Desert Plants

By U Learn It | February 22, 2009

How do desert plants live in a desert? It would almost seem impossible to live in such extremes of cold and heat, with a lack of water, and soil full of salt. But plants have found a way to survive even in this harshest of the harsh environments.

Take the Saguaro Cactus for example. These desert plants, part of the cactus family, have adapted. Instead of the wide leaves their wet area brethren sport, cactus have thin needles to minimize water evaporation. They they have also developed very thick stems or trunks. This is another way to stop water evaporation. The Saguero has developed two additional features. The first of these is the use of a nurse tree, another plant that provides shade while the Saguero grows. You’d find shade under that hot sun too. It can reach 15 feet high, but the growth is very slow, maybe an inch each year. Slow growth in the shade of a protector ensures the Saguaro will reach maturity, when it is more likely to withstand the vigors of desert living.

There are common adaptations shared by many desert plants. Xerophytes, such as the cacti and specifically the Saguaro Cactus, have the needles instead of leaves and share other methods of gathering and storing water. Phreatophytes are another type of plant that has adapted. Their roots are deep enough to reach all the way down to the water table. We have to mention two other things.

Many desert plants are perennials, that is plants that live for a number of years. When it’s hot and dry these plants are dormant. When it rains they awaken. This is how they survive.

Another type of desert plants called annuals live only one season. Unlike the perennials whose strategy is to stick around for a long time, the annuals only bloom when conditions are right. Their lives are short, then, during these arid periods when they germinate and spread their seeds for the next generation.

You can bet that whenever you visit the desert you will see some amazing desert plants.