Desert Plants

David B. (United States of America)
18 words 3 learners

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  1. ocotillo
    a spiny desert plant with tall stems and red flowers
    Other desert plants sprout at the beginning of the rainy season and have a very short life cycle.

    7 The Ocotillo is a desert plant that survives by going dormant.
  2. saguaro
    extremely large treelike cactus of desert regions of southwestern United States having a thick columnar sparsely branched trunk bearing white flowers and edible red pulpy fruit
    Cacti are designed to store water from one rainfall to the next.

    4 The giant Saguaro cactus grows only in the Sonoran Desert, which is in the Southwest United States and Mexico.
  3. candlewood
    any of several resinous trees or shrubs often burned for light
    Ocotillo are also called candlewood, slimwood, and flamingsword.
  4. cactus
    a succulent and often spiny plant native to arid regions
    Cacti (the plural form of cactus) are one of the best known of desert plants.
  5. life cycle
    a series of stages through which an organism passes
    Other desert plants sprout at the beginning of the rainy season and have a very short life cycle.

    7 The Ocotillo is a desert plant that survives by going dormant.
  6. dormant
    inactive but capable of becoming active
    For instance, some plants go dormant for a spell during the time that it is especially dry.
  7. rainfall
    water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
    Cacti are designed to store water from one rainfall to the next.

    4 The giant Saguaro cactus grows only in the Sonoran Desert, which is in the Southwest United States and Mexico.
  8. prickly pear
    cacti having spiny flat joints and oval fruit that is edible in some species; often used as food for stock
    Their fruit is used in jam, and their dried woody stems are used as building materials.

    5 The Prickly Pear Cactus is interesting because Native Americans have used its cactus pads as food for thousands of years.
  9. adaptation
    the process of adjusting or conforming to new conditions
    One characteristic of desert plants that people always notice is their survival adaptations.
  10. sunburn
    redness of the skin caused by exposure to the rays of the sun
    To survive in the desert you would have to consider hazards like sunburn, dehydration, the temperature extremes, and possibly a scarcity of food.
  11. evaporate
    change into gas or steam
    Deserts get very little rain, and it is so dry there that some rain actually evaporates before it hits the ground.
  12. humid
    containing or characterized by a great deal of water vapor
    In the desert, you get about two times as much solar radiation as you would get in a more humid region.
  13. radiation
    the act of spreading outward from a central source
    In the desert, you get about two times as much solar radiation as you would get in a more humid region.
  14. fossil
    the remains of a plant or animal from a past geological age
    So far, no cactus fossils have been discovered.
  15. spine
    the series of vertebrae forming the backbone
    But first someone must, carefully, remove the pads from the cactus plant using tongs and a knife, and then, carefully, scrape off the spines.

    6 Other desert plants adapt their behavior or lifestyle to fit desert conditions.
  16. temperature
    the degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment
    However, deserts also experience extreme temperature changes.
  17. solar
    relating to the sun or utilizing the energies of the sun
    In the desert, you get about two times as much solar radiation as you would get in a more humid region.
  18. physical
    involving the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit
    Some plants have physical adaptations that make it possible for them to survive the rugged desert life.
Created on Tue Feb 15 17:54:14 EST 2011 (updated Tue Feb 15 17:54:31 EST 2011)

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