Fairy Duster | Calliandra eriophylla

Desert washes and foothills. 

A small shrub—a few inches high to some four feet—that when in bloom lives up to the Latin name of its genus, Calliandra, or “beautiful stamen,” for the long, primarily pink stamens that look like rays of starlight in a photograph. The bean family apparently evolved an imitation of fireworks before fireworks were invented. 

Pollinated by butterflies, the fairy duster is a nitrogen-fixer “through symbiotic actions of bacteria harbored in the root tissue,” one guide says. The mimosa- or mesquitelike leaves are eaten by cows and deer. The fairy duster can be seen in desert landscaping in towns and cities. Another name suggests the ethereal lure of the fairy duster: cabeza angel—“angel head.”