Plants of the Desert Community
The plants of the desert come in many shapes, sizes, and colours. But they all have one thing in common. They all have ways to survive with little water.
Some desert plants almost stop living between rains. But when the rains come, the plants burst into life. Then they quickly produce seeds before the next long dry spell.
Some plants, like the barrel cactus, swell up to hold a water supply. Before it rains, the barrel cactus looks like a grey lump. But after the rain falls, it is a fat, green ball. Cactuses like this one store water in their stems.
Many animals would like to eat desert plants to get the water inside them. But most desert plants protect their precious supply of water with thousands of prickly spines. These spines also do another job. They make shadows. A cactus creates its own shade by casting thousands of tiny shadows on itself.
Picture Credit : Google
