This shrub to small tree can reach 30 feet tall in optimum riparian habits. Spring or summer monsoon rains can transform dry arroyos into vivid corridors of color when the trees burst into bloom. The narrow leaves resemble the classic willow leaf, the flowers are showy pink to purple, and the dangling seed capsules long and slender. Numerous varieties have beed developed of this popular xeriscaping plant.

FLOWER: April–August. Terminal clusters have multiple flowers with an inflated tube, upper and lower lips with spreading pink to purple, ragged lobes, and yellow and purple markings in throat; seed capsules are narrow, 4–8 inches long (10–20 cm). Hummingbirds, bees and other pollinators visit the flowers.

LEAVES: Mostly alternate to whorled or opposite; blades linear to narrowly lance-shaped, curved, 4–7 inches long (10–18 cm) by 3/8 inch wide (1 cm); edges entire, surfaces hairless. 

HABITAT: Desert riparian terraces, arroyos, washes, and canyons with intermittent water; desert grasslands and scrub, foothills.

ELEVATION: 4,000–6,000 feet (1200–1800 m)

RANGE: AZ, CA, NM, NV, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Chitalpa, a cross between C. linerais and Caltapa bigonioides, is a large-canopy tree with broader leaves popular in landscaping.

NM COUNTIES: Widespread, common in low-elevation, dry habitats; Bernalillo, Catron, Chaves, De Baca, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Lea, Lincoln, Luna, Otero,  Roosevelt, San Miguel, Sierra, Socorro, Valencia.