Part 14

This straggling, perennial shrub with fine, Mimosa-type leaves is common over much of the desert, lining banks of arroyos or dotting open hillsides. It is particularly conspicuous when in flower because of the spectacular tassel-like blossoms which are white and scarlet, or generally pink in appearance. The small leaves are nutritious and are highly palatable to deer and to livestock. The petite Fairyduster adds much to the color and springtime atmosphere of the desert. It is particularly noticeable along the base of the Tanque Verde hills in Saguaro National Monument.

PINK

Common names: SKELETONWEED, DESERT BUCKWHEAT Arizona desert: (Eriogonum densum). Pink. May-October. California desert: (Eriogonum deflexum). Pink-white. All year. Texas desert: (Eriogonum polycladon). Pink. June-November. Buckwheat family. Size: 6 inches to 30 inches high.

Eriogonum is a very large genus, many species of which are common, and contains both annuals and biennials. Although the flowers are small, they are usually numerous and conspicuous. E. densum is often very abundant in semi-desert areas, particularly along roadsides, where it is especially noticeable because it monopolizes the pavement edges for miles. It is extremely resistant to drought and flourishes when many other herbaceous plants have dried out completely. Although it bears flowers at almost any time throughout the year, during the autumn months the branches are loaded with myriads of pendant, pearly flowers the size of rice kernels. In winter, the stalks turn maroon in color and are quite conspicuous.

E. polycladon is often so common along roadsides and desert washes as to color the landscape with its greyish stems and pink flowers.

E. inflatum always attracts attention because of its swollen stems which resemble tall, slender bottles.

PINK

Common names: SALTCEDAR, TAMARISK Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (Tamarix pentandra). Pink to white. March-August. Tamarix family. Size: Shrubs to trees up to 15-20 feet high.

Purists could object to inclusion of the Saltcedar in this booklet because it is not native. However, due to a number of importations (eight species being introduced by the Department of Agriculture between 1899 and 1915) and to its ability to spread rapidly under suitable conditions, Saltcedar is now widespread throughout the Southwest.

It grows as a graceful shrub or small tree with drooping branches covered with small, scale-like leaves and is abundant in moist locations below 5,000 feet. It prefers a hot climate, low humidity, and saline soils. In river bottoms, it often forms dense thickets which require immense quantities of water, hence rob the few desert streams of a high percentage of their moisture.

Honeybees obtain nectar from the blossoms, which are particularly noticeable in the spring and early summer, as they completely cover the branches which appear as light pink, drooping plumes. The thickets are valuable as wind breaks and in erosion control, and once established, are very difficult to control and because of the deep shade cast by their dense growth and the heavy feeding of the shallow roots, they prevent cropping.

The name Tamarisk is often confused with the name of the Larch or Tamarack tree. There is little similarity except in the name.

The larger Tamarix aphylla is similar in appearance but much larger and suitable for cultivation as a shade and decorative tree. It is subject to winterkill, but does not have the bad habit of spreading, characteristic of T. pentandra.

PINK

Common name: DESERT-PHLOX Arizona desert: (Phlox tenuifolia). White-lavender. Spring. California desert: (Phlox stansburyi). Pinkish-red. May-July. Texas desert: (Phlox mesoleuca). Pink-white. June-August. Phlox family. Size: Low-growing perennials, in clumps; or shrubby plants in tufts up to 3 feet tall.

Representatives of the Phlox genus are found from the hot desert lowlands to the mountain tops well above the timberline. Certain species are limited in their range to the desert areas of the Southwest, and it is in these that we are interested here. The plants sometimes present a mass of heavy bloom twice yearly: heaviest in the spring, and again following the summer rains. Several of the native species have been brought under cultivation, particularly P. tenuifolia, in desert gardens, as it grows naturally in a brushy habitat similar to that formed by the shrubs planted around a house. Other forms grow as low, creeping mats forming fragrant, colorful floral carpets.

LAVENDER

Common names: DESERTWILLOW, DESERT-CATALPA Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (Chilopsis linearis). Pink-lavender. April-August. Bignonia family. Size: Shrubby tree, 6 to 15 feet high.

Although a close relative of the Catalpa, the willow-like foliage of this small tree has given it the name Desertwillow. A small and inconspicuous part of the desert vegetation when not in flower, unnoticed among the heavier growth of trees and shrubs that crowd the banks of desert washes, the tree’s beautiful orchid-like flowers of white to lavender mottled with dots and splotches of brown and purple bring exclamations of delight from persons viewing them for the first time. Because of the beauty of the tree when in bloom, it is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental.

Leaves are rarely browsed by livestock, and the durable, black-barked wood is used for fenceposts. In Mexico, a tea made by steeping the dried flowers is considered to be of medicinal value. By early autumn, the violet-scented flowers which appear after summer rains are replaced by the long, slender seed pods which remain dangling from the branches and serve to identify the tree long after the flowers are gone.

Although Desertwillows are never found in pure stands, growing singly and rather infrequently among other trees and shrubs lining desert washes, the species is quite common below 4,000 feet across the entire desert from western Texas to southern Nevada, southern California and southward into Mexico.

LAVENDER

Common names: ORGANPIPE CACTUS, SINITA; (PITAHAYA DULCE) Arizona desert: (Lemaireocereus thurberi). Pink lavender. May-June. Arizona desert: (Lophocereus schotti). Pink. April-August. Cactus family. Size: In clumps, stems up to 15 feet.

Two somewhat similar, columnar cacti occur in the United States only in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and in its immediate vicinity. Both are fairly common in northwestern Mexico.

These two spectacular desert giants with their clumps of erect branches are sufficiently similar to be readily confused at first glance. However, the stems of the Organpipe (L. thurberi) are longer and contain more but much smaller ridges than do the stems of the Sinita or “Whisker cactus.” The name “Sinita” (meaning old age) refers to the long, gray, hair-like spines covering the upper ends of the Sinita stems.

Both species are night-blooming, the flowers, which appear along the sides and at the tips of the stems, closing soon after sunrise the following morning. Fruits of the Organpipe are harvested by the Papago Indians.

Although these two species of cactus are restricted to a very limited area, they are sufficiently spectacular and interesting to be considered worthy of inclusion in this booklet. It was to protect these species, threatened with extinction in the United States, and other rare and interesting forms of desert plants and animals, that Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was established.

LAVENDER