The Prickly Poppy

This wildflower is appropriately named. Prickly Poppy / Argemone Corymbosa. They grow by the roadside at an elevation of about 3500 feet. The petals are a beautiful white with thorns and look like crepe. The thorny stems are 16 inches to 32 inches tall. Native Americans made salve from the leaves for burns, open wounds and head lice. My information is from Mojave Desert. I took the pictures below on a roadside near us.

Prickly Poppy

 

Prickly Poppy

The brush and grasses are so dry now they are brittle. This is going to be a busy fire season. We had a nice showing of the desert marigold in our yard. With the weather changes in this area there is an abundance of grass crowding out some of the wildflowers. The Joshua trees are doing great. They are filled with cactus wren nests. The cactus wren is our state bird. The doves prefer our out buildings. A Gila Monster was spotted nearby. Some fool picked it up and was showing it around. They are extremely poisonous. And I believe they are protected. When they bite they don`t let go, chewing to release the poison in their aggressor. The Gila Monster is not aggressive. Not the ones I`ve encountered anyway.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you have splendid weekend!
Cathy