54. Fishhook cactus

There are a number of species of the low-growing, usually dome-shaped mammillarias, the solitary kinds often so small as to be overlooked except when blooming, in late spring or early summer. Some are known as “fishhook cactuses” because of their long, slender, hooked spines, others as “pin-cushion cactuses” because of the shape of the plants. The large, colorful blossoms which encircle the stems mature usually to red, in some species green, nipple-shaped fruits. Members of this genus are widespread in grasslands or rocky mesas and slopes throughout the Southwest.

55. Beavertail cactus

Limited in its principal range to the Mojave-Colorado Desert, the beavertail is a low-growing species with flat joint-pads and bluish-green stems without spines. In their place are clusters of brownish spicules set in slight depressions in the wrinkled pads. The plants blossom in March and April, adding materially to the color of the spring flower display. The plants thrive in sandy desert soils, at elevations from 200 to 3,000 feet above sea level, and are found as far east in Arizona as Wickenburg. Cahuilla Indians cook the fruits with meat, and Panamint Indians dry the pads and boil them with salt.

56. Engelmann pricklypear

Most widely distributed of the pricklypears, Engelmann plants are large and spreading, sometimes forming spiney bushes 3 to 5 feet high and up to 15 feet in diameter. The branching stems may have from 5 to 12 pad-joints. Flowering in April and May, the petals at first are yellow but turn to pink or rose with age. The plants prefer washes and benches in the desert grasslands, often growing with paloverdes, saguaros, mesquites, and lechuguilla agaves. Excessive abundance often indicates an overgrazed range. Fruits, called tunas, are purple to mahogany when mature, and are eaten by many birds and rodents, as well as by desert Indians.

57. Jumping cholla

Also known as “silver cholla” (CHOY-AH) and “teddybear cactus,” this stocky bush cactus, with a short sturdy trunk and compact, densely spined crown, is common on hot rocky, south-facing hillsides. Joints are extremely brittle and the barbed spines catch so easily in the hair of animals or clothing of persons that the joints appear to jump from the plant. Joints broken off by the wind fall to the ground and take root in the sandy soil, gradually developing forests of this striking cactus, easily recognized by the silvery sheen of the spines. The attractive flowers which appear from March to May blend inconspicuously with the spiney joints.

58. Pencil cholla

Common along banks of washes and on desert flats, this cholla, also called “tesajo,” or “Christmas cholla,” is so slender-stemmed and sprawling in growth habit that it is easily overlooked in a tangle of vegetation. Its flowers, appearing in May and June, are small and inconspicuous, but the orange to scarlet fruits about the size and shape of olives, are striking eye-catchers in the fall and winter months. In the open the shrubby plants are rarely more than 2 feet high, but in thickets of northern Mexico some have become almost vinelike, growing up through mesquite or paloverde trees to a height of 12 feet or more. The species grows at elevations of 200 to 5,000 feet from Texas to western Arizona and northern Mexico.

59. Whipple cholla

This low-growing cholla of the higher desert above 3,500 feet, is characteristic of the plateau grasslands, forming mats of short but erect stems usually less than 2 feet high. It blossoms in June and July. The tender young stems and yellow, fleshy fruits are browsed by pronghorns, and the fruits are also used by the Hopi Indians for food and as a seasoning. Because of its customary low-growing habit it is something of a hazard to hikers. It is considered the most widely distributed cholla in Arizona.

60. Walkingstick cholla

Flowering in May and June and common throughout southwestern New Mexico, southern Arizona, and northern Mexico, the walkingstick cholla is best known because of its persistent clusters of yellow fruits. These remain throughout the winter, giving persons the first-glance impression that the large shrubby cactus, sometimes 8 feet high, is in bloom. The fruits are eaten by cattle. This species is typical of desert grasslands and is most abundant in the open country below the edge of the oak belt in desert mountains. Stems of the dead plants leave a hollow cylinder of attractive wooden meshes when the soft tissues decay, and are favored for making canes, as the stem is long and straight, hence the name walkingstick cholla.

61. Evening-primrose

Also called “sun-drops,” these plants are particularly welcome because they bloom early in the springtime. Many species of evening-primrose are large flowered, abundant along roadsides and sandy flats, and notably fragrant. White-flowered species are more common, but there are several with yellow flowers. Blossoms open at night and begin to wilt, turning pink during the following day. These are among the handsomest of desert plants and during favorable years make a spectacular spring display, sometimes growing with goldpoppies and sandverbenas to produce a riot of color.

62. Ocotillo

Common to all of the deserts crossed by the boundary between the United States and Mexico, ocotillo (oh-koh-TEE-yoh) is a spectacular shrub, its many long, stiff, green-barked and thorn-guarded stems bearing at their tips clusters of bright red flowers from April to June. Following rains, the stems cover themselves with clusters of bright green leaves. When drought comes these leaves are shed, to be renewed again after another rain. This procedure may be repeated half a dozen times in one year. Cahuilla Indians eat both flowers and seeds, and make a beverage by soaking the blossoms in water. When planted as hedgerows the thorny wands make an impenetrable fence.

63. Field bind-weed

Also known as “wild morning glory,” this naturalized perennial has become a serious agricultural pest throughout the Southwest. In California it is considered the State’s worst weed. Once established, its deep root system spreads widely, sending up shoots that grow rapidly with climbing, vine-like stems and morning glory-like white to pink flowers that bloom from May to July. In the desert it is usually found on road shoulders, where it makes an attractive display. The name convolvulus comes from the Latin and means “to entwine.” A blood-clotting substance has been found in this plant.

64. Santa Fe phlox

Usually found in desert mountain ranges, at elevations between 5,000 and 6,000 feet, this ground-hugging, herbaceous perennial blossoms in May and June. Flowers are larger than those of the several other desert species of phlox, most of which have longer flower stems and vary in color from white to purple.

65. Starflower

More commonly known as “gilia” in honor of the eighteenth-century Italian botanist Felippo Luigo Gilii, the many species of gilias are common and widespread throughout the deserts of the Southwest at nearly all elevations. Since the flowers are usually small and range in color from white to lavender, pink, and yellow, they are not as well known as more spectacular genera. Some are annuals but there are also many perennial species. Starflower is found from west Texas and Chihuahua to western Arizona at elevations from 1,000 to 8,000 feet on dry plains and mesas, especially on limestone soils. It blossoms from March to October.