[Illustration: Boerhaavia caribaea]
Common names: SPIDERLING, WEST INDIAN BOERHAAVIA
Arizona, California and Texas deserts: (_Boerhaavia caribaea_).
Red-purple. May-September.
Four-o’clock family. Size: Trailing stems up to 4 feet in length.
A common roadside perennial, Spiderling becomes an annoying garden weed
when it invades open fields and areas of cultivation. Its trailing stems
and sticky foliage interfere with tillage. The flowers are small but
numerous and grow in attractive, colorful clusters. This species is
widely distributed, not only throughout the deserts of the Southwest,
but also in tropical and subtropical America.
In addition to _B. caribaea_, other species of _Boerhaavia_ are
widespread throughout areas of the Southwest below 5,500 feet
elevations. The plants usually grow where they are exposed to full
sunlight, although sometimes found in open brushlands, and reach full
flower in late summer and autumn months.