HOMEPAGE

The flowering desert

In late spring the Chihuahuan Desert comes to life. And the rocky landscape is decorated by blossoming cacti and flowers. A few weeks of colours before dryness comes again

By Francesco Tomasinelli & Emilio Scoti

AGGIORNATO il 15/05/2007

Wonderful flowers in a multitude of colours and shapes crowned by the spectacular Chisos Mountains: this is Big Bend in spring at first glance.  But only the first impression, since this amazing national park in the west side of Texas contains part of the Chihuahuan Desert, where behind every flower there are countless thorns in many different shapes and sizes, and where most of the year the sun shines and warms the earth to very high temperatures.
Living creatures here all found their way to survive in extreme places and conditions, taking great advantage of the rain season. Here the soil, burned by the sun for long periods, becomes fertile using rare and uneven amounts of water, falling early in springtime; here every plant is as beautiful as dangerous and hostile to animals and men.
Crowned by various mountain ranges up to 7825 feet (2385 meters), limited south by the sinuous course of the Rio Grande river that also marks the border with Mexico, this area sees a unique blossoming of specialized plants for just a few weeks (in april or may), such as the prickly pear cacti (Opuntia ssp.), pitaya cacti (Machaerocereus ssp.), claret cup cacti (Echinocerens ssp.), the long stems of the ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens ) and countless smaller flowers. They seem to celebrate the victory of life, though only for few days, before the living desert goes back to its struggling routine.

Many thanks to Evans family, Brent, Carolyn, Laurel and Jonah, Robert and Kim Abernethy, Robert and Linda Mitchell, Ron and Marylin Tremper, Matthew Hodges.

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