Green Fuzz

The first spring blooms are just beginning to pop out this year. Combseed (Pectocarya spp.) are the most abundant and reliable annuals in the Sonoran desert, growing en masse to create a lush green fuzz wherever there is enough soil moisture to sustain them. The teeny white flowers are scarcely an eighth of an inch in diameter, and rapidly develop into bristly seeds that inspired the common name. Another name is "mini-popcorn flower," since they belong to the same family as popcorn flower (Cryptantha spp.), the Boraginaceae or Forget-me-not Family.