Justicia californica (Beleperone) ( )

Belperone is a scraggly shrub 2-5 feet in height with gray-green photosynthetic stems that is virtually leafless most of the year. It is frequently found growing in sandy washes of our lower desert areas- and widely throughout the Sonoran Desert outside of California with summer rainfall. Both summer drought and cold temperatures can cause beleperone to lose its leaves. A prominent, tubular red flowers appear in spring and are frequently visited by hummingbirds to harvest the nectar. Beleperone is an outlier of the largely tropical Acanthaceae family, which has extended its range into the low desert region of California. "California Desert Plants, Philip W Runder, Robert J Gustafson, Michael E Kauffmann."