Desert flowers – the slumbering soul of parched lands

The desert can come alive only for a few weeks or even days, but this does not happen every year. Desert flowers are a unique, fragile, and fleeting natural phenomenon, and they attract many tourists from different countries. In a previous article, we introduced you to cacti living in deserts. To delve into the most exciting, striking moments of desert spring, keep on reading!

 

Desert Flowers: Like a Soul of the Parched Land

“That’s what Alice liked about the desert, its constant relentless conflict with itself.

The desert was unexpectedly beautiful and horrible at once.”

Joy Williams

Our journey will take us through the deserts north of Santiago de Chile. The Atacama Desert, about 750 kilometers north of Santiago de Chile, is considered one of the driest on earth. The Peruvian Current, which runs along the western coast of South America, cools the lower atmosphere and causes a temperature inversion, which prevents precipitation.
The desert, as a result, receives approximately 50 millimeters of rain per year, and rain has not fallen for decades in some parts. Mallow blooms every five to seven years in the Atacama Desert. The brightest and most impressive flowering in the past 18 years occurred in the fall of 2015 because of El Nio, which brought unexpected rain to the desert. A dense floral carpet emerged from the dry land.

Somewhere in the Desert Between the United States and Mexico

Now we will travel to North America from South America. There are two deserts not too far apart, and it is worth visiting both. Sonora or Desierto de Sonora in Spanish lies north of the Gulf of California. It is a sandy-rocky desert bordering the United States and Mexico, and it is one of the hottest and largest deserts in North America. The spring season here is mild, without extreme temperature swings, and with just a touch of rain. Spring here lasts from the end of February to April. At this period, winter annuals bloom rapidly here – poppies, purple Castilleja, and, of course, lupins, forming extensive flower carpets. Flowering outbreaks occur about once every three to four years. Predicting this moment is too hard, even a few days before it begins.

The second-largest desert in the Western Hemisphere lies along the US-Mexico border. Due to its higher elevation, the Chihuahuan Desert or Desierto de Chihuahua in Spanish receives more rain than Sonora (about 250 mm per year). Primroses bloom in early spring when the soil is moist – and the sun isn’t too hot.

 

Desert Flowers on the African Continent

And now it is time to visit the Kalahari Desert on the African continent. The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for 350,000 sq mi, covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is considered one of the hottest areas in this part of the continent. At the beginning of the rainy season, which lasts from November to April, Nerine laticoma blooms here. The bizarre shape of the flower is also called the spider lily. The plant hibernates with the onset of drought.

The Namib Desert, located in the southwest of Africa, is the oldest one, and it was once home to dinosaurs as well. In the language of the Nama people, its name means “a place where there is nothing.” That is true. Most of the desert is almost devoid of soil and is a bare mainland rock, in places – under creeping sands. Typically, saline soils and a dense calcareous crust cover the ground if it exists.

Additionally, Namib has very little rain, receiving less than 13 millimeters a year. But some living organisms, animals, and plants developed over thousands of years to cope with the most challenging conditions. In a few parts of the desert, low grasses and flowers cover the ground. They have survived many years of drought and still look stunning once they reemerge.

A vast part of Central Asia

And finally, we got to Asia. The Gobi is a vast region in Central Asia, on the territory of Mongolia and China. The landscape is predominantly desert and semi-desert, although there are also oases. There is little vegetation in the Gobi, but wild garlic grows abundantly. The fluffy white blanket of its flowers covers the uncomfortable steppe in spring. Wild leeks also bloom in the Gobi: unlike wild garlic, it blooms with delicate violet flowers.

Our tour of the deserts of the world would not be complete without the words of  French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence, something throbs, and gleams.” Deserts can liven up for a few weeks or even days, but this does not always happen. That is why it is a miracle.

 A person living in the modern world does not need to wait for springtime to create a tiny miracle for their faraway loved ones.

 

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