Calliandra eriophylla (fairyduster) ( )

This small shrub has clustered rose colored flowers with numerous stamens that protrude like brushes beyond the length of the blossoms themselves. The stamens hold packages of pollen called polyads, each with a sticky place for attaching onto pollinators. These flowers are set in lacy, acacia-like foliage, with five to 15 pairs of leaflets. Flowering from October through April and peaking near the end of March, fairydusters can be found from rocky hillsides and canyon walls to the banks of arroyos. Butterflies, bees, and perhaps some hummingbirds are its pollinators. They are often the only winter-blooming shrubs on the desert mountain slopes. "Arizona Highways Presents Desert Wildflowers, 1988"