PURPLE [Illustration: Dichelostemma pulchellum] Common names: DESERT-HYACINTH, PAPAGOLILY, BLUEDICKS, COVENA, GRASSNUTS Arizona and California deserts: (_Dichelostemma pulchellum_). Light blue. February-May. Lily family. Size: About 1 foot high. Very common and abundant in early spring, the pale blue to violet flowers of this small, delicate perennial Lily are conspicuous on open slopes and mesas. Found below 5,000 feet from southwestern New Mexico to California and northward to Oregon, they are widely scattered over the desert areas of the Southwest. Pima and Papago Indians ate the small bulbs, as also did the early white settlers who named them Grassnuts. BLUE [Illustration: Evolvulus arizonicus] Common name: WILD-MORNINGGLORY Arizona desert: (_Evolvulus arizonicus_). Sky blue. April-October. Texas desert: (_Evolvulus alsinoides_). Azure blue. April-September. Convolvulus family. Size: Spreading perennial herbs up to 2 feet. Although _E. arizonicus_ is considered one of the desert’s most beautiful wildflowers, members of the genus are by no means limited to the desert. They are found in sunny locations on desert grasslands, open plains and dry mesas below 5,000 feet from the Dakotas and Montana to Argentina. The flowers, although rarely more than ½ inch in diameter, are bright azure or sky blue, and seem large in comparison with the small leaves and weak, spreading stems of the plant that bears them. Although the genus _Ipomoea_ is the true Morningglory, blossoms of _Evolvus_ are similar in appearance, although flattened, hence are sometimes called Wild-morningglory. BLUE [Illustration: Salvia carnosa Salvia columbariae] Common names: CHIA, SAGE, DESERT-SAGE Arizona desert: (_Salvia carnosa_). Sky-blue. Spring. California desert: (_Salvia columbariae_). Blue. March-April. Texas desert: (_Salvia arizonica_). Indigo blue. July-September. Mint family. Size: Herbs and shrubs up to 3 feet high. The word “Sage” is derived from the idea that these plants had the power to make a person wise or sage. Please do not confuse the Desert-sage with Sagebrush (_Artemisia_) which does not grow in low-elevation deserts but which, due to popular writings and “western” movies, is associated in the public mind with any brushy plant found in the west. Seeds of the Chia at one time formed a staple article of diet among southwestern Indians, and are still used by natives in Mexico for food and for making mucilaginous poultices. The flowers of several species of Chia are very ornamental and the plants are quite common, usually in sandy soil. BLUE