Often abundant on road shoulders and in low spots where rainwater from
hot-weather showers provides adequate moisture, “caltrop” or
“summerpoppy,” with large blossoms and attractive compound leaves,
decorates the desert when other flowers are noticeable by their absence.
The long, weak stems, usually prostrate, give the plants a vine-like
appearance, but when growing under shrubs they extend upward so that the
shrub is mistakenly thought to be blooming. Superficially resembling the
springtime goldpoppy, Arizona-poppy has five rather than four petals,
and may be found in bloom as late as October.
_Kallstroemia grandiflora_ Caltrop Family
[Illustration: ARIZONA-POPPY]