id=”mod_42050604″>Deserts are areas that have a hot, dry climate and receive little rainfall. Plants that grow in such areas have unique adaptations that help them survive the harsh conditions of the desert.

The desert plants adapt themselves by changing their physical structure or by altering the growth phases in their life cycle.

Let us study the mechanisms through which plants adapt themselves to the desert climate.

Adaptations of Desert Plants

Plants adapt themselves to the desert conditions through the following mechanisms –

Storing water

Altering their physical structure

Growing when conditions are favorable

Barrel Cactus (Xerophyte) | Source Adaptations of Xerophytes

Xerophytes are desert plants that have modified their physical structure to cope with the arid conditions of the desert.

Plants that can store water are called succulents. Succulent plants store water in fleshy leaves, stems or enhjørning bamse roots and efficiently use the stored water as and when needed by the plant.

Rainfalls in the desert areas are sparse and occur for a short time. Therefore the plants should have the ability to absorb large quantities of water in a short time.

Succulent plants have an extensive shallow root system to absorb large amounts of water in a short time.

To prevent the stored water from escaping through evaporation, the leaves of the succulent plants adapt themselves in the following ways –

few stomata (openings) through which water can evaporate

reduced surface area of the leaves from which water can evaporate

the absence of leaves

Succulent plants are toxic or have spines to protect themselves from the thirsty animals in search of water.

Velvet Mesquite Tree (Phreatophyte) | Source Adaptations of Phreatophytes

Phreatophytes are desert plants that depend solely on underground water. These plants have a network of long roots that reach deep down to the water table from which the plants absorb water for their existence.

Examples of Phreatophytes – Mesquites (Prosopis sp), Salt cedar (Tamarix gallica), Sarcobatus vermiculatus, Willow (Salix) Cottonwood (Populus), saltgrass (Distichlis stricata) and Baccharis.

The roots of the Mesquite has been measured up to a length of 80 meters and is considered to be the longest among desert plants.

Ocotillo Plant (Desert Perennial) | Source Adaptations of Desert Perennials

Desert perennials are plants that survive by becoming dormant during drought conditions and start growing when water becomes available for plant growth. For example, the Ocotillo plant is a desert perennial that becomes dormant during drought conditions.

After a rainfall, the Ocotillo absorbs the available water and sprouts leaves to start the process of photosynthesis and then flowers within a few weeks.

Once the flower becomes a fruit and the seeds are dispersed the Ocotillo plant does not die but sheds its leaves and becomes dormant till the next rainfall. The stems of the Ocotillo plant have a waxy coating to conserve water during dormancy.

Perennials are plants that survive for two or more growing seasons.

Desert Sunflower (Desert Annual) | Source Adaptations of Desert Annuals

Desert annuals are plants that adapt to the desert conditions by completing their lifecycle when there is sparse rainfall, and then all the parts of the plant die.

The desert annuals grow, flower produces seeds and then die. The seeds lie dormant till the conditions are favorable for growth. The seeds germinate towards the end of summer before the start of winter and require a minimum of one inch of rainfall for the seeds to start germinating.

Examples of Desert Annuals – Desert sunflower (Geraea canescens), Mexican Gold Poppy (Eschscholtzia Mexicana), Lupine (Lupinus sparsiflorus), Owl Clover (Castilleja exserta), Desert Sand Verbena, Desert Paintbrush, and Mojave Aster.

Teddybear Chola Cactus | SourceGrizzlybear Prickly Pear Cactus | Source Other Adaptations of Desert Plants

Teddybear Chola Cactus (Cylindropuntia bigelovii)

The Teddybear Chola cactus has short, sharp spines arranged in clusters around the stem. Each cluster has 7 – 15 spines. These clusters cast shades to protect the cactus from the intense heat. The spines are pale yellow in color.

Grizzlybear Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia erinacea)

Old Man Prickly Pear Cactus has spines that are 1 – 7 inches long and are white or pale yellow in color. The short spines are thick, and the long spines on the mature cactus are thin, hair-like and shadows the cactus from the harsh sun.

References

website

website

website

website

website

© 2016 Nithya Venkat

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Comments

Sign in or sign up and post using a HubPages Network account.

0 of 8192 characters usedPost CommentNo HTML is allowed in comments, but URLs will be hyperlinked. Comments are not for promoting your articles or other sites.

sendingAUTHORNithya Venkat

17 months ago from Dubai

Mary how plants adapt to their surroundings is amazing. Thank you for your visit.

Mary Norton

17 months ago from Ontario, Canada

This brought back to memory our stay in Tucson, Arizona. We were fascinated by how different the plants are in the desert because they have to adapt. Had I read this before, I would have been able to recognize the plants there.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

18 months ago from Dubai

Wow! Must have been amazing. Thank you for your visit.

Peggy Woods

18 months ago from Houston, Texas

It is amazing to see just how many plants flourish in desert conditions. In the spring of one year a friend and I got to see a wondrous array of blooming wildflowers in Death Valley National Park.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

aviannovice am happy that you learned about desert plants through this hub, thank you for your visit.

Deb Hirt

3 years ago from Stillwater, OK

I learned a great deal from this article. There is even a small cluster of prickly pear on the lake that I frequent in OK under a tree.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

DDE thank you for your visit. Desert plants have amazing mechanisms through which they adapt to desert conditions.

Devika Primić

3 years ago from Dubrovnik, Croatia

Beautiful plants and amazing of their nature.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

Audrey Howitt thank you, the adaptations of plants to desert conditions are amazing, and succulents are very well adapted.

Audrey Howitt

3 years ago from California

I like succulents more and more–I realize that not all desert plants are succulents, but your piece just reminded me of them–really well researched article Vellur!!

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

teaches1234 thank you for your visit and comment.

Dianna Mendez

3 years ago

There is a lot of interesting facts in this article. We used to have a few flowering cactus plants and they had pretty flowers. Thanks for the education.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

Jackie Lynnley the strong survive but they have to adapt in different ways.

peachpurple oh yes the cactus can survive without water for a long time. You must ask your neighbor to be more careful in the future.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

billybuc thank you; I have always found nature fascinating and draw my inspiration from the various aspects of nature.

Ericdierker thank you. Deserts are great and have many things to admire but the harsh conditions make life difficult.

DreamerMeg thank you and am glad you found the read interesting.

vocalcoach am glad you enjoyed. It is amazing to know about the desert plants survive in such harsh conditions.

MsDora thank you for reading and leaving a comment.

peachy

3 years ago from Home Sweet Home

cactus is the only one I know that can live that long enough without water.

However, my cactus tree died when my neighbor sprayed weed killer to it

Jackie Lynnley

3 years ago from The Beautiful South

Plants are like people aren’t they? Only the strong survive. Love the cactus growing out of a rock, is it? I just had a cactus like that die. I over nurture. lol

Linda Crampton

3 years ago from British Columbia, Canada

Thank you for sharing all the interesting facts, Vellur. Desert plants have some great adaptations for survival in dry environments. I enjoyed reading about them.

FlourishAnyway

3 years ago from USA

Wow, it’s amazing they survive at all. Nature’s adaptability is amazing. This was a fascinating read from the first word to the last.

Ruby Jean Richert

3 years ago from Southern Illinois

The desert sunflower is beautiful and amazing. I went to Ariz. in the 70’s and crossed the desert. The plants are so resilient. I enjoyed your hub. I learned a lot. Thank you..

Dora Weithers

3 years ago from The Caribbean

Thanks for the nature lesson. You shared some very interesting facts. The ideas of growing when its favorable is an idea to explore in human behavior.

Audrey Hunt

3 years ago from Idyllwild Ca.

The desert offers an array of interesting, spectacular plants. I enjoyed reading about the adaptations of desert plants. So much good information.

DreamerMeg

3 years ago from Northern Ireland

Life can survive in some VERY extreme conditions. Interesting to read about different adaptations to harsh conditions.

Eric Dierker

3 years ago from Spring Valley, CA. U.S.A.

Great stuff. I just love deserts. Almost as much as forests. You really do a great job here. Desert survival techniques take a lot of your info and turn it into livability.

I prefer describing your desert as a Hot Desert. I have spent some time in tundra and coastal deserts. Where I am from desert just means arid with a desert precipitation.

This is a wonderful read.

Bill Holland

3 years ago from Olympia, WA

I love articles like this one. I think nature is fascinating and I’m so happy when writers like you share your knowledge with me. Thank you!

id=”mod_42050604″>Deserts are areas that have a hot, dry climate and receive little rainfall. Plants that grow in such areas have unique adaptations that help them survive the harsh conditions of the desert.

The desert plants adapt themselves by changing their physical structure or by altering the growth phases in their life cycle.

Let us study the mechanisms through which plants adapt themselves to the desert climate.

Adaptations of Desert Plants

Plants adapt themselves to the desert conditions through the following mechanisms –

Storing water

Altering their physical structure

Growing when conditions are favorable

Barrel Cactus (Xerophyte) | Source Adaptations of Xerophytes

Xerophytes are desert plants that have modified their physical structure to cope with the arid conditions of the desert.

Plants that can store water are called succulents. Succulent plants store water in fleshy leaves, stems or enhjørning bamse roots and efficiently use the stored water as and when needed by the plant.

Rainfalls in the desert areas are sparse and occur for a short time. Therefore the plants should have the ability to absorb large quantities of water in a short time.

Succulent plants have an extensive shallow root system to absorb large amounts of water in a short time.

To prevent the stored water from escaping through evaporation, the leaves of the succulent plants adapt themselves in the following ways –

few stomata (openings) through which water can evaporate

reduced surface area of the leaves from which water can evaporate

the absence of leaves

Succulent plants are toxic or have spines to protect themselves from the thirsty animals in search of water.

Velvet Mesquite Tree (Phreatophyte) | Source Adaptations of Phreatophytes

Phreatophytes are desert plants that depend solely on underground water. These plants have a network of long roots that reach deep down to the water table from which the plants absorb water for their existence.

Examples of Phreatophytes – Mesquites (Prosopis sp), Salt cedar (Tamarix gallica), Sarcobatus vermiculatus, Willow (Salix) Cottonwood (Populus), saltgrass (Distichlis stricata) and Baccharis.

The roots of the Mesquite has been measured up to a length of 80 meters and is considered to be the longest among desert plants.

Ocotillo Plant (Desert Perennial) | Source Adaptations of Desert Perennials

Desert perennials are plants that survive by becoming dormant during drought conditions and start growing when water becomes available for plant growth. For example, the Ocotillo plant is a desert perennial that becomes dormant during drought conditions.

After a rainfall, the Ocotillo absorbs the available water and sprouts leaves to start the process of photosynthesis and then flowers within a few weeks.

Once the flower becomes a fruit and the seeds are dispersed the Ocotillo plant does not die but sheds its leaves and becomes dormant till the next rainfall. The stems of the Ocotillo plant have a waxy coating to conserve water during dormancy.

Perennials are plants that survive for two or more growing seasons.

Desert Sunflower (Desert Annual) | Source Adaptations of Desert Annuals

Desert annuals are plants that adapt to the desert conditions by completing their lifecycle when there is sparse rainfall, and then all the parts of the plant die.

The desert annuals grow, flower produces seeds and then die. The seeds lie dormant till the conditions are favorable for growth. The seeds germinate towards the end of summer before the start of winter and require a minimum of one inch of rainfall for the seeds to start germinating.

Examples of Desert Annuals – Desert sunflower (Geraea canescens), Mexican Gold Poppy (Eschscholtzia Mexicana), Lupine (Lupinus sparsiflorus), Owl Clover (Castilleja exserta), Desert Sand Verbena, Desert Paintbrush, and Mojave Aster.

Teddybear Chola Cactus | SourceGrizzlybear Prickly Pear Cactus | Source Other Adaptations of Desert Plants

Teddybear Chola Cactus (Cylindropuntia bigelovii)

The Teddybear Chola cactus has short, sharp spines arranged in clusters around the stem. Each cluster has 7 – 15 spines. These clusters cast shades to protect the cactus from the intense heat. The spines are pale yellow in color.

Grizzlybear Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia erinacea)

Old Man Prickly Pear Cactus has spines that are 1 – 7 inches long and are white or pale yellow in color. The short spines are thick, and the long spines on the mature cactus are thin, hair-like and shadows the cactus from the harsh sun.

References

website

website

website

website

website

© 2016 Nithya Venkat

Related

Geography, Nature & WeatherWhat Happens if All the Mountains on Earth Were Removed?

by Patty Inglish MS13

ZoologyInteresting Facts About Camels – Ships of the Desert

by Nithya Venkat47

GardeningHow To Grow Cherry Tomatoes In Desert Climates

by Maria Burgess92

Finding MotivationLessons From the Rose of Jericho or Resurrection Plant

by Gina Welds Hulse1

Geography, Nature & WeatherTropical Rain Forest Adaptations – Plants and Animals

by Angela Michelle Schultz3

Popular

BotanyFacts About the Banyan Tree – Ficus benghalensis – Description and Uses

by Nithya Venkat29

BotanyA West Coast Mystery: The Butterscotch Tree, aka Jeffrey Pine

by Larry Fields18

BotanyFacts About the Eucalyptus Tree – Description and Uses

by Nithya Venkat27

Comments

Sign in or sign up and post using a HubPages Network account.

0 of 8192 characters usedPost CommentNo HTML is allowed in comments, but URLs will be hyperlinked. Comments are not for promoting your articles or other sites.

sendingAUTHORNithya Venkat

17 months ago from Dubai

Mary how plants adapt to their surroundings is amazing. Thank you for your visit.

Mary Norton

17 months ago from Ontario, Canada

This brought back to memory our stay in Tucson, Arizona. We were fascinated by how different the plants are in the desert because they have to adapt. Had I read this before, I would have been able to recognize the plants there.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

18 months ago from Dubai

Wow! Must have been amazing. Thank you for your visit.

Peggy Woods

18 months ago from Houston, Texas

It is amazing to see just how many plants flourish in desert conditions. In the spring of one year a friend and I got to see a wondrous array of blooming wildflowers in Death Valley National Park.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

aviannovice am happy that you learned about desert plants through this hub, thank you for your visit.

Deb Hirt

3 years ago from Stillwater, OK

I learned a great deal from this article. There is even a small cluster of prickly pear on the lake that I frequent in OK under a tree.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

DDE thank you for your visit. Desert plants have amazing mechanisms through which they adapt to desert conditions.

Devika Primić

3 years ago from Dubrovnik, Croatia

Beautiful plants and amazing of their nature.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

Audrey Howitt thank you, the adaptations of plants to desert conditions are amazing, and succulents are very well adapted.

Audrey Howitt

3 years ago from California

I like succulents more and more–I realize that not all desert plants are succulents, but your piece just reminded me of them–really well researched article Vellur!!

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

teaches1234 thank you for your visit and comment.

Dianna Mendez

3 years ago

There is a lot of interesting facts in this article. We used to have a few flowering cactus plants and they had pretty flowers. Thanks for the education.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

Jackie Lynnley the strong survive but they have to adapt in different ways.

peachpurple oh yes the cactus can survive without water for a long time. You must ask your neighbor to be more careful in the future.

AUTHORNithya Venkat

3 years ago from Dubai

billybuc thank you; I have always found nature fascinating and draw my inspiration from the various aspects of nature.

Ericdierker thank you. Deserts are great and have many things to admire but the harsh conditions make life difficult.

DreamerMeg thank you and am glad you found the read interesting.

vocalcoach am glad you enjoyed. It is amazing to know about the desert plants survive in such harsh conditions.

MsDora thank you for reading and leaving a comment.

peachy

3 years ago from Home Sweet Home

cactus is the only one I know that can live that long enough without water.

However, my cactus tree died when my neighbor sprayed weed killer to it

Jackie Lynnley

3 years ago from The Beautiful South

Plants are like people aren’t they? Only the strong survive. Love the cactus growing out of a rock, is it? I just had a cactus like that die. I over nurture. lol

Linda Crampton

3 years ago from British Columbia, Canada

Thank you for sharing all the interesting facts, Vellur. Desert plants have some great adaptations for survival in dry environments. I enjoyed reading about them.

FlourishAnyway

3 years ago from USA

Wow, it’s amazing they survive at all. Nature’s adaptability is amazing. This was a fascinating read from the first word to the last.

Ruby Jean Richert

3 years ago from Southern Illinois

The desert sunflower is beautiful and amazing. I went to Ariz. in the 70’s and crossed the desert. The plants are so resilient. I enjoyed your hub. I learned a lot. Thank you..

Dora Weithers

3 years ago from The Caribbean

Thanks for the nature lesson. You shared some very interesting facts. The ideas of growing when its favorable is an idea to explore in human behavior.

Audrey Hunt

3 years ago from Idyllwild Ca.

The desert offers an array of interesting, spectacular plants. I enjoyed reading about the adaptations of desert plants. So much good information.

DreamerMeg

3 years ago from Northern Ireland

Life can survive in some VERY extreme conditions. Interesting to read about different adaptations to harsh conditions.

Eric Dierker

3 years ago from Spring Valley, CA. U.S.A.

Great stuff. I just love deserts. Almost as much as forests. You really do a great job here. Desert survival techniques take a lot of your info and turn it into livability.

I prefer describing your desert as a Hot Desert. I have spent some time in tundra and coastal deserts. Where I am from desert just means arid with a desert precipitation.

This is a wonderful read.

Bill Holland

3 years ago from Olympia, WA

I love articles like this one. I think nature is fascinating and I’m so happy when writers like you share your knowledge with me. Thank you!