I've not seen any desert willow on the south side of the I-10 freeway off Hayfield Road, but there are quite a few of them in the wash around Corn Springs in the Chuckwalla Mountains.
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The desert willow, center front, near Corn Springs. |
It can be a shrub or a tree. Those that I saw
ten years ago on the north side of Hayfield Road were more like shrubs and had larger flowers. I saw flowers that were both white and lavender. In Corn Springs the desert willows are trees and have smaller flowers and the flowers are predominantly white.
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The flowers have two ruffled upper lobes and three yellow and magenta streaked lower lobes. |
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A male monarch butterfly on a desert willow flower. This particular tree was being swarmed by butterflies. |
Up close, this almost looks like a tropical flower. Crazy!
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