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Earth to Blorb: the Desert! | PLUM LANDING on PBS KIDS

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What is it that sets a desert apart from other landscapes? Yes, it is the ocean of sands everywhere till our eyesight start to ache, the low precipitation and high humidity during the day and the drastic fall in temperature at night. There is something else that sets apart deserts, which is its flora. The desert plants are typically beautiful in their own way, plants which we won't find anywhere else. These plants are sturdily built to adapt to the toughness and extremity of the desert. But they are beautiful, something so rare that they remain a major tourist attraction. It was tough to put 9 common desert plants in the same list because the variety of plants differs in every desert across the world owing to their different climatic conditions. These 9 plants are the most common and general plants we find in almost every desert. Have a look and enlighten yourself!

9. Elephant Tree

This plant is a rare plant in the US in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park region, Sonoran Desert and also found in the Santa Rosa Mountains and also in some parts of the south western part of the Arizona. This plant is typically designed to adapt to desert climate, with a thick trunk that stores water for days. It is small in size and its branches are quite small in comparison to the size of its trunk. It also stores water in its lower limbs and wood, apart from the trunk. The foliage of the plant is quite lightly distributed which has flat, long, legume like leaves and exist in paired leaflets. The flowers are born as rounded yellow structures in the bud form and slowly blossom into beautiful small, star shaped white or cream colored flowers. Most of the species of this plant are drought deciduous owing to the warm climatic conditions and has leaves throughout the year, except in drought and extreme cold weather.

8. Organ Pipe Cactus

This species of cactus is commonly found in the rocky deserts of Mexico and the US. It has narrow stems that grow straight from a small trunk just above the ground. These stems usually do not grow into branches and spread out but they grow a little every year from the tip of each of the stem. It takes about 150 years for a plant to reach the mature stage. The older plants produce purple or light pink tinted flowers which have a special characteristic. These flowers remain opened during the night and by the time the sun rises, they close again. The fruits these plants produce are said to be tastier than watermelon. They serve as food to the native Americans and are also used as medicines. These plants are pollinated by bats.

7. Desert Sage

Desert Sage is a beautiful shrub that is about 2-3 meters in height. The flowers are deep blue with purple bracts. The striking feature of this plant is that it does not need water ever once it is well established. These shrubs are evergreen plants and are extremely drought resistant. These shrubs conserve the solar energy and blossom it s best during precipitation. These plants too have medicinal properties. Different tribes made infusions of the leaves and stems of the plant as a cure for common cold. These are also used to treat headaches, stomachaches, influenza, pneumonia and various eye problems.

6. Desert Marigold

The desert marigolds belong to the aster family and are commonly found in the south western parts of the US and in Mexico. They are annual and short lived perennial plants which grow between 10 and 30 inches and have very hairy leaves. These hairs help them survive in extreme desert conditions by increasing the reflection of light, which in turn lower the leaf temperatures and also help in blocking UV rays. The flowers these plants grow are bright yellow in colour, hence the name. These spring wild flowers begin blooming in March and stay till November. During rains, these flowers bloom more and the stone slopes they are grown on, look like bright yellow carpets all around. But these flowers are extremely poisonous. Sheep in large numbers have died after grazing on these flowers.

5. Desert Lily

Also known as Hesperocallis, these flowering plants are found in the desert areas of North America, Mexico, California and Arizona. These flowers are funnel-shaped, cream-colored flowers that bloom in March and stay on till May. This plant is a common sight in the deserts. Its leaves are almost an inch wide and grow up to 8-20 inches wide. Appearance wise, the desert lily looks a lot like the Easter lily. The desert lily has a deep bulb which sends a stem in early spring. This bulb is used as a food source by the Native Americans.

4. Desert Willow Tree

Also known as Chilopsis, this is a delicate, small deciduous shrub or tree in the US and Mexico. The flowers bloom in May and stay on till September. The flowers are generally light pink and lavender in color. The throat and lower lip is beautifully designed with yellow ridges and purple lines. These flowers are pollinated by large bees. It occurs in clusters and can withstand arid conditions, which makes this a favorite desert plant.

3. Palm Trees

Palm trees grow in tropical, subtropical hot and humid conditions, as they cannot withstand too much cold. They have a wide variety of species, amounting to over 2,600. They have a long stem, which is unbranched and have a cluster of long leaves at the top of the stem. Palms remain the one of the most cultivated plant till date. Many products, too, are derived from palm trees, hence they are economical. Uses of palm trees to mankind have been enormous. Oil derived from palm trees is edible oil, the palm sap is fermented to produce palm wine, coconut form palm trees, as we all know are beneficial to mankind, the coir from the outer shell of coconuts is used to make brushes, mattresses and ropes.

2. Saguaro

The saguaro belongs to the cactus species. They have a huge lifespan of about 150 years, but their growth depends on the amount of precipitation in the deserts. Their spines grow very rapidly, growing almost a millimeter per day. Their flowers bloom at night and stay from April to June. The flowers are white and yellow in colour. The ruby red fruits are consumed by the locals. They have more than 2000 seeds in each of them which can be easily pollinated. But these fruits cannot be hand picked, owing to the long spines of the tree. They have to be plucked with the help of a long pole.

1. Barrel Cactus

Barrel cactus is the most common plant found in the deserts across the world. Its height can be anything between 1 meter to 10 meters. The buds of this plant grow generally during April and the blossomed flower varies in colour. It can be orange, red, yellow or pink in colour. The spines of the barrel cactus are to be dealt with extreme care because if the spine accidentally pricks, one may have to take antibiotics to counter fight its effect. These plants look very beautiful and are developed in nurseries or personal gardens as an ornamental plant.

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Top 9 Plants Commonly found in Deserts - Listovative

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What is it that sets a desert apart from other landscapes? Yes, it is the ocean of sands everywhere till our eyesight start to ache, the low precipitation and high humidity during the day and the drastic fall in temperature at night. There is something else that sets apart deserts, which is its flora.

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Learn about desert animals and how they survive in the desert biome. Desert animal lists, descriptions and pictures.

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Educational desert game

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Enter the Wild Kratts Headquarters. Play games, create a character, and more!

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Many children think that the desert habitat is always a hot and desolate place, devoid of life...and interest. They are then quite surprised to learn how abundant life can be in the desert, and that the largest desert is actually not hot at all, but is frozen all year--Antarctica!

The children's books below help dispel misconceptions about the desert habitat, bringing to life this varied and fascinating ecosystem. In fact, the creatures of the desert are some perennial kid favorites (like snakes, jackrabbits, toads...), so it's not hard to "sell" students on how interesting the desert habitat really can be.

Best Books on the Desert Habitat

There Was a Coyote
Who Swallowed a Flea
by Jennifer Ward
Preschool - 3rd grade

1st grade - 4th grade The Three Little Javelinas
by Susan Lowell

Enjoy the books!

Betsy, Cindy, and Virginia
(the teachers/sisters behind this website)

If this list was helpful, please press
the like button:

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about cute book-related activities:

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Many children think that the desert habitat is always a hot and desolate place, devoid of life...and interest. They are then quite surprised to learn how abundant life can be in the desert, and that the largest desert is actually not hot at all, but is frozen all year--Antarctica!

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http://www.quickgs.com/major-deserts-of-world/

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transitive verb intransitive verb
Did you know?

Why do we say that someone has gotten their just deserts? Does this turn of phrase have anything to do with ("a sweet food eaten at the end of a meal") or ("a dry land with few plants and little rainfall")? In fact, the phrase employs neither of these words. Instead, it uses a completely unrelated word that happens to be pronounced like the word for sweets and spelled like the one for a dry place: desert, meaning "reward or punishment deserved or earned by one's qualities or acts." This little-used noun is, as you might have guessed, related to the English verb . It has nothing to do with arid, dry land, or with cookies and ice cream.

Choose the Right Synonym for desert

abandon, desert, forsake mean to leave without intending to return.

abandon suggests that the thing or person left may be helpless without protection.

desert implies that the object left may be weakened but not destroyed by one's absence.

forsake suggests an action more likely to bring impoverishment or bereavement to that which is forsaken than its exposure to physical dangers.

Examples of desert in a Sentence

Noun (1) Adjective Verb The inhabitants had She had been married for just over a year when her husband He was deserted the town. deserted her. deserted by his friends and family.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'desert.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Noun (1)

Middle English, "barren expanse of land (either wooded or arid), wasteland," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin dēserta "unfrequented places, wilderness," noun derivative from neuter plural (feminine singular in Late Latin) of dēsertus "empty of people, uninhabited" - more at desert entry 2

Adjective

Middle English desert, deserte "barren, uninhabited, deserted, forsaken," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin dēsertus "empty of people, uninhabited," from past participle of dēserere "to part company with, abandon, leave uninhabited" - more at desert entry 3

Verb

borrowed from French déserter, going back to Old French, "to devastate, make uninhabited, abandon, leave," borrowed from Late Latin dēsertāre "to leave, abandon," frequentative of Latin dēserere "to part company with, abandon, leave uninhabited, leave in the lurch," from dē- de- + serere "to link together, join in a series" - more at series

Note: Note that Dictionnaire du Moyen Français divides deserter into two lemmas, assigning the senses "devastate, make uninhabited" to a derivative of desert "barren, uninhabited" (see desert entry 2) and the senses "abandon, leave" to a loan from Late Latin dēsertāre.

Noun (2)

Middle English desert, dissert "fact of deserving reward or punishment, worthiness, merit," borrowed from Anglo-French desert, deserte, desserte "merit, reward, fact of deserving reward or punishment, wrongful conduct, reason, cause" (also continental Old & Middle French), derivative of deservir "to deserve, merit, earn, be entitled to" - more at deserve

Note: The derivation of Old French desert from deservir has been variously explained. Trésor de la Langue Française describes desserte as formed from the present tense base (i.e., the base lacking -v-) of desservir ("Déverbal, formé sur le radical du présent de l'indicative de desservir"). P. Ruelle points in a different direction, judging both the Old French noun deserte and the adjective desert as a variant of the past participle deservi, descending from *desérvitum, a presumed by-form of classical dēservītum (see his "Notes sur le lexique des Isopets," Romania, vol. 101, no. 401 [1980], pp. 77-78).

Noun (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1603, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (2)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

The first known use of desert was in the 13th century

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More from Merriam-Webster on desert

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Merriam-Webster unabridged

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arid land with usually sparse vegetation; especially : such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of sporadic rainfall annually; an area of water apparently devoid of life; a desolate or forbidding area... See the full definition