Desert Odyssey

Spring on the desert is a startling tableau, a paradoxical phenomenon. Its presence is first felt when the creosote bushes begin to unfold their aromatic leaves, long creased and shrivelled from months of heat and dehydration. Beneath these scraggly shrubs, annuals sprout, singly, then in clusters. As growing conditions become optimum, these patches of brilliant green begin to creep, then enlarge, and finally with an almost maddening cadence, sweep the entire desert floor in a matter of days. As the delicate green veneer spreads into washes, then up sheltered canyons, this very incongruous aspect can clearly be ascertained and marveled at.

Here, perhaps, at your feet, a delicate hyacinth raises supplicating lavender headdresses amid offending, thorny hooks of the cat's-claw.

On the opposite hillside, a vivid orange-red Mariposa lily, aptly called butterfly lily by early Spaniards, hugs a hoary, ageless barrel cactus.

Along a nearby wash, sparkling blue lupine lie like sheep about a giant saguaro, their grotesque, and uncompromising herdsman.

Yellow poppies scramble and hide among the boulders, while jagged, volcanic rocks attempt to subdue their frolic.

Owl clover stand patiently, nodding their maroon heads, waiting beside a mute, inhospitable prickly pear.

Tiny, brilliant Goldfields weave a saffron yellow carpet unseen by their haughty lord and master, the spiney cholla towering above.

In a land where nine months out of the year only cactus, hardy shrubs and small trees prevail, spring is, indeed, a paradoxical time of the year.

Behind these scenes, though, producing this fairylike stage setting, there are natural forces which operate in an extremely orderly fashion.

The general idea of a desert, thought by most people, especially in other sections of the country, consists of sand, shifting dunes, and perhaps an occasional oasis.

Our Southwest deserts, on the contrary, are endowed with abundant and diversified plant life. The Sonoran desert, which includes portions of South Central Arizona is noted for its multitude of succulents and arboreal growths. Often of fantastic design, all form striking picture images, enough for the mind to conjure a host of fantasies. Giant saguaros and a complex array of other plants, create a landscape of enchantment with spectacular proportions.

WILD FLOWER PHOTOGRAPHY

Wildflower photography is a fascinating form of photographic art, though extremely time consuming. A great deal of attention must be spent on minute detail. One of the biggest problems in flower photography concerns the wind - especially with longstemmed and fragile subject matter. The slightest breeze will vibrate stem and petals to such an extent that only a blur will result on the film when using slow shutter speeds. To minimize

Aside from its fanciful creations, it is a bountiful land in which to study desert botany, and the secrets which plants have evolved to sustain life. All these species have adapted themselves to a remarkable extent for their stringent role in this severe climate of extremes.

For instance, there are the drought-escaping plants. These consist of the annuals which germinate, mature and reseed within a few weeks time during the spring and also during the "second spring." Hence, they do actually escape the drought because only their seeds are left during the hot months.

There are two classifications, each taking advantage of the two seasons of rainfall. The winter annuals thrive during the cool and moist spring weather. Generally, it is these winter plants which create the spectacular floral displays.

The summer annuals appear only after July and August rains, often called the "second spring" because of the new growth. Most are hot weather species and need abundant rainfall to create large masses of color. Just a few of the winter specimens can be found in bloom at this time.

The drought-evading plants are the deciduous herbs and shrubs which become dormant when heat and drought take over. Most species drop all their leaves, only concentrating on retaining life in roots and larger branches.

As leaves drop, a number of things occur. At the base of the leaf stem, a waterproof layer of cells cuts off moisture and food circulation from the stem into the leaf. At the same time, it forms a protective layer on the stem to which the leaf is attached, so that disease-producing bacteria cannot enter.

Many of the plants in this group have leaves with a thick epidermis, to eliminate needless evaporation. Some species have leaves covered with fine hair, another method to prevent escape of moisture. A few herbs and shrubs turn their leaves edgeways toward the sun so that dehydration will not be such a shock before the plant rests in a state of dormancy.

A good example of this nature of evolvement is the brittlebush. It makes use of all these methods to escape the months of desiccation. All the herbs and shrubs in thisclassification come to renewed activity in a surprisingly short time when conditions are again favorable.

The drought-resisting plants are those which most of us are familiar, and associate with the Southwest desert regions. Cactus are probably the largest of this group. All are leafless. Their green trunks indicate that photosynthesis takes place in stems and branches, furnishing food in the absence of leaves. Spongy tissues in their jointed branches and trunks store moisture for future use. Root systems are shallow, hardly extending more than three or four feet from the base.

Mesquites, palo verde, ironwood, and acacia also fall in the drought-resisting group in their effort to sidestep the vicissitudes of the parched months. When dry weather appears, they secrete almost invisible wax-like substances with which they coat their minute leaves and small foodproducing branches. This keeps hot air from evaporating their precious water supply. All leaves drop except for the very minimum needed to maintain life.

Root systems of these small trees are not unlike the iceberg, the bulk of which lies four-fifths unseen beneath the surface. Exploring all adjacent soil depths, their tremendously long roots extract every drop of of water from the ground in their search for the substance of life. Washes and waterways are predominantly their habitates.

Coupled with this general three-way fight for survival are the timing of the rains. Generally, Arizona has two types of rainfall patterns, the winter rains which originate off the Pacific Coast and slowly travel inland across Central Arizona, and the summer rains, a monsoon type weather stemming from the Gulf of Mexico. In years of abundant rainfall, these two general storm systems supply our desert with the needed all-sustaining tide of life.

Moisture conditions in arid regions are probably more important than temperature. It depends not only on inches of rainfall, in which altitude is a controlling element, but on the all important time of arrival, which dictates how well these plants will grow. Slow or hard precipitation, evaporation, drainage, and storage follow in importance.

In Central Arizona during the winter, when most of the wet weather occurs, rains exert a powerful influence on all flora. Vegetative cover, exposure, soil, and drainage, or combinations of these, are lesser factors which only modify the moisture condition.

Variance of temperature and moisture, linked with physical characteristics of the terrain, are chief causes which isolate areas where each particular plant species thrive. Thus produced, are the vast displays of color, which when once witnessed are not soon forgotten.

The first of February unveils the bright yellow, though small blossom of the Creosote bush (Larrea divaricata). First blooming in the western part of Arizona, its pageant of color travels eastward with the increasing altitude, then finally disappears along foothills near the New Mexican border.

Observing this march of color from the lower to higher altitudes is an extremely fascinating process. Occasionally "leap-frogging" hills and valleys, the chromatic tide finally spends itself, lingering on the highest plateaus of the State until frost.

Every one hundred feet of elevation is comparable to traveling sixty miles toward the North Pole, hence high altitudes always produce flowers of the same species later in the season, and also flora of colder regions.

Wild Flower Photography . . . continued

This hazard, large cardboard sheets may have to be erected to deflect the wind.

Color harmony is another important factor. The photographer, when taking a certain colored flower, should visualize how the subject will look with its given background. If background and subject are not compatible colorwise, it is better to look for another specimen. When and when not to make use of the "depth of field" of the camera lens is another problem which is closely linked to the previously mentioned factors.

For this reason, it is possible for visitors and those interested in photographing and studying our wildflowers to make quite a research project out of it by following the season "vertically."

A short trip from Phoenix over the Apache Trail takes in both Lower and Upper Sonoran life Zones, revealing species of each clime. During a month's span, flower specimens will range in this area from those ready to seed on the desert floor, to those of the same species ready to bud situated in the higher canyons.

Skirting the Superstition Mountains, the Trail leads a circuitous and winding route, enabling anyone to get an excellent view of wayside flora.

From a distance, great balls of yellow seem to have been suddenly frozen still against the rocky hillsides. A close examination reveals they are the round shaped brittlebushes (Encelia farinosa). Their very resolute hold on life make them flambouyant splotches of color. Indians once used their resinous gum for incense.

Adding a complimentary lemon yellow color, sprinkled along the road, are the desert marigolds (Baileya multiradiata). A composite, these specimens prefer welldrained soils, often growing in gravel. Their blooms probably last longer than any other desert flower. With the slightest encouragement they will continue to produce bits of color into early summer.

Sprawling along wash bottoms, trailing in all directions, are the sand verbenas (Abronia villosa). Actually related more closely to the four-o-clocks, they literally fashion solid carpets of purple, sometimes acres in circumference. Displays of this plant are quite common sights on the sandy bottom of the Salt River almost in the heart of Phoenix.

Probably the most spectacular Arizona wildflower is the Mariposa lily (Calochortus kennedyi). Three redorange petals form a delicately shaped chalice, creating such an exquisite form that it stands apart from all other flowers. Its nucellus of life springs from a bulb buried eight to ten inches deep.

Between Superior and Winkleman, fields of violet gilia (Gilia filifolia) seem to cover the landscape with a bluish haze. Flowers hardly more than a quarter of inch across constitute the whole effect.

Pentstemons, (Pentstemon pseudospectabilis) those hardy dwellers of crags and rocky prominences, can be found throughout the desert and into the pines of the high plateaus. Their long spikes of ruby colored tubular flowers are favorites of hummingbirds.

Growing from three to four inches to five or more feet in height, the globe mallow (Sphaeralcea) is a common flower found in deserts and in mountains. Its orange blossoms solidly cover acres of ground. Related to the common garden hollyhock, the flowers clothe long graceful stalks in much the same manner. Areas of Paradise Valley, northeast of Phoenix, are at times completely covered with this flower.

Pinnacle Peak, northwest of the McDowell Mountains, favors growth of the minute goldfields (Baeria chrysostoma). As the name implies, they literally carpet the ground with solid sheets of brilliant yellow. Again, the flower itself is scarcely more than a quarter of an inch in diameter. Their numbers make up for their tiny size.

One of the gayest color parades found are the fields of California poppies (Eschscholtzia mexicana). The tenacity for life which these flowers exhibit is amazing. In a dry spring, only one flower may develop on each plant, and it may be only a fraction of an inch in diameter. But when the rains fall at the right times, there will be dozens of blooms on each specimen. Their best show may be seen on the slopes of Picacho Peak, halfway between Tucson and Phoenix in March.

The hardy blue bonnets or lupine (Lupinus sparsiflorus), long famed in story and song, grace many of the roadsides near Phoenix. Areas around Cave Creek and Seven Springs, as well as the Apache Trail, offer many opportunities to examine stands of blooms. The word "lupine" is derived from Latin meaning wolf. It was once thought that these plants robbed the soil of its fertility. Actually, they improve conditions by depositing nitrogen, as many plants of the pea family do.

A notable flower species to look for in the desert as well as in the higher altitudes is the brilliant Indian Paintbrush (Scrophulariaceae Castilleja). Actually, their flowers are inconspicuous in themselves, yellow-green in color and only of an inch in diameter. But every flower is surrounded by petal-like vermillion leaf bracts, with the result that each plant creates a beautiful spray of crimson wands. For centuries, the paintbrush has been used by the Hopis for medicinal purposes. Zui Indians crushed the root for dyes in their leather work.

Though hardly in a wildflower classification, the palo verde tree (Cercidium microphyllum) as well as other bizarre growths of the desert deserve comment because of their unique blooms.

In all cases, their striking show of color is the culmination of the plant's careful conservation of moisture throughout the whole year.

Following along banks of washes, the blossoming palo verde trees present a chain of meandering color. When each wavering, golden line along the watercourse meets its fellows, a veinous system of vivid yellow is portrayed against a background of tawny colored rocks.

Meaning "green stick" in Spanish, palo verde trees are more or less leafless depending upon the season. During the blooming period, in April and early May, a myriad of insects are attracted by its nectar. Large black bumblebees are particularly conspicuous when working the bright flowers. Palo verdes rarely exceed 25 feet in height.

The Methuselah of the desert, which in February creates one of the most fragrant blooms, is the awkward and ancient Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia). Found usually in the Mohave Desert and in the Sonoran Desert between Kingman and Congress Junction, Arizona, it is the oldest living thing found in the Southwest deserts. Whitish blossoms grow in clusters, each mass being about the shape of a large pineapple. Flowers resemble the yucca to which the Joshua tree is related.

Their fragrance is outstanding. The heavy scent floats close to the ground to greet the traveler a mile or more away from the forest. Unlike other yuccas, Joshua trees develop a definite trunk and branch system, forming a crown much like the shape of any other small deciduous tree.

The ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) is a common plant, though probably one of the queerest of all desert flora. Restricted to arid regions below 5,000 feet, it superficially resembles a cactus. It is, however, more closely related to the tamarix. Ruby flowers are found at the ends of long, slim basal stems, sometimes ten or more feet in height. These dense flower clusters create an illusion of flame leaping from supple torches.

The slender stems are usually leafless and covered with a multitude of stout spines. The plant's interesting feature is the rapidity in which new leaves sprout after a shower has occurred. As many as four or five sets of new, bright green leaves may appear within a year. Each rejuvenation is followed by defoliation.

No less astounding than the ornately formed and vividly hued flowers are their methods of reproduction. With the evolutionary advent of encasing the seed in a pod or fruit, whole and new vistas were opened for the spreading of flower species.

For instance, flower producing berries conspire with birds to spread their kind.

Rodents carry away nuts containing embryonic bits of life which later spring forth from forgotten hoards.

Other mammals devour pods. Later freed, the seed may be miles from its source.

Some plants provide private sail planes for each seed so that they may be carried by the wind to a distant arbor.

Others equip the seed case with barbs in order to hook into anything that might brush against the plant.

A few ingenious plants manipulate tiny catapults to scatter their seed when the pods are touched.

Indeed, our flowering world, and especially those hardy specimens which have decided to live upon the desert, are fascinating subjects to study. With 3,200 plant species found in Arizona, and at least one-half of this number producing some sort of flower, there is ample opportunity to get acquainted.