CHAPTER THREE
Plants
Deserts are very dry places, but plants can still grow there. Desert plants collect and use water in special ways.
The cactus has big roots, so it can collect water fast when it rains. It stores water in its stem for when there isn’t any rain. Many cactus plants have spikes. The spikes also collect water, and they stop animals eating the plant.
There are about 1,200 different types of plant in the Sahara Desert.
The welwitschia plant gets water from fog.
The leaves collect the water and it goes down into the soil. Then the plant takes up the water with its roots.
The baobab tree grows in the deserts in Africa and Australia. It can store thousands of liters of water. Some baobab trees are more than 9 meters across! Desert people can drink the water from this tree.
The seeds of many desert plants can stay in the soil for a long time. When it rains, they grow fast and produce flowers. Then they die, but they leave seeds for the next time it rains.
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