TREES AND TREE-LIKE GROWTHS 47 



name tacked to a quite different class of plants, and 

 only by chance recognizes his old acquaintance 

 under the title of Parosela. And this is but one case 

 in a long and grievous list. When I hear of convoca- 

 tions of botanists I smile and say, "This is no inno- 

 cent convention. What are they up to now?" 



Often found near the smoke-tree in the gravelly 

 washes is the desert willow, Chilopsis linearis. It is 

 not really a willow, and only slightly resembles that 

 tree In its leafage and irregular shape. In size, how- 

 ever, this often becomes a genuine tree, and I have 

 found specimens with trunks two feet thick and an 

 area of thirty yards diameter or more. The notable 

 feature of this tree also is its flower, which is a 

 large, fragile, orchid-like blossom, white relieved with 

 lavender and yellow, and very delicately scented. 

 There Is something childlike about it, a hint of 

 dainty pinafores In the crinkled edges of the petals: 

 altogether a rare, undesert-like bloom. In the with- 

 ering summer heat of a torrent bed there is refresh- 

 ment In meeting these airy blossoms with their 

 fresh, cool look and gentle fragrance — a thought 

 of violets and primroses in mossy woodland ways. 



The desert willow blooms profusely and remains 

 long in flower. The fruit Is a long, narrow bean, 

 which, on shedding its seeds, leaves the tree hung 

 with silky gray pods that flutter In the wind like 

 pennons on the lances of Indian warriors. 



One true tree remains, the Ironwood, Olneya tesota, 

 called arbol defierro, or palofierro (alternative hierro) 

 in Spanish, meaning Iron-tree or ironwood. This is 

 a sturdy, trim, well-branched growth reminding one 



