In order that you may get full value from this booklet, it is important
that you understand how to make the greatest use of it. The purpose of
the booklet is double: (1) to introduce the common desert flowers to
newcomers to the Southwest; and (2), to give a little background of
information about the plants’ interesting habits and how they have been
and are used by animals, by the native peoples, and by the settlers.
Every effort has been made to present accurate, if not always complete,
information.
Since there are more than 3,200 plants recorded from Arizona alone, and
this booklet attempts to introduce you to the common plants of desert
areas in Texas, New Mexico, and California in addition to Arizona, it is
apparent that you will find an enormous number of flowers which are not
included. Therefore, a painstaking effort has been made to select the
commonest or most spectacular; that is, those which you will naturally
stop to look at and say, “Who are you?”
For ease in identification, flowers are arranged in this booklet
according to color of the flower petals. When you meet a flower to whom
you would like an introduction, first note the color of its petals.
Don’t jump too quickly to a conclusion, for what at first glance may
seem to be pink, careful examination may prove to be lavender, violet,
or purple. Once you feel reasonably sure of the color, turn to the
section of the booklet in which flowers of that color are listed and
examine the sketches. Find something that looks similar?
Now check the size of the plant as indicated in the sketch and text.
Does the text list the flower as occurring in the particular desert area
(see map on next page) where you are? Is the blossoming season correct?
Do other details check? If so, the chances are that you have the right
flower—or at least a close relative. Close enough, anyway, so that you
may be reasonably safe in calling the flower by its common name. Of
course if a botanist happens along, he may point out that you have
_Penstemon parryi_ whereas you thought you had struck up an acquaintance
with _Penstemon pseudospectabilis_. However, it’s a penstemon, even tho’
a sister of the one you thought you were meeting. Perhaps you’ll run
across a dozen other brothers and sisters before you happen onto the
member of the genus common enough to be listed specifically in our
Desert Who’s Who.
Certain of the desert flowers change color with age. Also, during off
seasons, some of the really common flowers don’t show up in large
numbers while a few of the rarer ones may take their turn at brightening
up the desert. Furthermore, in a few cases such as the Oleander, the
species comes in two colors, red flowers on one plant and white on
another. The Bird-of-Paradise flower has yellow petals, but the rest of
the flower is red, so it’s a toss-up which color you might call it. The
Beavertail Cactus has magenta flowers while those of its very close
relative, Engelmann’s Prickly Pear, have yellow blossoms, yet in this
booklet it has been necessary to put them both on the same page in the
“yellow” section.
So, this booklet makes no claims to perfection, and these discrepancies
add certain hazards to the game. You may strike out several times before
getting to first base. As you become accustomed to using the booklet,
home runs will come more frequently, and you will soon begin to have a
lot of fun. If any particular species especially interests you, once you
are certain of its identity you can readily find out more about it by
following up in one or more of the publications listed in this booklet
under the heading “References.”
A few of the common desert flowers have been left out of this
booklet—purposely. The reason is that, although they are well
represented among desert flowers, they are even more common throughout
non-desert parts of the Southwest. You will find them all in a companion
booklet: Polly Patraw’s “Flowers of the Southwest Mesas.” They belong
principally to the following groups: Cottonwood, Rabbit-brush,
Snakeweed, Saltbush, Apacheplume, Clematis, Squawbush, Blanketflower,
Sunflower, Groundsel, Elder, Blazing Star and Morningglory.
PLANT NAMES
Be Serious About Plant Names—But Not Too Serious
It has often been said that “a rose by any other name would smell as
sweet.” Although the statement is literally true, we are often
disappointed, perhaps offended, when we find some flower friend of long
acquaintance called by another, and, to our minds, inferior name. Also,
we dislike the attachment of a name which we have long associated with a
certain plant to another, and perhaps less attractive, flower.
Common names are by no means standardized in their usage, and a well
known plant in one part of the country may be called by an entirely
different name somewhere else. Also, certain names are applied to a
number of plants which more or less resemble one another. For instance,
the name “Greasewood” is applied to almost any plant that has oily or
highly inflammable leaves; and with the avid reading by eastern people
of Zane Grey’s and other “westerns,” any shrubby plant with grayish
foliage covering large areas of western land immediately becomes
“Sagebrush.” This is particularly irritating to inhabitants of the
desert areas treated in this booklet because true Sagebrush (_Artemisia
tridentata_) rarely grows below elevations of 6,000 feet. The loose
application of common names is a confusing annoyance to wildflower
enthusiasts.
In an effort to avoid this confusion and to establish a method of naming
that will be uniform throughout the world, botanists have developed a
system using descriptive Latin names and grouping plants into genera and
families based upon their relationships to one another as determined by
their physical structure. Unfortunately for the layman, this system is
so technical and the Latin names so unintelligible that he becomes
completely bewildered. Furthermore, advanced botanical studies result in
continual regroupings and changes in names so that the amateur botanist
finds it impossible to keep up. Botanists who specialize in plant
nomenclature have a tendency to become so involved with the
technicalities of naming that their writings bristle with minute
descriptions of anatomical details and the reader searches in vain for
such basic information as a simple statement of the color of the
flowers.
The majority of common flowers have several to many common names. This
is particularly true in the Southwest where some plants have names in
English, Spanish, and one or more Indian languages. In addition, of
course, each species has its scientific name. An effort has been made in
this booklet to give as many of the names applied to each selected
flower as are readily available. This not only aids in identifying the
plant, but adds to its interest. The reader then finds himself in the
enviable position of being able to scan the field and choose whichever
name appeals to him with the reasonable assurance that he is right—at
least in one locality.
Since this booklet was written by a layman for the use and enjoyment of
other laymen, it violates a number of botanical, or taxonomic,
principles. These violations have been committed with no spirit of
disrespect, but in an effort to avoid confusion, conserve space, and
keep a complicated and involved subject as simple as possible. The
writer believes that the visitor to the desert who has a normal pleasure
in nature is interested in the flowers because of their beauty and their
relationships with other inhabitants of the desert, including mankind.