History

• With the advent of modern transportation, air conditioning and other conveniences, areas such as Palm Springs in the Mojave Desert of southern California, and Tucson, Arizona, in the Sonoran desert, have become desirable places for people to live and spend their vacations. These modern residents have introduced many types of plants. For example, landscaping often relies on palm trees, well adapted to hot, dry regions.
  
  

Cactus

• Many species of cactus are native to hot desert regions. From the regal saguaro to the barrel cactus, these plants provided water to ancient humans and animals that lived in their range. Today, we can enjoy low-maintenance cacti in desert communities. Because they are perfectly adapted to the hot, dry climate, they require little, if any, additional irrigation, over and above what the infrequent rains bring. Many cacti produce attractive flowers that seasonally enhance their setting.
  
  

Agave, Yucca and Nolina

• The agaves were once believed to be related to lilies but were reclassified into their own family, Agavaceae, in the 1970s. Agaves have provided food to Native Americans for centuries. The juice was expressed and drunk both fresh and fermented in the form of tequila. The Agave sisalana plant gives us sisal rope, and other species provide fiber that is still used in the weaving of Native American baskets.
  Yuccas and agaves are both used in the making of soap, and yuccas used to provide the foam in root beer.
  Nolina, a small genus of Agave relativesnative to the Southwest and Mexico, include several species of plants called beargrass and ponytail palms.
  
  

Palms

• Native plants easy to grow. The California fan palm, Washingtonia filifera, is the only palm native to California. Its numbers have suffered in recent years because of urban and agricultural development and the resulting strain these have put on the natural supply of ground water, which these trees rely on for their existence. The Mexican Blue and fan palms are native to northern Mexico and are common in desert regions of the southwest. If you see a photograph of the palm trees that line Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, these are very tall Mexican fan palms.
  Non-native palms that grow well in the American deserts are the Madagascar palm and Sago palm.
  
  

Introduced Ornamentals and Invasive Species

• Many popular flowering plants thrive in desert environments, provided they receive sufficient water. Warm season flowers such as marigolds are found in today's desert communities, as are food crops such as watermelons and tomatoes. However, the purposeful introduction of many species has led to a threat to the natural environment because some of these plants have escaped cultivation and have taken over the habitats that the native species formerly occupied. Examples of invasive desert plants are cheatgrass, red brome, buffelgrass, mesquite, creosote bush and a type of wild rye.