The pendant clusters of golden blossoms are particularly noticeable because of their delightful fragrance, and the small purple berries are juicy and of pleasant flavor. They make excellent jelly and are readily eaten by birds and some of the small mammals. Due to the holly-like leaves and the fragrant blossoms and fruits, the plants would make attractive ornamentals for landscape and decorative plantings were it not for the fact that they are secondary hosts for the black stem rust of the cereals, hence cannot be used in communities where grains are grown. Indians use the root as a tonic, and obtain from it a brilliant yellow dye. Some botanists prefer to use the generic name _Mahonia_ or _Odostemon_ for this group of plants. YELLOW [Illustration: Lesquerella gordoni] Common names: BLADDERPOD, BEAD-POD Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Lesquerella gordoni_). Yellow. February-May. California desert: (_Lesquerella palmeri_). Yellow. March-May. Mustard family. Size: 6 to 8 inches high. Extensive sections of the desert are gilded in springtime with this low-growing annual herb which is one of the earliest of the desert flowers. Following moist winters, it covers dry mesas and plains below 4,000 feet from Oklahoma west to Utah, and southward into northern Mexico. After the seed pods have matured, the plant is reported to furnish valuable forage for range stock. YELLOW [Illustration: Cucurbita digitata Cucurbita foetidissima] Common names: BUFFALO-GOURD, COYOTE-MELON, (_CALABAZILLA_), (_CHILI COYOTE_) Arizona desert: (_Cucurbita digitata_). Yellow. June-October. California desert: (_Cucurbita palmata_). Yellow. July-September. Texas desert: (_Cucurbita foetidissima_). Yellow. May-August. Gourd family. Size: Trailing perennial with stems 4 to 15 feet long. Gourds are conspicuous, trailing, rank-growing plants common along roadsides and in the open desert. Leaves are grayish-green, and blossoms yellow and trumpet-shaped. The striped fruits are about the size and shape of a tennis ball, although some are egg-shaped. The fruits which are very conspicuous after the vines and leaves have been winter-killed, are sometimes collected, painted in gay colors, and used as ornaments about the house. Although Indians considered the fruits as inferior and suitable only for coyotes, they ate them either cooked or dried, and made the seeds into a mush. Pioneers used the crushed roots of these plants as a cleansing agent in washing clothes. YELLOW [Illustration: Amsinckia tessellata]