All posts by T. Beth Kinsey

Allionia choisyi – Annual Windmills

Allionia choisyi - Annual Windmills

Allionia choisyi - Annual Windmills

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Allionia choisyi

Common Name: Annual Windmills

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual, Perennial (in Mexico)

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, Upland. This wildflower grows in dry, sunny, open areas.

Flower Color: Pale pink to magenta, Pinkish white

Flowering Season: Late spring, Summer, Early fall

Height: Trailing up to 28 inches (0.7 m) long

Description: Each small, ruffled, funnel-shaped flower is actually a cluster of 3 bilaterally symmetric flowers. The flowers are followed by fruit with a shallowly convex stem end and 4 to 8 teeth on each lateral rib. The leaves are green, in pairs of unequal size, progressively smaller and narrower toward the stem tips, egg-shaped, wavy-edged, sticky-haired to almost hairless, and petioled with a petiole that's equal in length or shorter than the blade. The stems are plump, trailing, sticky-haired to almost hairless, and usually reddish in color. The plants with sticky, glandular hairs are often covered with dirt and plant debris.

The similar and much more common Trailing Windmills (Allionia incarnata) has much larger, often more intensely colored flowers and fruit with a deeply convex stem end and 0 to 4 teeth on each lateral rib.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Caryophyllidae
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Nyctaginaceae – Four o'clock family
Genus: Allionia L. – windmills
Species: Allionia choisyi Standl. – annual windmills

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map

Polygala alba – White Milkwort

Polygala alba - White Milkwort

Polygala alba - White Milkwort (stem leaves)

Polygala alba - White Milkwort (lower leaves)

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Polygala alba

Common Name: White Milkwort

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Upland. This wildflower grows in dry, sunny, open, grassy areas and along roadsides in oak-pinyon-juniper woodlands.

Flower Color: White to pinkish or purplish

Flowering Season: Late spring, Summer

Height: Up to 16 inches (41 cm) tall

Description: The small flowers are in long, slender, tapering, dense, spike-like racemes at the stem tips. The individual flowers have an often purplish, fringed, crested keel and 2 white, petal-like, egg-shaped lateral sepals with greenish or purplish central veins. The flowers are followed by non-winged seed capsules. The leaves are green, hairless, narrowly linear in shape, alternate on the stems, and in whorls near the base of the plant. The stems are long, erect, slender, wiry, hairless, and sparsely leafed. The plants do not produce milky sap.

The similar Winged Milkwort (Polygala hemipterocarpa) has more sparsely flowered inflorescences, winged seed capsules, and leaves that are all alternate (not whorled at the base of the plant). Broom Milkwort (Polygala scoparioides) is a broom-like plant with single-winged seed capsules and scattered leaves that are all alternate.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Polygalales
Family: Polygalaceae – Milkwort family
Genus: Polygala L. – polygala
Species: Polygala alba Nutt. – white milkwort

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map

Castilleja integra – Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja integra - Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush, Squawfeather

Castilleja integra - Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush, Squawfeather

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Castilleja integra

Common Names: Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush, Squawfeather

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb, Hemiparasite

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Upland, Mountain. This wildflower grows in oak and pine woodlands in the mountains at elevations from 3000 to 7500 feet (900 to 2300 m).

Flower Color: Scarlet red, Orange, Yellow (rare)

Flowering Season: Spring, Summer

Height: Up to 16 inches (41 cm) tall

Description: The mostly green, exserted, beak-like floral tubes are surrounded by hairy, red, orange, or yellow, petal-like bracts that are either entire (not toothed or lobed) or shallowly cleft at the tip with erect, pointed teeth. The flowers are followed by egg-shaped seed capsules. The leaves are green and hairless or almost hairless above, paler green and densely covered with woolly, matted hairs below, alternate, simple (undivided), entire, and linear in shape with curled-up margins. The usually multiple stems are stout, often woody at the base, and covered with appressed, matted, woolly, grayish white hairs. The plants are partial root parasites of nearby plants.

The similar Rincon Mountain Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja austromontana), Wyoming Indian Paintbrush (C. linariifolia), Lesser Indian Paintbrush (C. minor), Trans-Pecos Indian Paintbrush (C. nervata), Huachuca Mountain Indian Paintbrush (C. patriotica), and Santa Catalina Indian Paintbrush (C. tenuiflora) do not have stems covered with white-woolly, appressed, matted hairs. Sierra Woolly Indian Paintbrush (C. lanata) does also have woolly stems, but its leaves are hairy both above and below and its upper leaves and floral bracts are deeply cleft.

Special Characteristics

Hummingbird Flower – The flowers attract hummingbirds.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Scrophulariaceae – Figwort family
Genus: Castilleja Mutis ex L. f. – Indian paintbrush
Species: Castilleja integra A. Gray – wholeleaf Indian paintbrush

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map

Castilleja tenuiflora – Santa Catalina Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja tenuiflora - Santa Catalina Indian Paintbrush, Catalina Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja tenuiflora - Santa Catalina Indian Paintbrush, Catalina Indian Paintbrush

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Castilleja tenuiflora

Synonyms: Castilleja laxa, C. canescens

Common Names: Santa Catalina Indian Paintbrush, Catalina Indian Paintbrush

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb, Hemiparasite

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Upland. This wildflower grows in rocky areas in pine-oak woodlands, grasslands, chaparral, and mountain canyons from 4000 to 6000 feet (1200 to 1800 m) in elevation.

Flower Color: Red, Orange

Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall

Height: Up to 40 inches (1 m) tall, but usually less

Description: The floral tubes are beak-like, mostly yellow or greenish in color, enclosed by hairy, red or orange, entire (unlobed and untoothed), lance-shaped, petal-like floral bracts, and well-exserted from the much shorter bracts. The flowers are followed by egg-shaped seed capsules. The leaves are green, sessile, alternate, hairy above and below, thin and lax (not rigid), spreading to semi-reflexed on the stems, all simple (undivided), all entire, and linear-lanceolate in shape. The stems are erect, much-branched, and covered with long, straight, stiff, unmatted hairs. The plants are partial root parasites of nearby plants.

The similar Sierra Woolly Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja lanata), Wyoming Indian Paintbrush (C. linariifolia), and Huachuca Mountain Indian Paintbrush (C. patriotica) have toothed or lobed floral bracts and/or upper leaves. Rincon Mountain Indian Paintbrush (C. austromontana) has leaves that are hairless above. Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush (C. integra) has stems covered with woolly, appressed, matted hairs and leaves that are almost hairless above. Lesser Indian Paintbrush (C. minor) has less showy flowers with very narrow, linear bracts. Trans-Pecos Indian Paintbrush (C. nervata) has thick, rigid leaves and non-exserted floral tubes.

Special Characteristics

Hummingbird Flower – The flowers attract hummingbirds.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Scrophulariaceae – Figwort family
Genus: Castilleja Mutis ex L. f. – Indian paintbrush
Species: Castilleja tenuiflora Benth. – Santa Catalina Indian paintbrush

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map

Castilleja austromontana – Rincon Mountain Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja austromontana - Rincon Mountain Indian Paintbrush, Rincon Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja austromontana - Rincon Mountain Indian Paintbrush, Rincon Indian Paintbrush

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Castilleja austromontana

Common Names: Rincon Mountain Indian Paintbrush, Rincon Indian Paintbrush

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb, Hemiparasite

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Mountain

Flower Color: Coral-red

Flowering Season: Summer

Height: Around 18 inches (45 cm) tall

Description: The beak-like flowers are surrounded by petal-like, red-tipped, somewhat egg-shaped floral bracts with broad, rounded tips that are either entire (unlobed) or very shallowly cleft near the tip to create 2 small, narrow side lobes. The flowers are followed by egg-shaped seed capsules. The leaves have 3 main lengthwise veins and are green, hairless above, covered with long, soft, spreading, unmatted hairs below, alternate, sessile, simple (undivided), linear to lanceolate in shape, and entire (not lobed). The uppermost leaves intergrade with the red floral bracts and these leaf-bracts can have two small, shallow side lobes. The stems are green, upright, and covered with long, fine hairs that are not matted, flattened, woolly, or grayish in color. These plants are partial root parasites of nearby plants.

Unlike this plant, the similarly red-flowered Sierra Woolly Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja lanata), Wyoming Indian Paintbrush (C. linariifolia), and Huachuca Mountain Indian Paintbrush (C. patriotica) have deeply cleft upper leaves and/or deeply cleft floral bracts. Lesser Indian Paintbrush (C. minor) has flowers with very narrow, linear bracts. Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush (C. integra) has stems covered with appressed, grayish white, woolly hair. Trans-Pecos Indian Paintbrush (C. nervata) and Santa Catalina Indian Paintbrush (C. tenuiflora) have leaves that are hairy above.

Special Characteristics

Hummingbird Flower – The flowers attract hummingbirds.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Scrophulariaceae – Figwort family
Genus: Castilleja Mutis ex L. f. – Indian paintbrush
Species: Castilleja austromontana Standl. & Blumer – Rincon Mountain Indian paintbrush

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map

Parthenium incanum – Mariola

Parthenium incanum - Mariola (flowers)

Parthenium incanum - Mariola

Parthenium incanum - Mariola (leaves)

Parthenium incanum - Mariola

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Parthenium incanum

Common Name: Mariola

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Shrub

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, Upland. Mariola prefers caliche soil and grows in dry, sunny, open areas in upper elevation deserts and in desert grasslands. Although it is most typical of the Chihuahuan Desert, this plant can also be found in some parts of the Sonoran Desert.

Flower Color: Creamy white to yellowish cream

Flowering Season: Summer, Fall

Height: Up to 40 inches (1 m) tall, but usually less

Description: The small flower heads are in compact, flat-topped clusters at the stem tips and have 5 oval, deeply notched, white rays and cream-colored central disks. The leaves are small, green, alternate, gland-dotted, covered with a mat of flattened, woolly, grayish white hairs, and usually pinnately lobed with an odd number of round-tipped lobes. The stems are well-branched from the base and the lower stems are woody.

The very similar Gray's Feverfew (Parthenium confertum) is only an herb or subshrub and does not have woody stems, woolly hairs on the leaves, or flowers with deeply notched rays.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae – Aster family
Genus: Parthenium L. – feverfew
Species: Parthenium incanum Kunth – mariola

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map