NEW YORK 



,—. _ _^ „ __, _ -_- . BOTANICAL 



TORREYA qarden 



Vol. 33 May-June, 1933 No. 3 



Desert wild flowers 



Jack Whitehead 



How fascinating and mysterious are desert wild flowers as 

 seen through the enchantment of April and May in Northern 

 Arizona! Upon entering Arizona, after crossing the Colorado 

 River, the color and beauty of its flora are bewilderingly wonder- 

 ful and greatly enhanced by a setting amidst splendors of 

 weirdly grotesque, strangely fantastic scenery. What a land of 

 interesting discovery is revealed as the plant lover journeys into 

 this first fifty miles of Arizona territory: from the glamorous 

 Colorado River, through the grandly spectacular Black Ute 

 Mountains, and down into the vastnesses of the Sacramento 

 Valley. 



There is nothing especially note-worthy about the fringe of 

 Cottonwoods and Willows, Arrow-Weeds and Salt-bushes 

 densely jungling the banks of the Colorado River. In close 

 proximity, however, are many interesting plants. . . . The 

 HONEY MESQUITE (Prosopis julifiora) is a small, straggling, 

 thorny tree clothed in dark green foliage and slender spikes of 

 honey-golden, fluffy, fragrant blossoms. Its flat bean-like fruits, 

 ripening in fall, are favored essentials of Indian sustenance. . . . 

 Showers of Gold! Surely such an expression must allude to 

 Springtime blossoming of PALO VERDE {Cercidium torrey- 

 anum). Here is a large and spreading, spiny tree, frequently 

 shattered by the elements. Though leafless most of the year, the 

 Spanish Palo Verde is, nevertheless, the "Green Tree" of the 

 desert, because its branches are always smooth and bright green. 

 This Cercidium was named in honor of Dr. Torrey. . . . What 

 might be lazy drifts of blue-green smoke, curling along the dry 

 washes, eventually become clumps of DESERT SMOKE 

 TREE (Parosela spinosa). This unique wilderness tree, like the 

 Palo Verde, is leafless except for a few weeks in early Spring- 

 time. It is intricately and spinily branched and delights with 

 flowers of deepest indigo-blue. ... In marked contrast to its 



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