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Desert Blooming Days
"When with the skin you do acknowledge drought,
The dry in the voice, the lightness of feet, the fine
Flake of the heat at every level line;
When with the hand you learn to touch without
Surprise the spine for the leaf, the prickled petal,
The stone scorched in the shine, and the wood brittle;
Then where the pipe drips and the fronds sprout
And the foot-square forest of clover blooms in sand,
You will lean and watch, but never touch with your hand."
~ Desert, Josephine Miles, 1934
Deserts are present on every continent, including the vast expanses of Antarctica and the Arctic, as well as the arid regions of Northern Africa and the Middle East. In North America, notable deserts such as the Chihuahuan, Sonoran, and Mojave span the American Southwest. Meanwhile, the Carcross Desert in Yukon, Canada, claims the title of the world's smallest desert, covering just about one square mile. Deserts often burst into life with vibrant colors during the spring bloom, where desert flowers, particularly annuals, rapidly complete their life cycle—from germination to seeding—within weeks following rainfall. In the Sonoran Desert, enduring species like the giant Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea, named after Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie) create "forests" that offer shade and nesting spots for various desert birds. These cacti absorb rainwater swiftly through their shallow roots, storing it to survive long periods of drought, sometimes lasting months or even years. The slow-growing Saguaro can live up to two hundred years, blooming with white, waxy flowers from April to June that open after sunset and close by mid-afternoon. While the desert palette is dominated by warm yellows and oranges, flowers in shades of pink, blue, and red also flourish, attracting a diverse array of pollinators including hummingbirds, bees, and even bats! 🧡 💛 🌵🏵️ 🐝 💛 🧡
Desert plants grow in one of the harshest environments on Earth, and have special adaptations that help them to survive.
Some plants avoid dry conditions by completing their life cycle before desert conditions intensify. These plants usually mature in a single season and then die, but produce seeds that later blossom into new plants.
In the Sonoran Desert of North America, 90% of plant species are annuals, and many germinate during the short fall season, when a small amount of rainfall is required for germination. In some cases, not all seeds germinate at the same time, but remain dormant and germinate the following year or even years later. Plants that germinate in the fall grow slowly through the winter and flower in the spring, after which they die before the summer heat begins.
The saguaro(Carnegiea gigantea) is a tree-like cactus species native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains and Imperial County areas of California. The saguaro blossom is the state wildflower of Arizona. Its scientific name is given in honor of Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, whose Carnegie Institution established the Desert Botanical Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona, in 1903.
Many desert plants have spines and thorns to discourage predation by animals. Others camouflage such as the Arizona night-blooming cereus.
Desert plants have smaller leaves, seasonal leaves or no leaves at all. Species with small leaves, such as the little leaf palo verde tree or Parkinsonia microphylla, have less surface area on leaves and therefore lose less water through evapotranspiration.
Plants like acacia and ocotillo, which are summer deciduous, drop their leaves during the hot season.
Additionally, plants such as cacti have spines or thorns instead of leaves, and photosynthesis occurs in stems or bark.
And because dark colors absorb more heat, some plants have light-colored leaves to reflect light and therefore lose less water from transpiration as in the light dusty green of the sagebrusth (Artemisia tridentata) and in the group of plants colloquially known as "tumbleweeds" which when mature and dry, detach from its root or stem and rolls due to the force of the wind.
This 1972 fashion tartan, designed for Aljean of Canada, captures the explosion of color over the subdued greens of an arid landscape.
For a list of blooming times for deserts in the United States, click the cactus and desert blooms.