Among the largest of the grasses, the Common Reed and its close relative Giantreed (_Arundo donax_) with their jointed stems resembling Bamboo, are coarse perennials with broad, flat, grass-like leaves found in marshes and stock tanks, along irrigation canals, and on river banks throughout the desert country of the Southwest. Common Reed is found throughout the world where conditions are suitable. The flower stalks are long, tassel-like, and at the ends of the stems. In Arizona and New Mexico, Common Reed is called _Carrizo_. The hollow stems were used by the Indians for making arrow shafts, prayer sticks, pipe stems, and loom rods. Mats, screens, nets, and cordage, as well as thatching, are made from the leaves. The plants are useful as windbreaks and in controlling soil erosion along streams. CREAM [Illustration: Baccharis glutinosa] Common Names: SEEPWILLOW, WATERMOTIE, WATERWALLY, WATERWILLOW, BROOM BACCHARIS, ROSINBUSH, (_HIERBA-DEL-PASMO_) Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Baccharis glutinosa_). Creamy. March-December. California desert: (_Baccharis sarathroides_). Yellow-white. September-February. Sunflower family. Size: Up to 7 feet tall. Genus _Baccharis_ is composed, in the desert, of coarse shrubs with a number of common species. The flowers themselves are not beautiful, but the female plants with their flower heads that develop glaring-white pappus hairs, are spectacular and quite attractive. _B. glutinosa_ is a common shrub along watercourses, often forming dense thickets. The straight stems are used in native houses as matting across ceiling timbers to support the mud roof. _B. sarathroides_ and several other species are often referred to as the Desert Brooms. They are common along desert washes and roadsides in sandy soil, their pale yellow, bristly flower heads, during the fall and winter months, appearing in sharp contrast to the vivid green branchlets and dark stems of the bushes. Among some Indians, the stems are chewed as a toothache remedy. CREAM [Illustration: Plantago purshi] Common Names: PLANTAIN, WOOLLY-PLANTAIN Arizona desert: (_Plantago purshi_). Buff. February-July. California desert: (_Plantago insularis_). Straw. January-May. Texas-New Mexico desert: (_Plantago argyraea_). Straw. June-August. Plantain family. Size: A few inches to 2 feet tall. Plantains are not noted for the beauty of their blossoms but the larger, coarser species are sufficiently noticeable to attract attention, both in their blossoming and fruiting stages. The smaller winter annuals known as Indianwheat carpet the desert floor, in January and February, in some places, producing a straw-colored “pile” of tiny blossom spikes. CREAM