- Sunset over the Mojave Desert in California.MOjave Desert 6266 image by St Clair Photography from Fotolia.com
California's Mojave Desert is rich in flora and fauna, though many people think of deserts as a barren wasteland. The high desert of the Mojave is rich with trees, shrubs, flowers and cacti. In the summertime, the desert comes alive with a blaze of colors from many wildflower varieties. Plants of the Mojave Desert grow with little water and maintenance, which makes them great choices for dry garden areas. - Desert paintbrush (Castilleja chromosa) grows throughout the Mojave Desert area. The flowers grow best in the dry, open soil offered by the desert environment. The plants get their colorful name from the bright, cup-like blossoms. Desert paintbrush grows on tall, upright stems with bright orange and red flowers that bloom from April to August. The plant reaches 4 to 16 inches in height, with short leaves growing 1 to 2 inches long.
- Brittle bush is abundant in the Mojave Desert, a deciduous shrub that reaches 2 to 5 feet in height. The plant is named for the hard, brittle branches that grow outward from the woody trunk. The serrated leaves, which broaden at the base, grow 1 to 4 inches in length. The leaves are covered with a fine fuzz of hair. Brittle bush flowers from March to June, the blossoms bright yellow. The flowers resemble miniature sunflowers.
- Mojave yucca, also known as Spanish dagger, usually grows in shrub form in a group of erect stems. Sometimes, Mojave yucca grows in a single stem variety. The plant usually reaches from 9 to 15 feet, though some plants may grow as tall as 30 feet. Mojave yucca may live for hundreds of years at a time.
The leaves of the Mojave yucca are yellow-green or blue-green in color, growing 1 to 5 feet in length. Small white flowers and berries grow on the Mojave yucca. The plant grows best in gravelly soil, and will survive with as little as 6 cm of water annually.
