7 SOTOL. Mats, sandals, coarse ropes and other household items can be made of the fibers in the narrow leaves of this plant. Young flower stalks of sotol (SO-tall) are edible when roasted; many deep stone-lined roasting pits are found throughout this area.
Sotol leaf and fruiting stem.
8 LICHENS (LIE-kens). The green and orange blotches resembling paint on this boulder are lichens, plants consisting of an alga and a fungus living together. As the plants grow, their secretions begin dissolving solid rock into fragments, the first step in the long natural process of soil formation. It has been estimated that in the desert it takes 1,000 years to develop one inch of topsoil.
9 OCOTILLO (oh-ko-TEE-yo). This thorny member of the candlewood family (NOT a cactus!) has handsome orange-red flowers at the ends of each branch in spring. Orioles[1], hummingbirds and bumblebees love ocotillo nectar. Like the palo verde, the ocotillo drops its leaves to conserve moisture while its green bark carries on a minimum of food manufacture. Within a few days of a good rain it sprouts a whole new set of leaves, only to shed them again as soon as the soil dries. The plant may develop and shed a half dozen sets of leaves in a single growing season.
10 SAGUARO SKELETON. The Salado built roofs and fashioned tools from the wooden ribs of saguaro skeletons, such as those in various states of decomposition up the draw above you. Skeletons also supplied wood for household fires in an area with few other fuel sources.
11 CANE CHOLLA. Flower buds of many types of cholla are edible; Pima Indians, modern desert farmers living near Phoenix, steam them as vegetables. The curve-bill thrasher builds its untidy nest in this cholla.
12 JOJOBA (ho-HO-ba). Moisture is retained in these large leaves by a thick wax coating. The jojoba’s large oily nuts, slightly resembling a peanut in size and shape, can be eaten raw or parched; early settlers used them as a coffee substitute, giving the shrub the name “coffeeberry.” The plant is an important browse for white-tail and mule deer.
Jojoba leaves and fruit