Plants of the Sonoran Desert

Endemic to the Sonoran Desert, the saguaro is symbolic of the unique forms of plants and animals found there. The Sonoran Desert has the richest diversity of species type and forms of plants and animals of all the world's deserts. The range of geomorphological features and subregions combined with bimodal rainfall, proximity to tropical regions and diverse microclimate provide conditions for well over 3000 different plant species. These plants range from the tiniest of the ephemeral wildflowers that in Spring paint the desert a magical mosaic of brilliant colors to 400 year old ironwood trees, nurse plant to over a hundred other species, and giant, 1200 pound saguaro cacti. In the Tucson Basin one might find as many as 100 different species of native plants in one acre of cactus forest.

In recent years, however, concern over the loss of species and genetic diversity in the Sonoran Desert has increased dramatically.

• Table 1: Adaptive Characteristics of Desert Plants and Animals to Desert Conditions - McGinnies, William G. 1976. An Overview of the Sonoran Desert
• Vegetation Change and Arroyo Cutting in Southeastern Arizona During the Past Century: An Historical Review. Hastings, James Rodney. 1959.

"There must be few Americans who are not at least vaguely familiar with drawings or paintings or photographs of the saguaro towering starkly over the desert and stretching out its grotesquely extended arms. As a matter of fact, artists and cartoonists have established it as a conventional symbol of location. When you see a saguaro that means 'Scene: The Desert' just as the Eiffel Tower means 'Paris'..."

--Joseph Wood Krutch. The Voice of the Desert: A Naturalist’s Interpretation.