The shape of the flowers, combined with the shape of its leaves, earned the desert willow its taxonomical name: Cheilos is Greek for lips, and opsis translates from Greek as “resembles.” ...

It is infrequently called Cat Willow, a contraction of the common names of its parentage, the Catalpa and desert willow. Chitalpas were hybridized by A. Russanov of the Botanic Garden of the Uzbek ...

Native peoples derived medicine, food, clothing, basketry, and shelter from desert willow trees. As a pharmaceutical, the flowers, leaves, and bark were heated and pounded to make poultices and ...