Part 6

The Narrow-leaf Yuccas are frequently confused with the Agaves (Century plant), Dasylirion (Sotol), and Nolinas (Beargrass) but may readily be recognized by the fibers protruding from the margins of the leaves. To permit comparison and bring out the differences so that the four groups may be recognized and confusion avoided, sketches of all four appear on the same plate (p. 21).

In many grassland areas of western Texas and southern New Mexico, Y. elata dominates the landscape for miles. This species has been used as emergency rations for range stock during periods of drought, the chopped stems being mixed with concentrates such as cottonseed meal. A substitute for jute has been made from the leaf fibers. Indians eat the young flower stalks, which grow rapidly and are relatively tender.

In its relationship with a moth of the genus Pronuba, the Yucca illustrates one of Nature’s interesting partnerships. The moth, which visits the Yucca flowers at night, lays her eggs in the ovary of a flower where the larvae will feed upon the developing seeds. But to be sure that the seeds do develop, the moth must place pollen on the stigma of the flower. Dependent upon the moth for this vital act of pollenization, the Yucca repays its winged benefactor by sacrificing some of its developing seeds as food for the moth’s larvæ. Fruits of the Narrow-leaf are dry capsules in contrast to the fleshy fruits of the Broad-leaf Yuccas.

Yucca whipplei is a much smaller plant than Y. elata, but produces a stouter flower stalk with a great spreading plume of small, delicate flowers. These graceful plumes appear at night as if aglow with an inner light, hence the name “Our Lord’s Candle.” (See Broad-leaf Yucca [p. 19] and Joshua-tree [p. 18].)

Common Names: CLEMATIS, LEATHERFLOWER Arizona and Texas deserts: (Clematis drummondi). Cream. March-September. California desert: (Clematis ligusticifolia). Cream. May-September. Crowfoot family. Size: Climbing, vine-like perennial with stems 6 to 8 feet long.

By no means limited to the desert, Clematis is found throughout the Southwest. Several species are grown as ornamentals, foliage, flower clusters and the cotton-like masses of hairy fruits all being effective. Petals are absent or rudimentary, the sepals which furnish color to the blossoms being either creamy or purplish-brown. The name “Leatherflower” has been applied to the latter group.

CREAM

Common Names: COMMON REED, (CARRIZO), RIVERCANE, GIANTREED Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (Phragmites communis). Creamy. July-October. Grass family. Size: 8 to 12 feet tall.

Among the largest of the grasses, the Common Reed and its close relative Giantreed (Arundo donax) with their jointed stems resembling Bamboo, are coarse perennials with broad, flat, grass-like leaves found in marshes and stock tanks, along irrigation canals, and on river banks throughout the desert country of the Southwest. Common Reed is found throughout the world where conditions are suitable. The flower stalks are long, tassel-like, and at the ends of the stems.

In Arizona and New Mexico, Common Reed is called Carrizo. The hollow stems were used by the Indians for making arrow shafts, prayer sticks, pipe stems, and loom rods. Mats, screens, nets, and cordage, as well as thatching, are made from the leaves. The plants are useful as windbreaks and in controlling soil erosion along streams.

CREAM

Common Names: SEEPWILLOW, WATERMOTIE, WATERWALLY, WATERWILLOW, BROOM BACCHARIS, ROSINBUSH, (HIERBA-DEL-PASMO) Arizona and Texas deserts: (Baccharis glutinosa). Creamy. March-December. California desert: (Baccharis sarathroides). Yellow-white. September-February. Sunflower family. Size: Up to 7 feet tall.

Genus Baccharis is composed, in the desert, of coarse shrubs with a number of common species. The flowers themselves are not beautiful, but the female plants with their flower heads that develop glaring-white pappus hairs, are spectacular and quite attractive.

B. glutinosa is a common shrub along watercourses, often forming dense thickets. The straight stems are used in native houses as matting across ceiling timbers to support the mud roof. B. sarathroides and several other species are often referred to as the Desert Brooms. They are common along desert washes and roadsides in sandy soil, their pale yellow, bristly flower heads, during the fall and winter months, appearing in sharp contrast to the vivid green branchlets and dark stems of the bushes. Among some Indians, the stems are chewed as a toothache remedy.

CREAM

Common Names: PLANTAIN, WOOLLY-PLANTAIN Arizona desert: (Plantago purshi). Buff. February-July. California desert: (Plantago insularis). Straw. January-May. Texas-New Mexico desert: (Plantago argyraea). Straw. June-August. Plantain family. Size: A few inches to 2 feet tall.

Plantains are not noted for the beauty of their blossoms but the larger, coarser species are sufficiently noticeable to attract attention, both in their blossoming and fruiting stages. The smaller winter annuals known as Indianwheat carpet the desert floor, in January and February, in some places, producing a straw-colored “pile” of tiny blossom spikes.

CREAM

Common Names: (TASAJILLO), CHRISTMAS CHOLLA, DIAMOND CACTUS, (TESAJO), DARNING-NEEDLE CACTUS, PENCIL-JOINT CHOLLA, HOLYCROSS. Arizona and Texas deserts: (Opuntia leptocaulis). Green-yellow. May-June. California desert: (Opuntia ramosissima). Green-yellow. May-September. Cactus family. Size: Much branched, shrubby, 2 to 4 feet tall.

Flowers of these small, slender-stemmed, shrubby chollas (CHOH-yahs) are small, sparse, and so inconspicuous as to be rarely noticed. However, the fruits, particularly those of O. Leptocaulis, are scarlet, egg-shaped, about 1 inch in length, and occur in such profusion that they immediately attract attention to the plants during the late fall and winter months, giving these plants the appropriate name of Christmas Cholla.

A large Cholla, O. bigelovi, also has greenish to pale yellow flowers but inconspicuous fruits and short, heavy joints so densely covered with silvery spines as to give it the name Teddybear Cholla. Found in south central and southwestern Arizona and westward into southern California, southern Nevada, and south into Sonora and Lower California, the Silver Cholla is noticeable at any season. Propagation is chiefly by joints which drop from the plant and take root, the new plants forming dense thickets on desert hillsides. Because the joints are so easily detached, they actually seem to jump at a passerby, this characteristic giving the plant the name Jumping Cactus.

YELLOW

Common Names: MISTLETOE, DESERT MISTLETOE Arizona and California deserts: (Phoradendron californicum). Yellow-green. March. Texas-New Mexico deserts: (Phoradendron cockerelli). Yellow-green. Spring. Mistletoe family. Size: Pendant, vine-like strands several feet long.

Because they form conspicuous, dense, shapeless masses in Mesquite, Ironwood, Acacia, Cottonwood, or other trees (depending upon the species of Mistletoe), these parasitic plants attract the attention and arouse the curiosity of persons unfamiliar with the desert. P. macrophyllum, which parasitizes Cottonwood trees, is widespread throughout the Southwest, and, because of its large gray-green leaves and glistening white berries is much in demand as a Christmas green. The Mistletoe is the state flower of Oklahoma.

The species of Mistletoe that parasitize such trees as Ironwood, Mesquite, and Catclaw have small, scale-like tawny-brown leaves and stems. The tiny yellow-green flowers which appear in spring are fragrant and secrete nectar which attracts Honeybees and other insects. The handsome coral-pink berries are a major food, during the winter months, for Phainopeplas and other birds. The Arizona Verdin often builds its nest in the protected center of a clump of Mistletoe. Birds are believed to be instrumental in spreading this parasite from tree to tree.

Mistletoe saps the energy of the host tree and, where abundant, may cause considerable damage, killing branches and sometimes the entire tree. Papago Indians dry the berries in the sun and store them for winter food.

YELLOW

Common Names: DESERT-TOBACCO, TREE-TOBACCO Arizona and Texas deserts: (Nicotiana glauca). Pale yellow. All year. California desert: (Nicotiana trigonophylla). Green-yellow. All year. Potato family. Size: Tree-tobacco (N. glauca) up to 12 feet. Desert-tobacco, 1 to 3 feet high.