Plants & Mushrooms

List of Desert Plants

Desert Plants

Due to Desert’s dry, arid conditions, many people assume that the desert is not a place for living things and especially for plant life. A lack of regular water makes the desert seem like a very difficult place for living things to grow. So, desert plants adapt themselves according to the climate. However, there are a number of plants that live particularly in the desert. Their rugged constitution makes the environment an ideal place for them to live.

desert plants

What are Desert Plants?

A desert plant is a plant which is suitable for the environment of arid regions with little rainfall. This water often stores in its tissues or hollow center. It reduces transpiration by total or seasonal leaflessness or by a densely hairy, waxy, varnished, or otherwise modified leaf: a xerophilous plant.

Desert plants have adapted to the excess of heat and aridity with help of physical and behavioral mechanisms, much the same to desert animals. Maximum annual desert plants germinate only after heavy seasonal rain.

Then complete their reproductive cycle very quickly. So, it accounts for most of the annual wildflower explosions of the deserts. In addition, their heat and drought-resistant seeds keep on dormant in the soil until the next year’s annual rains.

List of Desert Plants

The desert plants are naturally beautiful in their own way. Plants that we won’t find anywhere else. These plants are strongly built to adapt to the toughness and extremity of the desert. But they are beautiful, something so rare that they endure a major tourist attraction.

Here is a list of desert plants. These desert plants are the most common and general plants we find in almost every dessert. Some top and poplar desert plants are as follows.

1. Elephant Tree

This plant is an unusual plant in the US in the Anza-Borrego Desert, Sonoran Desert, and Santa Rosa Mountains and also in some parts of the southwestern part of Arizona. This plant is especially prepared to adapt to the desert climate, with a thick trunk that stores water for days.

2. Organ Pipe Cactus

This species of cactus is commonly available in the rocky deserts of Mexico and the US. It has narrow stems. Which grows straight from a small trunk just above the ground. These items typically do not grow into branches and spread out. But they grow very little every year from the tip of each of the stem. It takes about 150 years for a plant to get the mature stage.

3. Desert Sage

Desert Sage is a beautiful shrub. It is about 2-3 meters in height. The flowers are deep blue cooler with purple bracts. The striking feature of this plant is that it does not require water ever once it is well established. These shrubs are evergreen plants. They are extremely drought resistant.

4. Desert Marigold

The desert marigolds fit into the aster family. They are commonly available in the southwestern parts of the US and in Mexico. They are annual and short-lived perennial plants and grow between 10 and 30 inches and have very hairy leaves.

5. Desert Lily

Also known as Hesperocallis. These flowering plants are available in the desert areas of North America, Mexico, California, and Arizona. Also, these flowers are funnel-shaped, cream-colored flowers. They bloom in March and stay on till May. This plant is commonly visible in the deserts.

6. Desert Willow Tree

Also known as Chilopsis. This is a delicate, small deciduous shrub or tree in the US and Mexico. The flowers bloom in May. It stays on till September. The flowers are usually light pink and lavender in color.

7. Palm Trees

Usually, they grow in tropical, subtropical hot and humid conditions. Because they cannot withstand too much cold. In addition, they possess a wide variety of species, amounting to over 2,600. They have a long stem. However, it is unbranched and has a cluster of long leaves at the top of the stem. Palm trees are one of the most cultivated plants to date.

8. Saguaro

The saguaro is from the cactus species. They have a huge lifespan of about 150 years. But their growth depends on the amount of precipitation in the deserts. Moreover, their spines grow very speedily, growing almost a millimeter per day. Furthermore, their flowers bloom at night. It stays from April to June. The flowers look white and yellow in color.

9. Barrel Cactus

Barrel cactus is the most common plant available in the deserts across the world. Its height can remains between 1 meter to 10 meters. The buds of this plant grow usually during April and the blossomed flower varies in color. Also, it can be orange, red, yellow or pink.

Solved Question for You 

Q: Why the desert plants generally have thorns?

Ans: Desert plants like Cactus, Agave or Mesquite have to survive in deserts where the water is very scarce. Also, other plants lose moisture through their pores which they have on their leaves and stem.

In addition, their leaves don’t have pores and that’s why they become hard with dry spines or thorns. Moreover, these thorns save water by not letting out the moisture content at all.

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