Part 9

YELLOW

Common name: JACKASS-CLOVER Arizona desert: (Wislizenia refracta). Yellow. May-September. Caper family. Size: Up to 4 feet in height.

Conspicuous in late summer along roadsides and dry streambeds, the large number of yellow flowers and the widespread presence of these much branched, annual plants justify the inclusion of Jackass-clover in this booklet as one of the common flowers of the desert.

The plant ranges across the Southwest from western Texas to southern California at elevations between 1,000 and 6,500 feet. The flowers themselves are small, although the flower heads are quite conspicuous.

Since the leaves somewhat resemble the tri-foliate leaves of Clover, the plant is commonly called Jackass-clover. It is usually found in sandy locations.

YELLOW

Common names: EVENING-PRIMROSE, SUNDROP Arizona and California deserts: (Oenothera brevipes). Yellow. March-May. Texas-New Mexico deserts: (Oenothera primiveris). Yellow. March-May. Evening-primrose family. Size: Usually low, but some up to 5 feet.

Among the commonest but most beautiful and delicate of the flowering plants of the desert are the Evening-primroses. Flowers are usually large, with the four petals either white or yellow, turning to red or pink with age. Many species are low-growing herbs with large, delicate petals; while others may be shrub-like, sometimes attaining a height of 5 feet. As the name implies, the flowers open in the evening and wilt soon after sunrise.

In the low, warmer sections of the desert, plants in blossom may be found as early as February.

YELLOW

Common names: ALGERITA, BARBERRY, HOLLYGRAPE Arizona desert: (Berberis haematocarpa). Yellow. February-April. California desert: (Berberis fremonti). Yellow. May-July. Texas desert. (Berberis trifoliolata). Yellow. Spring. Barberry family. Size: Shrubs, 3 to 8 feet.

The pendant clusters of golden blossoms are particularly noticeable because of their delightful fragrance, and the small purple berries are juicy and of pleasant flavor. They make excellent jelly and are readily eaten by birds and some of the small mammals. Due to the holly-like leaves and the fragrant blossoms and fruits, the plants would make attractive ornamentals for landscape and decorative plantings were it not for the fact that they are secondary hosts for the black stem rust of the cereals, hence cannot be used in communities where grains are grown. Indians use the root as a tonic, and obtain from it a brilliant yellow dye.

Some botanists prefer to use the generic name Mahonia or Odostemon for this group of plants.

YELLOW

Common names: BLADDERPOD, BEAD-POD Arizona and Texas deserts: (Lesquerella gordoni). Yellow. February-May. California desert: (Lesquerella palmeri). Yellow. March-May. Mustard family. Size: 6 to 8 inches high.

Extensive sections of the desert are gilded in springtime with this low-growing annual herb which is one of the earliest of the desert flowers.

Following moist winters, it covers dry mesas and plains below 4,000 feet from Oklahoma west to Utah, and southward into northern Mexico. After the seed pods have matured, the plant is reported to furnish valuable forage for range stock.

YELLOW

Common names: BUFFALO-GOURD, COYOTE-MELON, (CALABAZILLA), (CHILI COYOTE) Arizona desert: (Cucurbita digitata). Yellow. June-October. California desert: (Cucurbita palmata). Yellow. July-September. Texas desert: (Cucurbita foetidissima). Yellow. May-August. Gourd family. Size: Trailing perennial with stems 4 to 15 feet long.

Gourds are conspicuous, trailing, rank-growing plants common along roadsides and in the open desert. Leaves are grayish-green, and blossoms yellow and trumpet-shaped. The striped fruits are about the size and shape of a tennis ball, although some are egg-shaped.

The fruits which are very conspicuous after the vines and leaves have been winter-killed, are sometimes collected, painted in gay colors, and used as ornaments about the house.

Although Indians considered the fruits as inferior and suitable only for coyotes, they ate them either cooked or dried, and made the seeds into a mush. Pioneers used the crushed roots of these plants as a cleansing agent in washing clothes.

YELLOW

Common names: FIDDLENECK Arizona desert: (Amsinckia intermedia). Yellow. Spring. California desert: (Amsinckia tessellata). Yellow. Spring. Borage family. Size: Bristly erect herbs, 8 to 18 inches.

An annual of the Creosotebush belt, and very abundant on gravelly or sandy soils in dry, open places, Fiddleneck is found from western New Mexico to California and north to eastern Washington.

A. tessellata occurs also in Chile and Argentina. Plants are reported to make good spring forage where they grow in heavy stands, but indications have been found that cirrhosis of the liver may result in cattle, sheep and horses that eat the nutlets.

Following moist winters, Fiddleneck is often so abundant as to form vast fields of yellow or orange-yellow blossoms, especially on the Mohave Desert in southern California.

The curling habit of the opening flower heads somewhat resembles the neck of a violin, hence the name.