Desert Plants

The Arizona pincushion cactus sits so close to the ground that it can vanish among gravel, dry grass, limestone fragments, […]

Claret cup hedgehog cactus can remain visually quiet for much of the year, its ribbed green stems blending with sandstone,

Silver cholla is one of the most recognizable cholla cacti of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, though its name can

Teddy bear cholla is one of the most recognizable cholla cacti of the Sonoran Desert. Its pale yellow spines look

The organ pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) is a many-stemmed columnar cactus of the Sonoran Desert. Instead of growing as one

Beavertail prickly pear (Opuntia basilaris) is one of the clearest plant signals of the Mojave Desert: low to the ground,

The fishhook barrel cactus is one of the most recognizable barrel cacti of the Sonoran Desert: a ribbed, heavy-bodied plant

The Joshua tree, Yucca brevifolia, is one of the clearest living markers of the Mojave Desert. It is not a

Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) is a resinous evergreen shrub of the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts. It looks modest from

The saxaul tree is one of the clearest examples of how a desert plant can shape the land around it.

Welwitschia mirabilis is one of the Namib Desert’s most unusual plants: low to the ground, long-lived, cone-bearing, and built around

The saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) is the tall, branching cactus most closely linked with the Sonoran Desert. It is not