What are all the plants in a desert?

Answer 1

First a definition; a desert is an area where the average evaporation rate is higher than the rate of precipitation (rainfall), this means that you have hot deserts (like the Sahara) and cold deserts (like Antarctica where no plant life exists and the Arctic Desert where limited plant life exists).

Normally people associate cacti with deserts, these are however just one group of desert dwelling plants.

Plants which are found in hot deserts vary, as do the specific environments of specific deserts - Example, plants found in the Sahara Desert are not the same as what you would find in the Australian Outback or in the Arizona Desert. They are on different continents and the indigenous plant species within those regions have adapted to allow them to grow in these regions.

Desert plants are grouped as:

Ephemeral Annuals - They are referred to as drought escaping plants or drought evaders e.g. cassia, Argemone etc.

Succulents - fleshy xerophytes which accumulate large amount of water. Common in desert or dry places and are known as drought avoiding plants e.g. Opuntia, Agave, Euphorbia, Asparagus etc.

Non-Succulents - These plants are true xerophytes and are drought resistant e.g. Capparis, Zyzyphus. A Xerophytic plant is one which lives with very little water, or in an area that has an arid climate.

Other examples of desert dwelling plants include (not specific to any location or desert):

Acacia species (mainly trees and small shrubs)

Agave species (fleshy succulents)

Atriplex species (the Salt bush, small hardy shrub)

Calligonum crinitum

Cornulaca arabica (saltbush)

Cyperus conglomeratus

Dipterygium glaucum

Larrea tridentata

Limeum arabicum

Parkinsonia aculeate (hardy shrub or small tree)

Prosopis cinera (Ghaf, hardy tree)

Prosopis juliflora (Mesquite, hardy tree)

Protoasparagus (hardy groundcover)

Sansevieria (fleshy groundcovers)

Welwitchia mirabillas (hardy slow growing shrub)

Yucca species

Ziziphus (hardy tree)

Zygophyllum mandavillei

Cacti (generic term)

Cereus peruvianus (spiny succulent)

Echinocactus (Barrel Cactus, spiny succulent)

Euphorbia species (spiny succulent)

Opuntia species (spiny succulent)

Palms (generic term)

Chamaerops humilis (hardy palm)

Phoenix dactylifera (Date Palm)

Sabal palmetto (hardy palm)

Washingtonia robusta

Answer 2

Desert plants have adapted to the extremes of heat and aridity by using both physical and behavioral mechanisms, much like desert animals.

Plants that have adapted by altering their physical structure are called xerophytes. Xerophytes, such as cacti, usually have special means of storing and conserving water. They often have few or no leaves, which reduces transpiration.

Phreatophytes are plants that have adapted to arid environments by growing extremely long roots, allowing them to acquire moisture at or near the water table.

Other desert plants, using behavioral adaptations, have developed a lifestyle in conformance with the seasons of greatest moisture and/or coolest temperatures. These type of plants are usually (and inaccurately) referred to as perennials, plants that live for several years, and annuals, plants that live for only a season.

Desert perennials often survive by remaining dormant during dry periods of the year, then springing to life when water becomes available.

Most annual desert plants germinate only after heavy seasonal rain, then complete their reproductive cycle very quickly. They bloom prodigiously for a few weeks in the spring, accounting for most of the annual wildflower explosions of the deserts. Their heat- and drought-resistant seeds remain dormant in the soil until the next year's annual rains. The physical and behavioral adaptations of desert plants are as numerous and innovative as those of desert animals. Xerophytes, plants that have altered their physical structure to survive extreme heat and lack of water, are the largest group of such plants living in the deserts of the American Southwest.

Each of the four southwestern deserts offers habitats in which most xerophytic plants survive. But each is characterized by specific plants that seem to thrive there. The Great Basin Desert is noted for vast rolling stands of Sagebrush and Saltbush, while in the Mojave Desert, Joshua Trees, Creosote Bush, and Burroweed predominate. The Sonoran Desert is home to an incredible variety of succulents, including the giant Saguaro Cactus, as well as shrubs and trees like mesquite, Paloverde, and Ironwood. The Chihuahuan Desert is noted for mesquite ground cover and shrubby undergrowth, such as Yucca and Prickly Pear Cactus.

Cactus, xerophytic adaptations of the rose family, are among the most drought-resistant plants on the planet due to their absence of leaves, shallow root systems, ability to store water in their stems, spines for shade and waxy skin to seal in moisture. Cacti originated in the West Indies and migrated to many parts of the New World, populating the deserts of the Southwest with hundreds of varieties, such as the Beavertail Cactus and Jumping Cholla.

Cacti depend on chlorophyll in the outer tissue of their skin and stems to conduct photosynthesis for the manufacture of food. Spines protect the plant from animals, shade it from the sun and also collect moisture. Extensive shallow root systems are usually radial, allowing for the quick acquisition of large quantities of water when it rains. Because they store water in the core of both stems and roots, cacti are well-suited to dry climates and can survive years of drought on the water collected from a single rainfall.

Many other desert trees and shrubs have also adapted by eliminating leaves -- replacing them with thorns, not spines -- or by greatly reducing leaf size to eliminate transpiration(loss of water to the air). Such plants also usually have smooth, green bark on stems and trunks serving to both produce food and seal in moisture. Phreatophytes, like the mesquite tree, have adapted to desert conditions by developing extremely long root systems to draw water from deep underground near the water table. The mesquite's roots are considered the longest of any desert plant and have been recorded as long as 80 feet. Botanists do not agree on the exact classification of the three mesquite trees: the Honey Mesquite, Screwbean Mesquite and the Velvet Mesquite, but no one disputes the success of their adaptation to the desert environment. Mesquites are abundant throughout all the southwestern deserts.

The Creosote Bush is one of the most successful of all desert species because it utilizes a combination of many adaptations. Instead of thorns, it relies for protection on a smell and taste wildlife find unpleasant. It has tiny leaves that close their stomata (pores) during the day to avoid water loss and open them at night to absorb moisture. Creosote has an extensive double root system -- both radial and deep -- to accumulate water from both surface and ground water. Some perennials, such as the Ocotillo, survive by becoming dormant during dry periods, then springing to life when water becomes available. After rain falls, the Ocotillo quickly grows a new suit of leaves to photosynthesize food. Flowers bloom

within a few weeks, and when seeds become ripe and fall, the Ocotillo loses its leaves again and re-enters dormancy. This process may occur as many as five times a year. The Ocotillo also has a waxy coating on stems which serves to seal in moisture during periods of dormancy.

Another example of perennials that utilize dormancy as a means of evading drought are bulbs, members of the lily family. The tops of bulbs dry out completely and leave no trace of their existence above ground during dormant periods. They are able to store enough nourishment to survive for long periods in rocky or alluvial soils. The Desert Lily, also known as the Ajo, is found at a depth of 18 inches or more. Adequate winter rains can rouse it to life after years of dormancy. The term "annuals" implies blooming yearly, but since this is not always the case, desert annuals are more accurately referred to as "ephemerals." Many of them can complete an entire life cycle in a matter of months, some in just weeks.

Contrary to the usual idea that deserts are uniformly hot, dry and homogeneous in their lack of plant life, they are actually biologically diverse and comprise a multitude of micro-climates changing from year to year. Each season's unique precipitation pattern falls on a huge variety of mini-environments. And each year in each of these tiny eco-niches, a different medley of plants bloom as different species thrive.

Desert plants must act quickly when heat, moisture and light inform them it's time to bloom. Ephemerals are the sprinters of the plant world, sending flower

stalks jetting out in a few days. The peak of this bloom may last for just days or many weeks, depending on the weather and difference in elevation. The higher one goes, the later blooms come. Different varieties of plants will be in bloom from day to day, and even hour to hour, since some open early and others later in the day.

Ephemerals such as the Desert Sand Verbena, Desert Paintbrush and Mojave Aster usually germinate in the spring following winter rains. They grow quickly, flower and produce seeds before dying and scattering their progeny to the desert floor. These seeds are extremely hardy. They remain dormant, resisting drought and heat, until the following spring -- sometimes 2 or 3 springs -- when they repeat the cycle, germinating after winter rains to bloom again in the spring. There are hundreds of species of ephemerals that thrive in the deserts of the American Southwest.

If you examine desert soils closely, you will dispel forever any notion you might have of the desert as a barren environment, for you will likely find dozens of both annual and perennial seeds in every handful of desert soil. In the Sonoran Desert, seed densities average between 5,000 and 10,000 per square meter. The world record is over 200,000 seeds per square meter.

This "seed bank" attests to the remarkable reproductive success of desert flora, made possible by their symbiotic relationship with desert fauna -- birds, insects, reptiles and even mammals. Animals aid in both fertilization and dispersion of seeds, assuring the continued profusion and diversity of plant life throughout the deserts of the Southwest. For more information see
cacti

Answer 3

the types of plants that live in the desert are the cati salbe brushbarly cati twine weed. by rebecca hare

Answer 4

Most common plants is the cactus.
Barrel Cactus
Beavertail Cactus
Chain Fruit Cholla
Cholla Cactus
Claret Cup Cactus
Desert Christmas Cactus
Datil Yucca
Fishhook Cactus
Hedgehog
Mojave Yucca
Night-Blooming Cereus
Organ Pipe Cactus
Century Plant
Prickly Pear Cactus
Saguaro Cactus
Senita Cactus
Soaptree Yucca
The deserts also have trees, shrubs and grasses.
Bastard Toadflax
Crucifixion Thorn
California Fan Palm
Cocklebur
Cottonwood
Creosote Bush
Desert Willow
Elephant Tree
Greasewood
Joshua Tree
Juniper
Mormon Tea
Ocotillo
Mesquites
Palo Verde Tree
Poison Ivy
Ponderosa Pine
Four-Wing Saltbush
Showy Milkweed
Smoke Tree
Stinging Nettles
Tumbleweed
Whitethorn Acacia
Winterfat.
The deserts have also wildflowers.
WILDFLOWERS
Apache Plume
Arizona Poppy
Blue Phacelia
Big sagebrush
Brittlebush
Brown-Eyed Evening Primrose
Chia
Chuparosa
Cliffrose
Cave Primrose
Datura (POISONOUS)
Desert Chicory
Desert Dandelion
Desert Five-Spot
Desert Globemallow
Desert Lily
Desert Lupine
Desert Mariposa Lily
Desert Marigold
Desert Paintbrush
Desert Pincushion
Desert Sunflower
Dogbane (POISONOUS)
Devil's Claw
Dune Evening Primrose
Fairy Duster
Filaree Storksbill
Ghost Flower
Mojave Aster
Popcorn Flower
Prickly Poppies
Sand Verbena
Showy Four O'Clock
Spanish Needles
Western Wallflower
Woolly Daisy
Yellow Beeplant.

Answer 5

Plants that grow in a desert environment are often called xerophytes. This means they are able to grow in areas of very low rainfall.

Some deserts are extremely hot during the day and extremely cold at night, the plants that grow here need to be able to adapt to the changes and extremes in temperature as well as the low availability of water.

Most desert plants are able to survive through evolutionary modifications such as the reduction of leaf surface area, silvery hairs that cover the leaves, thick waxy cuticles on the leaves and stems. Some have extremely shallow root systems to capture any bit of rain, where as others have extremly deep roots to be able to get water far underground.

Some examples include: barrel cactus, opuntia, brittle bush, triangle leaf bur sage, soap tree yucca, tree, desert ironwood, creosote bush etc.

Answer 6

cactusus, tumble weeds, little grass, and much more grow in a desert.

Answer 7

You would do best to narrow down your request to a particular desert. World wide there are thousands of species of plants that grow in the desert, much beyond the scope of this site.

Answer 8

a plant

a cactus.......

Answer 9

Cacti, weeds... Anything else?