 |
Most plants are xeromorphic, wich means they are well-adapted to the harsh climate. One of the most common trees is the “dragon blood tree”. The red resin from the tree is called cinnabar and is a highly prized product. It is used to cure stomach problems, dye wool, glue and decorate pottery and houses. |
 |
Mormon Tea is a shrub 2 to 5 feet high with long, jointed stems and small scale-like leaves. Slender stalks are often like a broom and really green. The plant is used to make tea or medicine.
|
Description: Leafless bush (prevention of evapo-transpiration and defence against browsers), longitudinally grooved stems, which shrink in drought, 2-3 cm long, paired, straight, sharp spines, roots up to 30 cm in diameter, reach to depth of 40 m, male and female flowers on separate plants, flowers: greenish-yellow, 3 cm in diameter, female flower is easy to recognise by swollen base which turns into fruit, photosynthesis occurs in green spines, stems and flowers, fruit: green, melon-shaped with thorny protuberances, size of baby's head, pulp: orange-yellow, protein and iron rich, seeds: cream coloured, consist of 57% oil and 31% protein, tastes like nuts. Nara plant: A green thorny plant with straight branches. It produces a fruit called the Nara melon (oval shaped, about 12 inches long, green, small thorns).
The Nara bush grows only within reach of subterranean water, forms high dunes by trapping sand. The plant is believed to be in existence for more than 1000 years. The Nara is a member of the cucumber family and grows in sandy areas and along river beds.
The Nara bush is eaten by: giraffe, oryx, rhino, jackal, hyena, gerbils, beetles. The people feed their donkeys and goats with Nara peels and their chicken with seeds.
Human use: Peeled, boiled for several hours which releases seeds from pulp. sieving to separate seeds from pulp, seeds dried in the sun and stored in bags, seeds eaten like nuts or grounded with other dishes, boiled pulp is poured on sand or on bags and left to dry in the sun for several days - these flat cakes can be stored for years as a valuable source of food.
Fresh fruit: can be eaten raw as a substitute for water in drought, has a pleasant fruity taste, peeled seeds can be eaten raw or roasted.
Medical use: fresh pulp relieves stomach ache, decoction of roots used as ''life-elixir'' to cure internal diseases, crushed roots mixed with an oil is smeared on wounds to fasten healing, oil from raw or roasted seeds used to moisturise skin and serves as protection against the sun.
|
The pulp can be drunk, the pits can be dried and eaten or grinded to flour, the husks can be eaten by oryxes.
|  |
The Acacia is a typical desert tree. It carries lots of nutricious pods, that can be prepared into a meal or fed to domesticated Oryx.
|
 | The soaptreeyucca, a strange cross between a plant and a cactus. |
 | A cholla |
 | The Agave Shawii |
 | A lone palmtree grows in the shadow of this canyon. A rare scene of beauty in this otherwise harsh world. |
 |
An Oryx doesn’t need standing water to drink as long as it has food that contains enough water. This is obviously an advantage in the desert. Many farmers have a small herd of domesticated Oryx that provide them with invaluable food, milk, hides and a lot of other things. Nothing goes to waste.
|  | The ratroo, one of them jumping mouse thingies.
|
Rock and Deep Desert - The Badlands - The Mountains - Flora - back to Index
|