70 Our Araby 



few deeply-cut leaves and bearing one or more clusters 

 of small purple flowers closely grouped in rings. 

 Blooms in mid-spring. 



Sesbania macrocarpa. Wild hemp. A straight, slender, 

 spindling plant, up to 8 feet high, found in damp 

 ground in Imperial Valley and near the Colorado 

 River. Flowers yellow, pea-like. Blooms in mid- and 

 late summer. 



Simmondsia californica. Goat-nut, Quinine-plant. A strong 

 shrub, up to 6 feet high, with gray-green leaves some- 

 what like those of the manzanita. Flowers whitish, 

 inconspicuous: fruit a small, brown, edible nut with 

 smooth, pointed husk. Blooms in mid-spring. 



Sphaeralcea ambigua. Wild hollyhock. A loose-growing 

 plant, up to 3 feet high, with grayish stems and leaves. 

 Flowers numerous and striking, of a peculiar light- 

 vermilion color. Blooms in midspring and early summer. 



Stephanomeria exigua. A low, slender-stemmed plant bear- 

 ing a white starry flower something like that of the 

 single pink. Blooms in mid-spring. 



Stillingia annua. A very small but hardy-looking plant with 

 stiff, saw-edged, light green, upright leaves. Flowers 

 inconspicuous. 



Suaeda ramosissima. A common, loose-growing bush of the 

 open desert, 3 or 4 feet high, with very slender, bright- 

 green, juicy stems that give a pink stain on being 

 crushed. Leaves and flowers inconspicuous. 



TrichoptUium incisum. A small, almost white plant, very 

 woolly, with small, composite, yellow flowers. Blooms 

 in early summer. 



Washingtonia filifera. Fan palm. The native palm of the 

 desert, found in many canons and occasionally in the 

 open desert, though never in dry soil. Up to 70 feet 

 high. Fronds light-green, with stringy filaments: flowers 

 small, creamy, in long, drooping clusters: fruit a small 

 hard berry, black and sweet when ripe. Blooms in 

 early summer. 



