Desert Survivors Plant List

The following list was compiled by David Machledt, nursery staff. This list is still in the process of being edited to adjust some aspects of elevational ranges, cultural information, and local distribution. As we are always growing new species, this list is not everything that we are currently working on but gives a good idea of most of the species that we grow. An updated database will be posted here soon.

Scientific Name	Common Name	Hardi-ness	Water	Form	Size (hw)	Native range	Comments
Abutilon incanum	Indian Mallow		Low	Sh	6’ x 6’	2000-4000’	Full sun, butterfly host, semi-evergreen, white and pink blossoms
Abutilon palmeri	Palmer Mallow, Indian Mallow	To ground in mid 20s	Low	Sm Sh	3’ x 3’	w AZ, lower elev	Tough drought survivor, apricot blossoms
Achillea millefolia	Yarrow	hardy	Lowish	Sm sh	2’ x 2’	5000’+ in AZ and CA, otherwise widespread	Partial shade, full sun with more water. Spreads through runners, medicinal, white blossoms, tolerates various soils.
Acourtia wrightii	Brownfoot, Perezia	15 deg	Low	Sm Sh	4’ x 3’	NV, UT, AZ, NM, TX	Pink flowers attract butterflies, January to June, prefers wd soil, full sun or partial shade
*Acacia*	Nine species in AZ. Most diversity in Australia. Shrubs to small trees, low water, spring bloomers, good wildlife plants
Acacia angustissima	Prairie Acacia Whiteball Acacia	-10 deg	Medium	Sh	4’ x 4’	0 to 9000’, MO & TX through AZ, Mexico to Colombia	Full sun or aft shade, deciduous, generally thornless, wd soils preferred, white blossoms
Acacia belandieri	Guajillo	20 deg	Low	Lg Sh	10’ x 12’	w. TX, ne Mexico 1000-3000 ft	Well-drained soil, deciduous White blossoms, fragrant flowers
Acacia constricta	Whitethorn Acacia	5 deg	Low	Lg Sh, Sm Tr	10’ x 15’	1500-6500ft, AZ, w TX, n Mexico	Full sun, well-drained soil, caliche ok, white blossoms
Acacia farnesiana	Sweet Acacia	15 deg	Low	Lg Sh, Tr	15-20’	S CA, AZ, sw TX, FL, all Mexico, 2500-5000ft	Yellow fragrant blossoms, fast grower, full sun, prune at base for more tree-like form, tends toward shrubiness otherwise
Acacia greggii	Catclaw Acacia	To 0 deg	Low	Lg Sh, Sm Tr	10’x 15’	Below 5000ft, se CA, s NV, AZ, se UT, NM, w TX	Full sun, well-drained soil, moderate growth rate, prune to expose gnarly trunk if desired, shrubby plant
Acacia millefolia	Santa Rita Acacia	At least to 25 deg	Low	Lg Sh	12’ x 15’	Se AZ, Sonora, sinaloa Mexico 3500-5000 ft	Extra water increases flower production, attractive pods, creamy flowers.
Acacia neovernicosa	Viscid Acacia	0 deg	Low	Lg Sh, Sm Tr	10’ x 8’	Chihuahuan desert, se AZ, 3500-5000’	Yellow blossoms in spring, limestone slopes, full sun, wd soil, prune only dead branches, upright version of A. constricta
Acacia rigidula	Blackbrush Acacia	20 deg	Low	Lg Sh, Sm Tr	12’ x 12’	1100-1800ft. w TX, ne Mexico	On hillsides in wild, slow grower, train to tree form, many types of soil, full sun
Acacia roemeriana	Roemer’s Acacia	15 deg	Low	Lg Sh	8’ x 10’	1050-4600ft, s NM, w TX, ne Mexico	Full sun or light shade, suppl irrigation helps, well drained soils, nasty thorns
Acacia schaffneri	Twisted Acacia	17 deg	Low	Lg Sh, Sm Tr	15’ x 20’	n and central Mexico	Yellow flowers, sculptural, full sun, wd soil
Acacia willardiana	Palo blanco	mid 20s	Low	Sm Tr	20’ x 10’	Sonora, Mexico	Needs sheltered area, full sun, patios!
Acacia wrightii	Wright’s Acacia	At least 5 dg	Low	Lg Sh, Sm Tr	10’ x 10’	TX, n Mexico, Baja	Tolerates caliche, full sun, ouchy thorns
Agastache ruprestrus	Horse Mint	Cold hardy	Medium	Sm Sh	3’ x 3’	mid elev, Santa Rita	Good tea, wd soil
*Agave*	Higher elev agaves prefer afternoon shade in low desert. Blossom from ma few years to fifty years.
Agave americana	Maguey			Lg Su	6’ x 6’	Mexico
Agave bovicornuta	Cow Horn Agave Lechuguilla verde	20 deg	Low	Su	3’ x 3’	3000-6000’, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua	Requires wd soil, filtered sun or afternoon shade preferred at lower elev.
Agave colorata		hardy	Low	Su	3’ x 2’		Full sun or partial shade
Agave deserti s. deserti	Desert agave	low 20s	Low	Su	1.5’ x 2’	1300-4000ft, s CA, Baja	Yellow flowers, forms colonies to 10ft diamet
Agave lechuguilla	Lechuguilla	Cold hardy	Low	Su	2’ x 2’	Chihuahuan desert	Indicator plant of Chihuahuan desert, water from plant sold in Mex as sport drink, poisonous to livestock, used to make “clandestino” alcohol
Agave murpheyi	Murphy’s Agave Hohokam Agave	20s	Sorta low	Su	3’ x 4’	Phoenix area	A Native American cultivar, flowers in 10 yrs
Agave neomexicana	New Mexico agave	To 0 dg	Low o.e	Su	1.5’ x 2’	NM, 1400-7000’	Yellow flowers, limestone slopes
Agave palmeri	Palmer Agave	To 15 dg	Low	Su	3’ x 4’	Se AZ, sw NM, Sonora 3000-6000’	Flowers to 15’ stalk. Occurs on hillsides and oak woodland
Agave parryi	Parry’s Agave	Below 15	Low	Su	2’ x 3’	7500’ Mt. Lemmon	Partial shade in Tucson, wd soil
Agave schottii	Shin dagger		Low	Sm Su	1’ x 1’
Agave vilmoriniana	Octopus Agave	A little FS	Low	Lg Su	4’ x 4’		Partial shade in Tucson
Ageratina herbacea (syn Eupatorium herbaceum)		Hardy, dies back in winter	Medium	Sh	4’ x 4’	4000-7500’, Santa Catalinas