Photo Gallery: Desert Plants

Prickly Pear Cacti

Photograph by Tim Laman

The yellow bloom of a prickly pear cactus brightens this view of a California desert. Cacti are often thought of as a stereotypical desert plant, but they are rarely the dominant species in an area of desert.

Cacti

Photograph by Stephen St. John

Prickly pear cacti fill the foreground and saguaros cover the distant hills in Arizona's Saguaro National Park. A full grown saguaro cactus can hold as much as 201 gallons (760 liters) of water.

Saguaro Cactus

Photograph by Todd Gipstein

Because it is so close to the ocean, the Sonoran Desert receives more rain than any other desert, about 10 to 14 inches (25 to 35 cm) a year. This precipitation allows cacti like this saguaro to grow extremely large.

Mexican Poppies

Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt

Golden-hued Mexican poppies surround prickly pear cacti in San Pedro Valley, Arizona. The Sonoran Desert has about 2,500 different native plant species, more than any other desert.

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Weathered Trees

Photograph by Richard Olsenius

The ravaged landscape of Snake Range in Nevada's Great Basin National Park stands as a testament to the power of wind and water erosion.

Wildflowers

Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt

Wildflowers like these attract bees to the otherwise forbidding Sonoran Desert in Arizona. Scientists think more than 1,000 different bee species may live here.