[Illustration: DESERT WILLOW]
Leaves opposite, mostly compound; flowers showy, often 2-lipped; calyx
tubular, 5-lobed; petals 5, united; stamens 4 or 2, in pairs on
corolla-tube; capsules often long, with winged seeds.
Desert Willow (_Chilopsis linearis_), also called flowering willow,
willow-leaved catalpa, and “mimbre,” is a common shrub along water
courses from West Texas to Southern California and Northern Mexico. When
it is not in flower or fruit, it may be mistaken for the black willow
(_Salix nigra_), which has similar leaves. The delicate, lavender,
trumpet-shaped flowers are about two inches long. White and
pale-lavender forms occur. It is a shrub or small tree frequently
cultivated for ornament in Texas and California. It blooms from May
through the summer months. Mexicans use the wood for fence-posts and the
branches for baskets. A tea made from the flowers is used as a remedy
for heart and lung diseases.
Several other members of this family are native to the state and are
well-known in cultivation. Among these are the red-flowered
trumpet-creeper (_Campsis radicans_), the yellow-red cross-vine
(_Bignonia capreolata_), the catalpa found in East Texas woods, and the
yellow-elder (_Tecoma stans_) in South Texas and the mountains of West
Texas.