1 - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

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Castilleja
take us into upland brushy areas of
rocky desert terrain, we often are delightfully
startled by flashes of brilliant
red along the way. The Indian
paintbrush (Castilleja) has come into
flower and for many days will lend
its cheerful touch of color. However,
it is not the flowers that are red, but
the incised floral bracts or modified
leaves at the bases of the rather small
yellow or purple-lipped flowers.
The stems of paintbrushes are found
near to or mingled with the branches
of low shrubs. This is because they
not only need protection of the stiff
twiggy branches, but also because they
spring directly upward from the roots
of the shrubs which they parasitize.
From the host's roots they take only
water and minerals. Actually, they are
only semi-parasites since they manufacture,
with the aid of the chlorophyll
in their stems and leaves, most of the
sugars they need.
There are many kinds of paintbrushes
and almost all are showy.
They are browsed both by cattle and
sheep. One species, Castilleja chromosa,
is said to be deleterious because
it takes up considerable amounts of
poisonous selenium from the soil. The
Hopi Indians eat the flowers of one of
the mountain species and they also use
the plant in ceremonial rites. Most of
the paintbrushes are herbaceous peren-
Pilostyles. A: enlarged male flower;
B: female flower.
nials. The generic name Castilleja
honors the Spanish botanist, D. Castilleja.
Mistletoes, especially certain kinds
with leaves reduced to mere scales, are
among the stranger parasitic plants of
our deserts. The California mistletoe,
Phoradendron caliform'ca, with its reddish
leafless often pendulous stems and
coral-pink to white berries, is confined
mostly to leguminous trees such as
honey mesquite, screwbean, catsclaw,
ironwood and palo verde. Occasionally
it is found on the branches of creosote
and ocotillo. The infestations in
honey mesquite and ironwood are
often so severe that the trees eventually
are killed. In ironwood trees the
mistletoes often cause the formation of
huge spindle-shaped tumors weighing
many pounds, even up to a hundred
or more. The fusiform swellings are
especially noticeable when the limbs
become devoid of leaves, their vitality
having been sapped by the parasite.
In the desert mountains another
mistletoe, Phoradendron densum,
forms compact ball-like clusters in
scrub junipers. It is a handsome species
with elongate green leaves and is
confined to California and Oregon. In
Arizona, west Texas and Sonora, a
mistletoe, Phoradendron macrophyllum,
with well-developed large green
leaf blades, grows in great masses on
the smaller limbs of Fremont's cottonwood.
Having green leaves it can
make some of its food, supplementing
its diet by taking water and minerals
from the trees on which it grows.
Some good must be said of mistletoes.
They supply food and drink to
several desert birds, among them the
aristocratic phainopepla and handsome
Gambel quail. In many of the desert
places this may be the only source of
water and much of the food these birds
Ammobroma
get in summer, autumn and early winter.
The birds return the favor by
distributing the mistletoe seeds.
WRITE TO WINSLOW C OF C
FOR SNAKE DANCE DATES
This year's Hopi Snake Dances will
be held at Walpi on the First Mesa and
Mishongnovi, Second Mesa.
Exact dates for the dances, usually
held in late August, will be set by the
Hopis 16 days prior to the event.
Desert readers who would like to be
notified by mail of these dates can
write to the Winslow Chamber of Commerce,
Winslow, Arizona, which will
forward this information as soon as it
is released by the tribal leaders.
Auto caravans will leave the chamber
office at 9 a.m. each morning of
the dance and chartered bus trips are
being arranged at a round-trip cost
of $5 per passenger. Bus and motor
caravans will return to Winslow immediately
following the dances and
are expected to be back at that city
at 7 p.m.
Photographing the ceremonials is
not permitted, but many camera subjects
await the visitors enroute to the
dances. A box lunch, hat and a pillow
to sit on are suggested items to take
on the trip.
AUGUST, 1957 29