Desert Wildflowers and Cacti

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Both of the Sunflower family the Paperflower and Cooper's Paperflower grow in low, round bushes with thin tangled branches. Both have bright yellow flowers, 3 to 5 petals on the Paperflower and a varying numbers of petals on the Cooper's. They both have a nice aroma all summer long.

There are several species of Acacia in Arizona, the Catclaw is a member of the pea family. The Catclaw's are a bush or small tree with pods resembling peapods. It gets its name from the curved claws on the branches, they will rip your clothing and flesh so a great deal of care should be taken when in the vicinity of a Catclaw Acacia.

The creosote is believed to be the oldest living plant, over 11,000 years old. They don't grow very big at 10 feet being their maximum. They have a lot of spiny branches and in blooming season it shows off a lovely yellow flower and a very pleasant aroma. Creosotes attract bees, and I have lots of them on my property.

These grow close to the ground but not like a creeper, the leaves protrude up so they almost resemble a bush. The flowers are lavender to purple bell-shaped cups, no separate petals. They open up when the sun is almost directly overhead, then the blooms close in the evening repeating each day. I usually see them from April to September.

The Strawberry Hedgehog are quite common, I have several on my property. The flowers are a deep magenta color with green centers. They grow wide, I have a few that are about 3 feet wide and about 2 feet tall. They produce a sugary fruit that tastes like strawberries, at least that's what I've been told. I haven't gotten the courage to eat one yet!

A member of the Agave family the Joshua tree, or yucca palm, can grow to 30 feet tall with a trunk about 3 feet in diameter. They are usually oddly shaped with the branches twisting and turning in different directions giving the appearance of a cartoon character. If the weather has been agreeable, the Joshua will bloom with big yellow flowers.

The Needleleaf Dogweeds are everywhere! Member of the Sunflower family, they have usually 8 yellow petals and a darker yellow center disk. They don't grow like a sunflower though, they are a low round bush with a lot of branches. I've seen them as early as March and right on through to October.

Rainbow cactus grow only to about one foot tall on one single column with one to four flowers on top. The flowers are magenta while the spines on the column are alternating bands of muted red and white. This is the only one I have found during all my hiking through the desert.