Acacia greggi
Common Names: CATCLAW, CAT’S-CLAW, TEARBLANKET, DEVILSCLAW Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (Acacia greggi). Pale yellow. April-October. Pea family. Size: Up to 20 feet tall.
The numerous thorns, short and curved like a cat’s claw, serve readily to identify this common, often abundant, shrub or small tree.
There are several species, some with large, bright-yellow flowers, but A. greggi is the most common and occurs throughout all of the deserts of the Southwest, at elevations below 4,000 feet, often forming thickets along streams and washes.
Flowers, like pale yellow, fuzzy caterpillars, are one of the important sources of nectar for honeybees, the trees being alive with insects during the period of heaviest blooming in April and May.
In mid-August, the light green fruit pods begin to turn reddish and, if abundant, make a colorful display.
Seeds of the Catclaw were at one time widely used as food by the Indians of Arizona and Mexican tribes. They were ground into meal and eaten as mush or cakes.
Catclaw is one of the most heartily disliked plants in the Southwest, especially by riders and hikers, because of the strong thorns which tear clothing and lacerate the flesh.
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Ephedra trifurca
E. antisyphilitica
Common Names: MORMON-TEA, BRIGHAM-TEA, JOINTER, (POPOTILLA), (TEPOSOTE), (CANATILLA) Arizona and Texas deserts: (Ephedra trifurca). Pale yellow. Spring. California desert: (Ephedra californica). Pale yellow. Spring. Jointfir family. Size: Harsh, stringy perennials, from 2 to 10 feet tall and sometimes 5 or 6 feet in diameter.
Apparently leafless, these common Southwestern shrubs do have leaves, although they are reduced to tiny scales. The harsh, stringy stems are green to yellow-green and, when dried, were used with the flowers in making a palatable brew, particularly by the Utah pioneers; hence the names Mormon-tea and Brigham-tea. The beverage was also popular with Indians and settlers in treating syphilis and other afflictions, as it contains tannin and certain alkaloids. Flowers are small, pale yellow, and appear in the spring at which time the plants are quite noticeable, and attract large numbers of insects.
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