The Wildflowers of Anza Borrego

Every year visitors flock to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park® in spring to see the luxurious growth of wildflowers for which Anza-Borrego is so well known. Throughout the spring the park provides free web updates on where best to see wildflowers.

Of course, the Park also boasts a wide variety of other vegetation. The images below represent a selection of a number of types of vegetation throughout the park, including information, provided by the Visitor's Center, on some of the more well-known species. Enjoy!

The Miracle of Ocotillo
By Ranger Jeri Zemon

Of all the shrubs that have adapted to the desert landscape, perhaps the Ocotillo is the most miraculous. This is because Ocotillos can produce bright green leaves at any time of the year following a rainshower. Not only can they produce these special "rainleaves" up to seven to eight times during a year, but Ocotillos grow these leaves at record speed.

Ocotillos are in a small family of plants called the Torchwood Family. There are eleven species of Ocotillos but our species Fouquieria spendens is the most common one. It is found in the desert regions of Northern Mexico and from West Texas to Southern California. The bright red, tubular flowers bloom in the spring and are pollinated by hummingbirds. Some Ecologists think that the flowering time is synchronized with the hummingbird migration northward from Mexico. Furthermore, the blossoms that grow on the Ocotillos of Southern California deserts are the biggest in the West (but don't tell them in Texas!).

If enough rain falls, then the Ocotillo will produce a new flush of leaves within a few days. This rapid leaf growth occurs because there is a special packet of growing material in the bark at the junction of each spine and the branches. This packet of material does not have to wait for water to travel up the branches from the roots. Instead it can respond to the rain and produce a new group of leaves within twenty-four to thirty-six hours. No other desert shrub can respond so quickly. Indeed the green Ocotillo branches can seem like a miracle after a summer shower.

Teddy Bear Cholla
(Opuntia bigellovi bigellovi)

The chollas (pronounced choy-yas) are a large group of cactus that have cylindrical stems divided into segments. The most famous of these is the Teddy Bear Cholla. Its main stem is dark brown, and its branches look like arms. That explains the Teddy Bear nickname. But they are also called "Jumping Chollas" because the branches seem to leap onto you when you walk by. Once you're able to pluck the "cholla ball" off your arm or leg, it can take root and grow into a new Jumping Cholla plant. You helped give it a jump-start! This method of cloning is so common that the flowers rarely produce seeds.

Beavertail Cactus
(Opuntia basilaris basilaris)

The most showy cactus flower sits atop the flat pads of the Beavertail Cactus. These pads are actually the stems which are wrinkled and dotted with bundles of short, painful spines called glochids. These glochids look harmless but will stick to anyone who touches them. Beavertails grow in rocky areas and on desert flats. In mid-spring you can't help but notice the deep pink flowers. In a good year, a sprawling Beavertail can produce fifty or more flowers!

California Fan Palms

On a hot day in the Anza-Borrego Desert, surely one of the most popular destinations for both tourists and wildlife is a palm oasis. There, you may escape the heat of the blazing sun, and rest in the cool shade of mighty plants - California Fan Palms. Palms are found growing near water because they have no deep taproots. Instead, they have thousands of tiny rootlets which may reach outward fifteen feet in search of moisture.

Named for their broad, fan-shaped leaves, these native palms are unique in many ways. As their fronds die, they fold down against the trunk rather than dropping off. Out of 2,800 different species of palms worldwide, only the fan palm retains its skirt of dead fronds for its entire lifetime. Indians are said to have burned the groves to better access the fruit and to kill palm beetles. Minor fires remove the skirts of dead fronds, but the palms survive because their vascular systems are spread throughout the trunks, not right under the bark like other trees. Also unlike other trees, they have no true bark, and do not show growth rings.

California fan palms do have dates, but not like the sweet fleshy fruit of the date palm. They are about the size of a pea and more like a seed than a fruit. Each tree may bear up to a half a million dates!

Palm oases are rare treasures. Although palms are grown in gardens worldwide, only about 150 native groves still exist in the desert. Green palm symbols on the park map invite you to experience these groves and rest in the shadows of these native gems.