So sensitive is this plant to moisture, that it may burst into blossom within a few hours after a soaking rain, this phenomenon giving rise to the local belief that the plant actually blossoms before the rain, thereby forecasting precipitation; hence the name “Barometerbush.” During recent years, Ceniza has become one of the popular native shrubs used in landscaping. Under normal conditions, plants blossom in September. VIOLET [Illustration: Erodium texanum Erodium cicutarium] Common names: FILEREE OR FILAREE, HERONBILL, (_ALFILERIA_) Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Erodium texanum_). Pink-violet. February-March. California desert. (_Erodium cicutarium_). Rose-violet. February-March. Geranium family. Size: 3 to 12 inches high. Believed to have been introduced from the Mediterranean countries at an early date by the Spaniards, _Alfileria_ is now widespread and extensively naturalized throughout the Southwest. In the desert, it is one of the common winter annuals and furnishes excellent spring forage especially following moist winters. The plants remain green for only a few weeks, but are good forage even after the stems have dried. Although the blossoms are not large nor sufficiently numerous to make a colorful display, they are attractive and welcome, as they are among the first spring flowers to put in an appearance. “Tails” of the fruits are long and slender, somewhat resembling a Heron’s bill, and upon maturity twist into a tight spiral when dry. Upon becoming moist, they uncoil, driving the sharp-tipped seeds into the soil. Seeds are gathered and stored by Ants which discard the husks and coiled “tails” outside their nests, thus building up a circular band of chaff around the Ant-hill. VIOLET [Illustration: Olneya tesota] Common names: IRONWOOD, DESERT-IRONWOOD, TESOTA, (_PALO-DE-HIERRO_) Arizona and California deserts: (_Olneya tesota_). Violet-purple. May-June. Pea family. Size: Wide-crowned tree up to 35 feet. Ironwood is one of the desert’s most beautiful trees, being particularly colorful when the new, dark-green leaves and violet, wisteria-like flowers give it a lavender glow in late May or early June. Since the tree survives only in warm locations, it has for years served as a guide to citrus growers in selecting sites for orange, lemon, or grapefruit plantings. Foliage of the Ironwood is dense and evergreen, and the wood is very heavy and so hard that it cannot be worked with ordinary tools. When thoroughly dry, it makes high-quality firewood, and as a result it has been cut and removed over much of the desert, hence mature trees are becoming relatively scarce. Indians used the wood for arrow points and as tool handles.