slgwv's photos with the keyword: palo verde

Box Canyon Road in the southern Mojave Desert, in a place that gets only a few inches of rain a year--with most arriving in a single storm! The tree behind the sign is a palo verde ( Parkinsonia spp.), a typical element of the Mojave flora in this area, with its range also extending east into the Sonoran desert. The name means "green stick" in Spanish and is due to the fact that the leaves are vestigial, with all the chlorophyll occurring in the trunk and twigs. It's presumably an adaptation to minimize water loss. The inset shows another individual.

Parkinsonia spp., off Box Canyon Road near the Orocopia Mountains Wilderness in southern California. The name means "green stick" in Spanish; leaves are nonexistent to vestigial, with all chlorophyll occurring in the bark!

Another view, looking northwest. A reservoir on the Agua Fria River northwest of Phoenix, Arizona. It's pretty full here due to the runoff from the monsoon rains. The scruffy tree in the foreground is a palo verde ("green stick" in Spanish, from its vestigial leaves). It's another characteristic element of the Sonoran Desert biome, along with saguaro and ocotillo.

Burro Creek, Arizona, USA. A characteristic tree/shrub of the Sonoran Desert, occurring commonly in the same assemblage as saguaro and ocotillo. Its leaves are vestigal to save water, most photosynthesis occurring in the green stems. It's commonly planted as an ornamental around the southwest, in areas outside is natural range (e.g., Las Vegas, NV). The name means "green stick" in Spanish--it's appropriate!