What is this red flower which survives in the Sonoran Desert naturally?

Question

Plants native to the Sonoran Desert require watering every 6 months. The following plant, which I am not sure is native to the Sonoran Desert or not, was found to thrive in the Sonoran Desert solely off rain.* What is the following plant?

^{*Drip system piping can be seen in this picture, but the system was not on for the past year.}

closeup:

Is this the same plant?

This is too many questions in one post. Can you post separate questions? — kevinskio, May 11 '17 at 23:04
@pnuts The actual color of the flowers spans from pinkish-violet, to pink, to white (they're especially white on the outside part of the flower near the stem). They don't have an hibiscus aroma, but the aroma is very sweet. (I've only had teas of dried hibiscus; I don't know if the live hibiscus aroma is the same.) — Geremia, May 12 '17 at 02:32

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 25 '21 at 12:24

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These pictures are all oleander. I hear it is quite poisonous (to eat). Don't know where it is native to, but it is super-hardy, and the California Department of Transportation loves to plant it along the freeways, because it is very drought-resistant. I'm sure its drought tolerance is part of the reason.

edited Apr 25 '21 at 12:24

Geremia

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answered May 12 '17 at 20:33

user17494

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[Nerium#Toxicity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerium#Toxicity) mentions it being toxic only in large quantities. – Geremia May 13 '17 at 16:28
@Geremia, hmm, maybe some disagreement on oleander's toxicity. Wikipedia, as you say, not too worried, but Natl library of Medicine (in NIH) [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3089829/ ] reaches the "CONCLUSION: It is interesting that oleander poisoning can be fatal with relatively small amounts ingested. Osterloh and associates calculated the lethal oleander leaf dose of their patient to be approximately 4 gm. Practicing physicians should understand the potential lethal properties of oleander and its availability throughout the world." ... So I'm not taking any chances. – Lorel C. May 13 '17 at 23:39

What is this red flower which survives in the Sonoran Desert naturally?

1 Answers1