Plants in the western United States
Text and photos: Eckart Winkler, Bad Nauheim, http://www.eckart-winkler.de
* * * Visit also our Travel blog * * *

Sequoias, the largest trees in the world - Saguaro cacti, the queens of the desert - Organ pipes, cholla cacti and other desert plants - And the extraordinary Joshua Tree

In the west of the USA, there are a number of national parks, which serve primarily to protect the prevailing vegetation there. These are the Sequoia National Park and the Joshua Tree National Park in California, the Saguaro National Park and the Organpipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona, as well as others.

	The sequoias are the largest trees in the world.
	And this is the star among the sequoias: The General Sherman Tree. It is 2300-2600 years old, 1300 t and 83.8 m high.
	Our car looks like a toy car when passing through the "Tunnel Log".
	Looks like some kind of giant grasshoppers. No idea what this plant is called.
	Yuccas occur in all deserts of the USA. This specimen is in the Joshua Tree National Park.
	These palm trees indicate the presence of water in the desert of the Joshua Tree National Park. It's the Cottonwood Spring.
	The Cholla Cactus is found in all desert landscapes of the southwestern United States. But nowhere as concentrated as at Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park.
	The Joshua Tree looks like a mixture of tree and cactus. That makes it so unique.
	The saguaro cactus can reach heights of up to 15 meters and weighs 8 tons.
	The first branch of Saguaros grows at about 75 years, and that is only half of its life span.
	These "young" Saguaros seem intentionally planted like this.
	The organ pipe cactus is much rarer than the saguaro.
	The Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument has both.

Menu Index