Sonoran Desert Plants: Seasonal Flowering Schedules

Main Sources: William G. McGinnies, "Flowering Periods for Common Desert Plants: Southwestern Arizona", published by The University of Arizona College of Agriculture, Office of Arid Lands as a folding single sheet; no date given; based on 20 years of research from 1966 to 1985).

McGinnies's chart, reproduced below, outlines seasonal flowering sequences for most of the common flowering plants of our general area (the broadly-defined Sonoran Desert, not just its Arizona Uplands portion). Flowering plants include all of the Angiosperms, or "boxed seed" plants, meaning those plants whose seeds are enclosed in specialized ovaries, as opposed to the Gymnosperms, "naked seed" plants whose seeds lack ovaries). Angiosperms produce flowers that generate stamens and pistils. Economically speaking, the Angiosperms are the world's most important plants.

Keys to the Chart: The yellow boxes indicate the limits of peak flowering for any one year; the red box indicates the average peak flowering date.

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