Well, desert is deceptively empty. True, the habitat is not as rich as, say, wetland or forest, however the life forms in the desert are numerous and their adaptations to the cruel heat climate are amazing. For example, some spend lots of time underground hiding from the unbearable heat of the day and going out at cool night. Others developed ability to suck the little moisture they find in plants so they don't need water. Yet others change their anatomy to adapt to living in extreme heat. Fascinating stuff.
We visited a museum that is located in the Visitors Center in Borrego Springs, little town right in the middle of this desert. The mountains around look desolate but the chaparral around the country is full of life.
Anyway, I was very impressed with this museum. It was small but full of interesting information and numerous exhibits, mainly kids-oriented but what's the heck! Information is information. For example, here is a riddle for you: which is the oldest plant on the planet? If you answered bristlecone pine, WRONG! At leat that was what I thought. Turns out the oldest plant on the planet is a creosote bush, which is more than 9 thousand years old! They did not, however, reveal the location of this marvellous plant or even mentioned whether it was still living.
The Visitors Center also had a nice garden with typical desert plants. I am a sucker for botanical gardens so I took some pictures. For today's exhibit I chose the Indigo Bush, because it's not a famous plant yet it is quite numerous in that garden. So meet out friend:
Indigo bush (Anza-Borrego National Park, Borrego Springs)
This is the best looking bush I found, most of them do not look that luscious. I wonder if this is the plant from which the famous indigo paint comes.
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