Flowers of the Southwest Deserts

by Natt N. Dodge

Common name: SUNRAY Arizona desert: (Enceliopsis argophylla). Bright yellow. April-June. California desert: (Enceliopsis covillei). Lemon-yellow. April-June. Sunflower family. Size: Perennial, 1 to 2½ feet tall.

The large, solitary, coarse flower heads with their yellow petals make the Sunrays among the most impressive composites of the desert.

Flowers rise on stout stems above a luxuriant growth of leaves that make the plants appear almost egotistical in their elegant arrogance.

They are at their best in sandy washes and on dry slopes at elevations between 1,000 and 3,500 feet, often where other plants seem too hard pressed eking out an existence to produce the garish foliage and bloom achieved by the Sunray.

YELLOW

Geraea canescens

Common names: DESERT-SUNSHINE, DESERT-SUNFLOWER, DESERT GOLD, HAIRY-HEADED SUNFLOWER Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (Geraea canescens). Yellow. January-June. Sunflower family. Size: An annual, 6 inches to 2 feet tall.

One of the showiest of the Sunflowers. Desert-sunflowers often form sweet-scented gardens of luxuriant bloom along roadsides and in sandy basins early in the spring.

Its seeds form a dependable source of food for small rodents, especially Pocket Mice, which store them in quantities. Wild bees and Hummingbird Moths are attracted to the fragrant flowers.