Although people tend to think of deserts as dry places where nothing can live, most deserts receive enough rainfall to support some native plant life. For instance, the deserts of the American Southwest support a number of different plant species that have adapted to survive on very little water. Desert plants developed the ability to take up lots of water in a very short time and adopted a variety of methods to conserve the moisture they collect.
Cacti are what most people think of as the typical desert plant. Cacti come in two general families. The Opuntia family, which includes the prickly pear and cholla cactus, are segmented plants that resemble a string of flat plates or round sausages. The Cereus family, which includes the saguaro and barrel cactus, essentially grow as columns.
The cacti are succulents that have adapted to desert life by developing internal tissue that stores water during times of rainfall to keep the plant alive in times of drought. Cacti also have waxy waterproof skins and spines that help shade their outer flesh from blistering sun and protect the plants from hungry animals.
Other Desert Succulents
Other common desert succulents that store water in their tissues include agave, yucca and sotol. These flowering plants store water in long, relatively narrow leaves that are thick and fleshy, with spines on their tips and/or edges. The leaves grow from a central crown close to the ground. Like cacti, these other succulents also have thick waxy waterproof outer surfaces to conserve moisture.
The acacias are a family of desert trees and shrubs including mesquite, palo verde and catsclaw. Acacia plants can grow to 25 feet tall. Since most of their water loss occurs by transpiration through their leaves, acacia-family plants survive times of drought by shedding their leaves and going dormant to conserve moisture in their stem tissues. The acacias have a broader and deeper root system than the succulents, and need deep, soaking rain to resume growth from deep dormancy.
- Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images