Part 11

Common names: DESERT-SUNSHINE, DESERT-SUNFLOWER, DESERT GOLD, HAIRY-HEADED SUNFLOWER Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (Geraea canescens). Yellow. January-June. Sunflower family. Size: An annual, 6 inches to 2 feet tall.

One of the showiest of the Sunflowers. Desert-sunflowers often form sweet-scented gardens of luxuriant bloom along roadsides and in sandy basins early in the spring.

Its seeds form a dependable source of food for small rodents, especially Pocket Mice, which store them in quantities. Wild bees and Hummingbird Moths are attracted to the fragrant flowers.

This species is common in areas of sandy soil below 1,500 feet in elevation from Utah and southeastern Colorado to southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. It is one of the showy roadside flowers of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

YELLOW

Common names: BRITTLEBUSH, (INCIENSO) Arizona and California deserts: (Encelia farinosa). Yellow. November-May. Sunflower family. Size: Perennial shrubs, 2 to 3 feet high.

These low, branching shrubs with gray-green leaves are common on rocky slopes and benches where they lighten the winter landscape with their bright flower heads and create a spectacular mass of bloom during early spring. Flower stems rise several inches above the brittle leaf-covered branches, thus hiding the plant under a blanket of blossoms at the height of the blooming period.

Plants are abundant on rocky slopes below 3,000 feet from southern Nevada to Lower California and eastward through Arizona.

Stems exude a gum prized as incense by the early-day Catholic priests. Indians chewed this gum, and also heated it to smear on their bodies for the relief of pain.

YELLOW

Common names: WOOLLY-MARIGOLD, DESERT-MARIGOLD, PAPER-DAISY Arizona and Texas deserts: (Baileya multiradiata). Yellow. March-October. California desert: (Baileya pleniradiata). Yellow. March-November. Sunflower family. Size: 4 inches up to 2 feet high.

This low-growing, woolly, annual herb with showy, yellow flowers on long, solitary stems is one of the commonest bloomers gracing the desert roadsides and making patches of bright color along otherwise drab and dry, sandy desert washes. It is particularly noticeable because of its luxurious crop of flowers and long period of bloom.

At first glance, Desert-marigold may be confused with Crownbeard, to which it is quite similar in color, size, and habit of growing in groups. However, the regular, circular shape of Marigold blooms and the considerable difference in leaf shape make the two readily distinguishable.

In California, Desert-marigold is cultivated for the flower trade.

Fatal poisoning of sheep on over-grazed ranges has been laid at the door of this plant, although horses crop the flower heads, apparently without harmful effect. Blossom petals become bleached and papery as the blossoms age, thus giving the plant in some localities the name Paperdaisy.

Desert-marigold, of which there are but few species, is common throughout desert areas of the Southwest from Utah and Nevada to Lower California, Sonora and Chihuahua.

YELLOW

Common names: JIMMYWEED, RAYLESS-GOLDENROD, GOLDENBUSH, GOLDENWEED Arizona desert: (Aplopappus lacrifolius). Yellow. August-November. California desert: (Aplopappus gracilis). Yellow. February-November. Texas-New Mexico desert: (Aplopappus heterophyllus). Yellow. June-September. Sunflower family. Size: Herbs or small shrubs 2 to 18 inches.

The genus Aplopappus (sometimes spelled Haplopappus) is represented in the Southwest by a great many species, both annuals and perennials, which range from elevations of 2,000 feet up to 9,000 feet. Desert forms prefer open, dry canyon slopes and mesas.

A. linearifolius is conspicuous in the springtime, at elevations between 3,000 and 5,000 feet because of its many, showy flower heads.

A. heterophyllus often takes over heavily grazed rangeland since it is generally unpalatable to livestock and replaces vegetation destroyed by overgrazing.

YELLOW

Common name: PAPERFLOWER Arizona and Texas deserts: (Psilostrophe cooperi). Bright yellow. Year around. Texas-New Mexico deserts: (Psilostrophe sparsiflora). Bright yellow. May-September. Sunflower family. Size: Rounded bush 12 to 18 inches high.

One man of the writer’s acquaintance, confused by the great number of yellow flowers on the desert, refers to them all as “yellow composites.” The Paperflower is one of these.

It is noticeable because of the conspicuous, bright yellow flowers which sometimes cover the plants almost completely, often during periods of the year when bloom is quite scarce on the desert.

The flowers are persistent, petals become papery, fade to a pale yellow, and remain on the plants intact for weeks.

Although the Paperflower does not form great masses of color, the blossom-covered clumps are conspicuous among the Cactus, Mesquite, and Creosotebush of the desert.

It is common at elevations below 5,000 feet from southern Utah to Lower California, with similar species ranging eastward through southern New Mexico and northern Chihuahua.