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Tumbleweed
Photograph from Bruce Coleman/Alamy
Most people recognize this mature Russian thistle as common tumbleweed. But not many would recognize it in its green, succulent juvenile stage before it breaks from the ground to spread seeds.
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Prickly Pear Cacti
Photograph by Tim Laman
The yellow bloom of a prickly pear cactus brightens this view of a California desert. Cacti are often thought of as a stereotypical desert plant, but they are rarely the dominant species in an area of desert.
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Cacti
Photograph by Stephen St. John
Prickly pear cacti fill the foreground and saguaros cover the distant hills in Arizona's Saguaro National Park. A full grown saguaro cactus can hold as much as 201 gallons (760 liters) of water.
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Saguaro Cactus
Photograph by Todd Gipstein
Because it is so close to the ocean, the Sonoran Desert receives more rain than any other desert, about 10 to 14 inches (25 to 35 cm) a year. This precipitation allows cacti like this saguaro to grow extremely large.
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Mexican Poppies
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Golden-hued Mexican poppies surround prickly pear cacti in San Pedro Valley, Arizona. The Sonoran Desert has about 2,500 different native plant species, more than any other desert.
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Weathered Trees
Photograph by Richard Olsenius
The ravaged landscape of Snake Range in Nevada's Great Basin National Park stands as a testament to the power of wind and water erosion.
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Wildflowers
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Wildflowers like these attract bees to the otherwise forbidding Sonoran Desert in Arizona. Scientists think more than 1,000 different bee species may live here.
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