Tree Tumbo (Welwitschia mirabilis)

The Namib desert is one of the driest places on Earth, the kind of place that would produce one of the most distinctive plants in the world, best known by its botanical name Welwitschia. It is the only species within the Welwitschia genus, so no other plant is like it.

With some individuals over 1,000 years old, Welwitschia produces only two leaves, which continue to grow along the ground throughout the lifetime of the slow-growing plant.1 In a land that produces less than 4 inches of rain per year, Welwitschia subsists not on a deep taproot but on rainwater and fog running down its long leaves to its roots.2

Honey Mesquite (Prosopis chilensis)

Mesquite (Prosopis spp.) is a familiar plant in many American deserts. Its long, deep roots allow it to reach groundwater in regions with little or no rainfall. In the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile, Prosopis chilensis, commonly known as honey mesquite, is a small, thorny shrub or tree that can provide shade and forage for animals as well as firewood for humans.

Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia)

As its botanical name suggests, the Joshua tree is not a tree, but a large yucca. It is one of the most distinctive plants of the Mojave Desert. Growing roughly 3 inches per year in coarse sand and silt, it is under extreme pressure from climate change, especially from the threat of wildfires. The Dome Fire of August 2020 decimated an entire Joshua tree forest in the Mojave National Preserve.

Salt Cedar (Tamarix aphylla)

Known as the Salt Cedar or Athel Pine, Tamarix aphylla has been used for centuries for shade, burial rituals, and windbreaks. It is fire-resistant, regrowing from its root-crown after its above-ground growth has been burned. It can be used for agroforestry, providing shade to grazing animals, but it can be invasive in regions where it is not native.3

Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis)

Extending from northern Mexico to the southwestern United States, the Chihuahuan Desert is the largest desert in North America. It is known for its cacti, but many other plants have adapted to this harsh climate. Desert willows are a common sight, especially in washes and along streams, and are often cultivated for their purple to pink flowers.

Saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron)

The Saxaul tree will grow where little else will. It is the only tree native to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. Its narrow leaves allow it to resist strong desert winds. Because of its ability to grow on sand dunes, it is an important plant for countering desertification, as its roots grow 15 feet down into the dunes and spread twice as wide. This not only stabilizes the dunes but creates a habitat for other desert plants.4

Ghost Gum (Corymbia aparrerinja)

The “red center” of Australia is a series of salt pans and sandy plains, the driest part of the Australian Outback. It is the home of the Ghost gum, so-named because of its smooth, nearly white bark that seems to glow in the dark. Corymbia aparrerinja has a distinctive lignotuber, a swelling at the base of the tree used to store food and water and protect it from fire and drought.

Rock Purslane (Calandrinia spectabilis)

A drought-tolerant succulent from the Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world, rock purslane requires almost no rainfall once established. Excellent for xeriscaped gardens, especially those that receive a coastal fog, Calandrinia spectabilis has bluish-gray foliage that can absorb moisture from the air. Like other purslanes, it’s a member of the portulaca family. The plant makes an excellent ground cover, as it can grow into a thick mound up to four feet wide. With flowers looking like magenta-colored poppies, it is also a pollinator-friendly plant.

Quiver Tree (Aloidendron dichotomum)

Quiver trees are giant aloes that play a vital role as anchor plants in the Namib Desert. They provide nectar to birds and baboons, and quivers for the arrows of the San peoples of southern Africa, “among the oldest cultures on the earth.”5 San people also use the hollowed-out trunks of the quiver tree for food storage.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identifies quiver trees as vulnerable or decreasing, as they have suffered from large-scale mortality due to climate change in the past two decades.6 Like other aloes, they store water in their soft fibers, but in severe droughts, they can seal off their branches to prevent water loss.

Hierba Negra (Mulinum spinosum)

When most people imagine deserts, they don’t usually think of Patagonia, home of glaciers, where the average temperature is just above freezing. But shielded by the Andes from the humidity of the Pacific Ocean, Patagonia receives little rain. Mulinum spinosum, known in Spanish as Hierba negra (“black grass”) or Neneo flowers in English, is a cushion plant, forming a low-growing mat (to protect it from harsh winds) and producing yellow flowers.

Desert Rose (Adenium obesum)

Also known as the Desert Azalea or Bottle Tree, Adenium obesum is a popular flowering plant, cultivated in the bonsai tradition. It has succulent gray-green stems with very few leaves and produces plumeria-looking red or pink flowers. It also carries poison in its sap that is used in hunting and fishing in parts of Africa. It survives in arid regions south of the Sahara all across the African continent and in the southern Arabian peninsula.

Euphrates Poplar (Populus euphratica)

In the Badain Jaran Desert in the Inner Mongolia province of China, enormous sand dunes sing and whistle in the wind, while dozens of spring-fed lakes between the dunes support animals, plants, and brave tourists. Among the attractions are the leaves of the Populus euphratica tree, which turn golden in autumn. It is used as a shade plant in agroforestry and in afforestation efforts.

Sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri)

Also known as desert spoon, Dasylirion wheeleri is often used in xeriscaping, basket-making, fence-construction, and in food for humans and livestock. Its increased use in preparing the alcoholic drink of the same name (sotol) has led to concerns about the sustainability of its harvest.7 While sotol is drought- and fire-resistant, climate change has pushed it to higher elevations, restricting its habitat.8

Teff (Eragrostis tef)

Also known as Williams lovegrass, teff is one of a number of Eragrostis species that grow in the Sahara and sub-Saharan regions. Despite its low yield compared to wheat, teff is one of the first crops ever domesticated. Its drought tolerance and the ability of its roots to store water and prevent soil erosion have made its seeds a staple food in Ethiopia and Eritrea for millennia.9 Because teff is a C4 plant with a higher rate of carbon absorption than most plant species, it is seen as an important asset in carbon sequestration efforts.

California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera)

Among all the palm trees of California and the Southwest, the California Fan Palm is the only native. Found along springs and streams, the California Fan Palm is not actually a tree, but a monocot plant that sends up a tall woody shoot without the annual tree rings common to trees.

But the birds, bats, beetles, and other species don’t care: The “trees” are welcome refuges from the searing desert heat, like those pictured here in Furnace Creek—some of the only green vegetation in Death Valley National Park.

Yareta (Azorella compacta)

The Altiplano (high plateau) of the Andes Mountains hosts both humid areas in the north and salt flats in the south. Plants and animals alike must adapt to the low oxygen levels and high UV radiation. Yareta grows wide rather than tall, forming a mound up to 20 feet in diameter. Its thick mat of leaves reduces water loss. This can also make Azorella compacta host to other plant species, increasing their value in such a challenging environment.10

The plants grow roughly one-half an inch per year, but they are long-lived, with the largest estimated at 3,000 years old. It is protected by a number of South American governments, as harvesting, it is not sustainable, due to its slow rate of growth.

Desert Gourd (Citrullus colocynthis)

Also known as desert squash, bitter apple, vine of Sodom, and handhal, Citrullus colocynthis grows on the sand dunes of the Saharan and Arabian deserts. Looking like a watermelon but with a very bitter pulp, its seeds and flowers are edible. Water absorbed in the stem provides a welcome desert drink.

Taman (Panicum turgidum)

Panicum turgidum is a bunchgrass that grows throughout the arid regions of Africa, Arabia, and Pakistan. It has been used as a tool for reforestation of the sub-Saharan region, as the dense bunches act as a natural nursery for seedlings of acacia trees, protecting them from grazing animals.11 Its root system can grow to 6 feet deep, allowing it to reach groundwater.

As climate change and water scarcity threaten traditionally grown crops in many parts of the world, the salt- and drought-tolerant Panicum turgidum is under study as a more sustainable alternative to corn (maize) as a fodder crop for domesticated animals.12

Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea)

Saguaro is perhaps the most iconic desert plant in the world, common to the overlapping cultures of Mexico and the American Southwest. It is a native of the Sonoran Desert, which straddles both countries. Increasing periods of drought due to climate change, as well as increased human development in the region, have threatened the saguaro and other species of cacti.13

Camel Thorn (Alhagi Sparsifolia)

The Taklamakan Desert in northwest China is one of the largest sand deserts in the world, with vegetation growing only in depressions among the sand dunes where groundwater is accessible. Alhagi Sparsifolia is one of a number of Alhagi species known as camel thorns, the welcome fodder of many Silk Road caravanserai. (Alhagi means “pilgrim” in Arabic.) Proportionally, it has the deepest roots of any plant: 5 times deeper than their above-ground shoots are tall. It has been used to counter desertification.14