The Desert Botanical Gardens
INTRODUCTION
The Desert Botanical Garden (www.dbg.org), located on 150 acres of desert preserve in the heart of the
Phoenix metropolitan area, is a privately funded, nonprofit living museum that welcomes more than
130,000 visitors annually from across the United States and all over the world. In addition to being a
major public attraction, the Garden is also a leading force in the community in promoting the use of
drought-tolerant plants in residential and commercial landscaping.
The Garden is the only major botanical
institution in the world dedicated
exclusively to the display of desert
plants in a natural environment and to
the study of arid-land plants. The
support of our member friends has
helped the Desert Botanical Garden
become an internationally renowned
living museum with more than 10,000
plants from all the deserts of the world
in a spectacular outdoor setting.
A primary goal of the Desert Botanical
Garden is to educate the public about
the fragile balance of the desert and
man's ongoing interaction with it. We
try to accomplish this with a variety of
programs available to everyone from
preschoolers to senior citizens. Guided
tours of the grounds and exhibits stress
the broad concepts of plant and animal
relationships, Ethnobotany and arid
landscaping. Outreach programs carry this message to schools and to people with limited mobility such
as residents of retirement homes and hospitals.
The Desert Botanical Garden has opened to the public several important exhibits. The exhibit, Plants
and People of the Sonoran Desert illustrates ways in which native people have used plants from the
Sonoran Desert region.
NOTE: IF YOU ATTEND THIS LAB ON YOUR OWN TIME YOU MUST ATTACH YOUR
RECEIPT.
PROCEDURES
A. Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert Trail
Deserts are often imagined to be barren wastelands, inhospitable and barely survivable. But for
thousands of years human beings have lived in and around the Sonoran Desert. This desert has been
more than simply a place in which to survive. Instead, it has been a rich and bountiful homeland with
more than 400 edible plants and hundreds more that have medicinal, construction and other uses.
During the centuries that people lived here, they developed an intimate knowledge of the desert and its
plants. They knew which plants to use, when and where to gather them, and how to store and prepare
them. This specialized knowledge of desert plants has been handed down from generation to generation
for hundreds of years. Though the desert way of life has changed dramatically, desert plants are still
being used in some traditional ways and also in some new ways.
This exhibit, Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert, is about some of the ways people have used plants
from the Sonoran Desert region. It is hoped that this exhibit will increase your understanding and
appreciation of the richness of this desert land.
1. Fill out the following table as you tour the “Plants and People Trail”. Information can be obtained
from the various interpretative signs on the trail. Take your time and spend at least 45 minutes
completing your observations. Make sure to participate in the hands on activities available.
Desert Habitat
Description of this region including:
major plant types, elevation and
precipitation data, if available.
Uses of plant by people
Cholla:
Sonoran Desert
Region
Jojoba:
Grasses:
Semidesert
Grassland
Soaptree Yucca:
Agave:
Chaparral
Sotol:
Mesquite:
Mesquite Bosque
2.
Describe how saguaro cacti fruit are prepared for human use.
3.
Desert Oasis
Water is scarce in the desert, but it can be found in streams and occasional seeps and springs.
Cottonwood, willow and other tall trees grow beside these sources of water, and plants like cattail grow
in the water.
Desert oases support many plants that would not otherwise be found in the desert. They also support a
wide variety of wildlife. For example, some of the highest densities of breeding birds on the continent
are found in oases habitats.
Early desert people found innovative ways to use the available surface water supply. More recently, as
the demand for water increased beyond the supply, desert dwellers began pumping groundwater and
building large dams to gain access to water that was previously available. In the process, many desert
oases have disappeared along with the rich variety of plants and wildlife found in them.
Select 2 plants of your choice at the Desert Oasis and describe their uses:
a)
b)
4.
Describe how to make mesquite flour:
5.
Future Resources Garden:
This trail shows how plants from the Sonoran Desert region have been used in the past and continue to
be used in the present. Modern uses are being found for some of the desert plants that native people have
used for centuries. Today, desert plants are being used as new sources of food, medicine, cosmetics and
industrial products.
Research being done today may provide information about desert plants that will be used in the future.
The traditional uses will not be abandoned, even though new uses may be found. As new uses are
discovered, more desert plants may be grown commercially. Because they are so well adapted to this
hot, dry climate, they can be grown more successfully and with less water than many other crops.
From the “Future Resources Garden” list the uses of the following plants:
a) Guayule
b) Jojoba
B. Sonoran Desert Nature Trail (see map for location)(follow trail loop to right)
1. Birds of the Garden (signage at the beginning of the trail) Fill in the blank – Who Am I?
a. ____________________ I nest on the ground, am seen in a family group and eat seeds, leaves,
plant shoots, some fruit and insects.
b. ____________________ My nest of sticks and twigs is often found in cholla cactus. I like
ground dwelling insects, fruit, and flower nectar.
c. ____________________ My scientific name is Columbina inca. My meager nest of twigs is
found in a desert tree or cactus.
d. ____________________ My nest has an entrance near the bottom. I eat insects, seeds, and
berries.
e. ____________________ I excavate nesting holes in Saguaros. My technical name is
Maelanerpes uropygialis.
f. ____________________ I build a nest with an entrance at one end, often in cholla cactus. Note:
I am the state bird of Arizona.
g. ____________________ I use spider webs to build my tiny nest. I like brightly colored tubular
flowers.
h. ____________________ I’m a seed eater with a scientific name of Zenaida macroura.
2. Have you seen me? (signage at the beginning of the trail) Fill in the blank – Who Am I?
a. ____________________ I’m born without fur in underground burrows. I eat plants.
b. ____________________ We are non-poisonous (non-venomous) snakes that eat rodents and
other small animals. We are constrictors.
c. ____________________ I’m a non-aggressive pollinator that tunnels into wood to lay my eggs.
d. ____________________ My name is Ammospermophilus harrisii. I’m a good climber that
burrows among rocks and eats cactus fruits, seeds and even insects.
e. ____________________ I can live to be 100 years old. I like to dig burrows with my large
forelegs. I eat plants and can store water in my bladder.
f. ____________________ I have a large tail, 2 times longer than my body. My name is
Cnemidophorus tigris.
g. ____________________ Unlike my “cousin”, I do not live in underground burrows. My Genus
(first) name is Lepus and species name (second) is californicus.
h. ____________________ I burrow under creosote bushes. As a plant eater, I will hibernate when
food sources get low. I don’t like to climb.
i. ____________________
3. What does the desert smell like when it rains?
a. Resins from the __________________ give off a distinctive aroma.
b. Creosote bush is one of the most _________ - __________ and widely _____________ plants in
the warm deserts of the American Southwest.
4. The Sonoran Desert
a. The Sonoran Desert is located in which two U.S. states? __________ & _____________.
b. In which countries is the Sonoran Desert located? ______________ & ______________.
c. Describe the climate (i.e., temperature and rain) of the Sonoran Desert.
5. Desert Wash. What is it?
6. What’s “Bugging” this dead Ironwood tree? List and describe three decomposers of the
Ironwood tree.
a.
b.
c.
7. Does the Cholla cactus really jump? Yes or no, then discuss.
8. Does the Barrel cactus contain water? Yes or no, then discuss.
9. Why is the Saguaro cactus growing under the Palo Verde tree?
10. Can you find these mountains?
a. The Sonoran Desert is characterized by its ___________ - __________ topography, composed
of broad ______________ and long ___________ _____________.
b. List 3 mountains you can see, and one characteristic of each.
1) ______________________________
____________________________
2) ______________________________
____________________________
3) ______________________________
____________________________
11. Why does the Saguaro cactus have pleats?
12. Why are there holes around this Creosote bush?
(List what they do!)
a. Round-tailed Ground Squirrel
b. Desert Tarantula
c. Common King Snake
d. Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat
13. What is the temperature:
a. In the burrow ___________ degrees F.
b. Ground surface __________ degrees F.
c. Shade _________ degrees F.
14. Why does the Palo Verde tree have green bark?
15. Why do woodpeckers peck holes in the Saguaro cactus?
a.
b. What other animals live in Saguaro holes?
C. Field Trip Evaluation (mandatory)
1. What did you like most about the garden?
2. How could this field trip be improved? (constructive opinion please)