[Illustration: Kallstroemia grandiflora]
Common names: ARIZONA-POPPY, CALTROP
Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Kallstroemia grandiflora_). Bright
yellow. February-September.
Caltrop family. Size: 1 to 2 feet tall.
Although superficially resembling in size, shape, and color the blossoms
of the Goldpoppy, the blossoms of the large-flowered Caltrop have five
petals instead of four, and the plant is a close relative of the
Puncturevine and the Creosotebush. One of the most attractive of the
desert’s summer annuals, Arizona-poppy is found at elevations below
5,000 feet in the drylands of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and northern
Mexico.
Large-flowered Caltrop may be distinguished from Goldpoppy by (1)
sprawling open habit of growth, (2) compound leaves, (3) season of
blossoming, and (4) the fact that the plants grow singly rather than in
masses.