Part 13

The Mariposas, of which there are several species, are among the most beautiful wildflowers of the Southwest.

ORANGE

Common names: GOLDPOPPY, DESERTPOPPY, (COPRA-DE-ORO), MEXICAN POPPY Arizona desert: (Eschscholtzia mexicana). Orange. February-May. California desert: (Eschscholtzia glyptosperma). Bright yellow. March-May. Poppy family. Size: 3 inches to a foot high, with many flower stems.

Because of their abundance and dense growth, following winters of heavy precipitation, these annual poppies often cover portions of the desert with “a cloth of gold.” They are closely related to the well-known California Poppy, state flower of California, and a common border or bedding plant in home flower gardens. In the desert, Goldpoppies are sometimes mixed with Owlclover, Lupines, and other spring flowers forming a multi-colored carpet that attracts visitors from great distances. (See cover.)

ORANGE

Common names: DEVILSCLAW, UNICORNPLANT, ELEPHANT-TUSKS Arizona desert: (Martynia parviflora). Orange-purple. April-October. California desert: (Martynia altheaefolia). Coppery yellow. July-September. Texas desert: (Martynia arenaria). Coppery yellow. July-September. Martynia family. Size: Trailing, with stems 2 to 5 feet long.

The showy flowers, which are large enough to attract attention, are relatively few. Even more spectacular are the large, black, woody pods ending in two curved, prong-like appendages that hook about the fetlocks of burros or the fleece of sheep, thereby carrying the pod away from the mother plant and scattering the seeds. Young pods are sometimes eaten by desert Indians as a vegetable, and the mature fruits are gathered by the Pima and Papago Indians, who strip off the black outer covering and use it in weaving designs into basketry.

Blossoms of the small-flowered species are reddish purple to white streaked with orange and yellow, while the large-flowered species have coppery yellow blossoms, the throat spotted with purple and the edge of the cup streaked with orange.

COPPERY

Common names: BURROBUSH, CHEESEWEED Arizona and California deserts: (Hymenoclea salsola). Silvery red. March-April. Texas-New Mexico deserts: (Hymenoclea monogyra). Silvery red. September. Sunflower family. Size: Much-branched shrub, 2 to 3 feet tall.

Burrobush is another of the common desert shrubs whose fruits are much more conspicuous than the blossoms. The shrub itself is bright green in color, and somewhat resembles the common Russian-thistle. It is widespread, and abundant in sandy washes, where it tends to form thickets.

In some localities it is called “Cheeseweed” because of the cheesy odor of the crushed foliage.

It occurs throughout the Southwest at elevations below 4,000 feet, from western Texas to southern California and northern Mexico.

RED

Common names: OCOTILLO, SLIMWOOD, COACHWHIP, CANDLEWOOD, FLAMINGSWORD Arizona, California and Texas deserts: (Fouquieria splendens). Bright red. April-May. Ocotillo family. Size: Up to 15 feet tall.

One of the few flower families restricted to the desert, the unique Ocotillo (oh-koh-TEE-oh) with its long, unbranching stems is found on rocky hillsides below 5,000 feet from western Texas to southern California and south into Mexico. It is one of the commonest, queerest, and most spectacular of desert plants, especially when the tips of its long, slender stems seem afire with dense clusters of bright red blossoms. Following rains, leaves clothe the thorny stems with green, but after the soil becomes dry, the leaves turn brown and fall. The heavily thorned stems are covered with green bark which takes over the functions of leaves during periods of drought. The plant thus becomes semi-dormant during hot dry periods and, in sections of the desert visited by showers, may go through this cycle several times during a year.

Because of its sharp thorns, strangers to the desert may think that the Ocotillo is one of the Cacti, but it is more closely related to both the Violet and the Tamarix than to the Cacti.

Stems of the Ocotillo are used by natives in building huts. They are sometimes cut and, when planted close together in rows, take root and form living fences and corrals.

RED

Common names: WINDMILLS, PINK THREE-FLOWER, TRAILING-FOUR-O’CLOCK Arizona and Texas deserts: (Allionia incarnata). Purple pink. April-October. California desert: (Allionia albida). Rose pink. July-October. Four-o’clock family. Size: Spreading annual with branches 30 inches.

Slender, trailing stems up to 30 inches in length with clusters of three rose-purple to pink blossoms serve to identify the Trailing-four-o’clock which is a conspicuous plant of the open plains and mesas. The plants prefer dry, sandy benches where they are quite conspicuous with their prostrate, somewhat sticky stems weighted with clinging grains of sand. Blossoms are usually showy and colorful, rarely pale rose to white.

Fruits of A. incarnata are conspicuously toothed.

PINK

Common names: GLOBEMALLOW, APRICOT-MALLOW, SORE-EYE POPPY, DESERTMALLOW Arizona and California deserts: (Sphaeralcea ambigua). Peach-pink. February-May. Texas-New Mexico deserts: (Sphaeralcea angustifolia). Pink. May-October. Mallow family. Size: 1 to 5 feet tall, often clustered.

Common throughout all of the Southwest, the Mallows range in size from small herbs 5 or 6 inches high to coarse, straggling, woody-stemmed plants with stems 4 or 5 feet long. Their flowers range in color from white and pale yellow to lavender, apricot, and red. Some species, including Ambigua, grow in large clumps with as many as 100 stems from a single root. The smaller species often cover the desert floor in early spring with a dense growth of flowers giving an apricot tinge to the landscape. Several species flower in spring and again after the summer rains.

A local belief that hairs of the plant are irritating to the eyes has given the name “Sore-eye Poppies,” an appellation carried out in the Mexican name Mal-de-ojos. In Lower California, Mallows are called Plantas Muy Malas, meaning very bad plants. In contrast, the Pima Indian name is translated to mean “a cure for sore eyes.”

PINK

Common names: FAIRYDUSTER, FALSE-MESQUITE, (MESQUITILLA), HAIRY-LEAVED CALLIANDRA Arizona, California and Texas deserts: (Calliandra eriophylla). Pink. February-May. Pea family. Size: From a few inches up to 3½ feet tall.