Common names: LUPINE, BLUEBONNET Arizona desert: (_Lupinus sparsiflorus_). Violet-purple. January-May. California desert: (_Lupinus odoratus_). Royal purple. April-May. Texas desert: (_Lupinus havardi_). Blue-purple. March-April. Pea family. Size: Bushy, and up to 2 or 2½ feet tall. Lupines are among the old dependables of spring display flowers of the desert, usually mingling with other blossoming herbs to create the bright color pattern for which the desert is famous in early spring, but occasionally growing in pure stands. Ranging in color from pale pink to deep purple, the Lupines are usually considered as blue flowers. The name “Lupine” comes from the Latin word meaning wolf and was applied to these plants because they were believed to rob the soil of its fertility. Actually, they prefer the poorer, sandy soils and, by fixing in the soil nitrogen that they, in common with other plants of the pea family, are able to obtain from the air, they actually improve the land on which they grow. Perhaps the best known display of Lupines takes place each spring in Texas. Here the “Bluebonnet” (_L. texensis_ and _L. subcarnosus_) has been named the state flower of Texas, and the annual spring display attracts thousands of people to the areas of heavy bloom. The majority of Lupines have handsome flowers, some species are fragrant, and several species are cultivated as ornamentals. The seeds of a few species contain alkaloids which are poisonous to livestock, especially sheep. PURPLE [Illustration: Orobanche ludoviciana] Common names: BROOMRAPE, BURROWED STRANGLER, CANCER-ROOT Arizona, California, and Texas deserts: (_Orobanche ludoviciana_). Brownish-purple. March-July. Broomrape family. Size: 4 to 15 inches tall. This root parasite, although not common, is sufficiently strange and striking in appearance to arrest attention. Its purple to yellowish-brown, leafless flower stalks somewhat resembling coarse shoots of asparagus rise above the desert soil, usually in open, sandy locations. Broomrape, of which there are several species, is found throughout the Southwest from southern Utah and Nevada to Texas, California, and Mexico. The plant is parasitic on the roots of a number of different plants, but the desert species usually parasitize Burrobush, Bur-sage, and other composites. Flowers are small, purple with brown and white markings, and monopolize the plant stalk in the absence of foliage. Underground parts of the plant were eaten by Southwestern Indians. The name “Cancer-root” refers to the reported efficacy of treatment in applying the stems of the plant to ulcers. PURPLE [Illustration: Astragalus mollissimus]