76. Owl-clover
Reading edition
Owl-clover is one of the short-stemmed desert spring annuals which, in favorable seasons, carpet the desert floor with a beautiful, colorful mass display. Sometimes growing in pure stands, at others mixed with goldpoppies, lupines, or other spring flowers, it is found throughout southern Arizona, southern California, and Baja California, at elevations between 1,500 and 4,500 feet, blossoming from March to May. Cattle and sheep graze it extensively. The Spanish name escobita means “little broom.” Individual flowers are not conspicuous, but their clusters intermixed with the colorful bracts produce a pretty, feathery effect.
Orthocarpus purpurascens Figwort Family
OWL-CLOVER
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