Common names: SPIDERLING, WEST INDIAN BOERHAAVIA Arizona, California and Texas deserts: (Boerhaavia caribaea). Red-purple. May-September. Four-o’clock family. Size: Trailing stems up to 4 feet in length.
A common roadside perennial, Spiderling becomes an annoying garden weed when it invades open fields and areas of cultivation. Its trailing stems and sticky foliage interfere with tillage. The flowers are small but numerous and grow in attractive, colorful clusters. This species is widely distributed, not only throughout the deserts of the Southwest, but also in tropical and subtropical America.
In addition to B. caribaea, other species of Boerhaavia are widespread throughout areas of the Southwest below 5,500 feet elevations. The plants usually grow where they are exposed to full sunlight, although sometimes found in open brushlands, and reach full flower in late summer and autumn months.
PURPLE
Orthocarpus purpurascens
Common names: OWLCLOVER, (ESCOBITA) Arizona and California deserts: (Orthocarpus purpurascens). Red-purple. March-May. Figwort family. Size: 4 to 8 inches high.
This short, leafy annual ranging in color from rich velvet red to purple is noticeable even as an individual plant, but, following winters of above average rainfall, it often grows en masse, covering portions of the desert floor with a carpet of bright purple; sometimes in pure stands, often mixed with Goldpoppy, Lupine, and other spring flowers.
Since Escobita is limited in range to southern and western Arizona, California, and Lower California at elevations below 3,000 feet, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is well within its range, and in that area can be seen at its spectacular best.
The California variety has the lower lip of the blossom tipped with rich yellow.