There is no getting around it, every summer monsoon when the borderlands come to life it is so exciting! Apodanthera undulata, the crazy melon, can be easily seen along the roads and out across the land during this season. The clusters of yellow flowers give it away quickly. Those yellow flowers close up pretty quickly later in the morning. You can see the spent and tired flowers in the photo below. And check out the crazy ribbed fruit with the “disagreeable odor” as noted in Arizona Flora. Hey, it’s melon loco in the Cucurbitaceae! Yay!

I do love wandering around little towns and Willcox is fun. And by the way, it was my friend and Willcox resident Steve Marlatt...
Jackass clover is Wislizenia refracta and the botanical name of clammy weed is Polanisia dodecandra. They are both in the Cleome family Cleomaceae. Many...
The Ol’ Guajolote came flowing out of the mountains down to the grassland and Petey found himself tumbling downstream with his dog Farley. A...