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.
Ironwood trees grow along desert washes, often in company with Mesquite and Paloverde. Blossoms are much more numerous in some years than in others. Although the trees, when in bloom, make a spectacular showing, they are very difficult to capture on color film, and photographs that do them justice are rare. Seeds, which mature late in the summer, are roasted and eaten by desert Indians who prize them for their peanut-like flavor. They are eaten also by various desert animals.
In Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and in some other parts of the desert, Ironwood trees have become heavily infested with Mistletoe which stunts or kills the branches and produces grotesque, tumor-like swellings.
[Illustration: Aster tephrodes Aster abatus]
Common names: ASTER, DESERT ASTER, MOHAVE-ASTER, TANSY ASTER Arizona desert: (_Aster tephrodes_). Amethyst blue. April-October. California desert: (_Aster abatus_). Violet to lavender. March-May. Texas desert: (_Aster tanacetifolius_). Bright violet. June-October. Sunflower family. Size: Few inches to 2½ feet tall.
Since the Aster is one of the most widespread and best-known of the flowers, it is usually easily recognized. There are many species, principally perennials, ranging from low-growing, single-stemmed plants, sprawling, many-stemmed plants with large flowers, to tall bushes. Desert species are found on dry, rocky hillsides and along roadsides and on waste ground.
[Illustration: Aster tanacetifolius leaf shapes]
The Aster is by no means restricted to the desert. Over much of the United States they are considered as fall bloomers, but many species blossom in the spring while others are at their floral best in midsummer.