60 Our Araby 



short-lived, so that the tree is usually bare: the twigs 

 bear short thorns. Flowers profuse, bright yellow: 

 fruit a pod. Blooms in mid-spring. 



Chilopsis linearis. Desert willow (not properly a willow 

 but belonging to the Bignonia family.) A small, 

 willow-like tree, up to 20 feet high, usually found in 

 washes. Leaves narrow: flowers handsome and plenti- 

 ful, white marked with lilac and yellow, fragrant; fruit 

 a pod, very long and narrow, remaining on the tree 

 after the seeds have fallen. Blooms from mid-spring 

 to autumn. 



Chorizanthe brevicornu. A small, leafless, yellow-green 

 plant, resembling the dry yellow moss sometimes found 

 on pine trees. Flowers inconspicuous. 



Coldenia plicata. A hardy-looking, mat-like plant with 

 small, deeply-veined, dark green leaves and tiny white 

 flowers. Blooms in mid-spring. 



Croton californica. One of the commonest desert plants. 

 A thin bush 2 or 3 feet high, with many slender 

 straight stems and few light-gray oval leaves. The 

 plant gathers into a goblet-shaped tuft as it dries. 

 Flowers small, yellowish. Blooms from late spring to 

 late summer. 



Dalea: — the genus has been re-named Parosela, q. v. 



Datura meteloides. Jimson weed, Tolguache (or Toluachel . 

 A rank-growing plant 2 or 3 feet high, common on 

 both coast and desert, with large, coarse, dark-green 

 leaves and very large, white or pale lilac, trumpet- 

 shaped flowers that open in the evening. Blooms from 

 spring to autumn. 



Dithyrea californica. A small coarse-leafed plant found in 

 sandy soil usually about bushes. Flowers small, fra- 

 grant, of four white petals. Blooms in early spring. 



Encelia californica. A stifl, bushy plant with dark-green 

 leaves and brittle, woody stems, common on and near 

 the base of desert mountains. Flowers brigiit yellow, 



