Imagine a plant that thrives not in sunlight, but in the shifting sands of the desert. Meet the Sand Food (Pholisma sonorae), a rare gem of the Sonoran Deserts.
This unique plant, rather than reaching for the sky, extends its fleshy stem up to two meters below the surface. Only a small, rounded part of it peeks out of the sand dunes, often mistaken for a mushroom.
But don’t be fooled, this is no fungus. It’s a partially parasitic plant that latches onto the roots of desert shrubs like buckwheat and ragweed, siphoning off nutrients.
Despite its parasitic nature, the Sand Food doesn’t steal water from its host. Instead, it absorbs water directly from the air through tiny pores in its scaly leaves.
Interestingly, there’s some evidence that during droughts, the Sand Food might even share some of this absorbed water with its host, creating a more symbiotic relationship.
When it blooms, it produces beautiful pink to purple flowers, a stark contrast to its usual grayish, whitish, or brown color.
Sadly, the Sand Food is under threat due to human activities. But there’s hope. A campaign led by the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe aims to protect it by establishing a national monument. This could safeguard the Sand Food and other rare plants for future generations to admire.
Image credit: USFWS/Jim A. Bartel [A], Camden Bruner [B&D], Kenneth Lorenzen
Smuks nudibranch kustībā.
Zaļais zālajsisenis by the looks of it.
Mātīte
where you get picture of me xd ?
