Part 15

Common names: PINCUSHION CACTUS, FISHHOOK CACTUS, CORKSEED CACTUS, NIPPLE CACTUS, BUTTON CACTUS Arizona desert: (Mammillaria microcarpa). Lavender. June-July. California desert: (Mammillaria tetrancistra). Lavender. June-July. Texas-New Mexico deserts: (Mammillaria micromeris). Lavender. Early summer. Cactus family. Size: Cucumber-shaped and 3 to 10 inches high.

Unlike blossoms of many of the Cacti, flowers of the little Mammallarias often last for several days. Blossoms are pink or lavender, occasionally yellow, while the fruits are finger- or club-shaped and red. Being small and forming low clumps, or with single pincushion-like stems, they often escape attention except when glorified with bright, comparatively large flowers, which often form a crown around the top of the plant. The long spines are curved at the tips giving the plant the appearance of being covered with unbarbed fishhooks.

The Pincushion cacti, of which there are a number of species throughout the Southwest, occur in dry, sandy hills from southern Utah to western Texas and in southern California and northern Mexico. The red fruits are bare, without scales, spines, or hairs.

LAVENDER

Common names: GILIA, STARFLOWER Arizona desert: (Gilia filifolia). Lavender. April-May. California desert: (Gilia latifolia). Pink-lavender. March-April. Texas desert: (Gilia longiflora). Blue-lavender. April-October. Phlox family. Size: 6 to 24 inches high.

Although the Gilias are not generally well known, they are common, quite widely distributed throughout the Southwest, and their beauty deserves wider recognition. There are a great many species (of which early flowering G. inconspicua is perhaps the commonest) at higher elevations as well as throughout the desert. Many of these are worthy of cultivation as ornamentals. Desert species, in general, are pale blue, white, or lavender while those of the higher elevations are pink, coral, or yellow to scarlet; although this is by no means a hard-and-fast rule.

Following winters of above-normal precipitation, desert species sometimes produce such heavy stands that the flowers cover large areas with a delicate pale blue or lavender carpet. Some species are attractive to Hummingbirds.

LAVENDER

Common names: PHACELIA, SCORPIONWEED, WILD-HELIOTROPE Arizona desert: (Phacelia crenulata). Violet-purple. February-June. California desert: (Phacelia distans). Blue-violet. March-May. Texas desert: (Phacelia coerulea). Violet-purple. March-April. Waterleaf family. Size: 4 to 16 inches tall.

Although strongly scented, it is not accurate to refer to these annuals as fragrant, for they are sometimes unpleasant in odor, and occasionally actually foul-smelling. Some are described as having an onion-like odor.

P. crenulata with its rich, violet-purple flowers is conspicuous across southern New Mexico, Arizona and California to Lower California. This species is often called Wild-heliotrope.

The name Scorpionweed comes from the curling habit of the blossoming flower heads which somewhat resemble the flexed tail of a scorpion in striking position.

Common names: SQUAW-THORN, RABBIT-THORN, DESERT-THORN, WOLFBERRY, SQUAWBERRY, (TOMATILLO) Arizona desert: (Lycium pallidum). Green-lavender. April-June. California desert: (Lycium andersoni). Lavender. February-April. Texas desert: (Lycium berlanderi). Lavender-cream. March-September. Potato family. Size: Thorny shrubs, stiff and brushy, up to 6 feet.

Noticeable in winter because of their off-season greenery and early flowers which cover the bushes and attract many insects, and attractive in late spring and summer due to the numerous tomato-colored berries hanging from their stiff, thorny stems, the Squaw-thorns are widely distributed throughout the desert.

These plants have contributed much to the subsistence of the Indians, their insipid, slightly bitter, juicy berries being eaten raw or prepared as a sauce. These berries are eagerly sought by birds, which also use the stiff shrubs for cover and for protective roosts at night.

Early spring is the normal blooming season, but some flower again following summer or early fall rains.

VIOLET

Common names: CENIZA, SENISA, ASHPLANT, WILD-LILAC Texas desert: (Leucophyllum frutescens). Lilac-violet. August-October. (Leucophyllum texanum). Violet-purple. August-October. Figwort family. Size: Bushy shrub, 3 to 4 feet high.

In southern Texas, thick patches of this shrub are sometimes found, although they commonly occur singly or a few together, usually on limestone soils. Since the leaves are a light gray-green, plants appear to be ashy in color, giving rise to the name “Ceniza,” meaning “ashy.” Spectacular in Big Bend National Park.

So sensitive is this plant to moisture, that it may burst into blossom within a few hours after a soaking rain, this phenomenon giving rise to the local belief that the plant actually blossoms before the rain, thereby forecasting precipitation; hence the name “Barometerbush.” During recent years, Ceniza has become one of the popular native shrubs used in landscaping.

Under normal conditions, plants blossom in September.

VIOLET

Common names: FILEREE OR FILAREE, HERONBILL, (ALFILERIA) Arizona and Texas deserts: (Erodium texanum). Pink-violet. February-March. California desert. (Erodium cicutarium). Rose-violet. February-March. Geranium family. Size: 3 to 12 inches high.

Believed to have been introduced from the Mediterranean countries at an early date by the Spaniards, Alfileria is now widespread and extensively naturalized throughout the Southwest. In the desert, it is one of the common winter annuals and furnishes excellent spring forage especially following moist winters. The plants remain green for only a few weeks, but are good forage even after the stems have dried.

Although the blossoms are not large nor sufficiently numerous to make a colorful display, they are attractive and welcome, as they are among the first spring flowers to put in an appearance. “Tails” of the fruits are long and slender, somewhat resembling a Heron’s bill, and upon maturity twist into a tight spiral when dry. Upon becoming moist, they uncoil, driving the sharp-tipped seeds into the soil. Seeds are gathered and stored by Ants which discard the husks and coiled “tails” outside their nests, thus building up a circular band of chaff around the Ant-hill.

VIOLET

Common names: IRONWOOD, DESERT-IRONWOOD, TESOTA, (PALO-DE-HIERRO) Arizona and California deserts: (Olneya tesota). Violet-purple. May-June. Pea family. Size: Wide-crowned tree up to 35 feet.

Ironwood is one of the desert’s most beautiful trees, being particularly colorful when the new, dark-green leaves and violet, wisteria-like flowers give it a lavender glow in late May or early June. Since the tree survives only in warm locations, it has for years served as a guide to citrus growers in selecting sites for orange, lemon, or grapefruit plantings.