Many people that do not live or travel throughout the southwest do not see that the desert is covered with a large variety of plant life. From the Joshua tree "forests" of the upper deserts to the saltbrush and sage found in the lower deserts the many kinds of plant life are truly amazing. There is no way that we can hope to list all of the varieties of plants found in the many zones represented in desert landscapes but we will try to pick out a few of the more common ones to give you a feel for what you might encounter while doing your own roaming.
The many plants that have managed to survive in the arid lands have done so by adapting with various means to the extremes of both heat and cold that is found here. Some plants have a protective coating on their leaves to help retain water. Others send roots in all directions to pick up any moisture that may fall. Still others will send a "tap root" deep into the earth to reach water that has seeped far below the surface and is headed for some aquifer.
| Barrel cactus | Chia | Cresote | Joshua Trees | Poppies | Sagebrush | Saguaro |