Desert dry wash is a North American desert

vegetation type Vegetation classification is the process of classifying and mapping the vegetation over an area of the earth's surface. Vegetation classification is often performed by state based agencies as part of land use, resource and environmental manageme ...

(or

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

) occurring in the flat bottoms of canyons and drainages that lack water at or near the surface most of the year, and are subject to periodic severe flooding events.Pam MacKay, Mojave Desert Wildflowers, 2nd Ed., p. 20-23 Desert dry wash is contrasted with

desert riparian Desert riparian is a North American desert vegetation type (or biome) occurring in the bottoms of valleys, canyons, and other watercourses that have water at or near the surface most of the year.Pam MacKay, Mojave Desert Wildflowers, 2nd Ed., ...

vegetation, which occurs in desert canyons and drainages where there is year-round water at or near the surface. Plants must either be able to survive the severe flooding conditions or be able to reestablish themselves before the next flooding event. Some of these plants have evolved so that in order for their seeds to germinate, the seeds must be scarified or abraded by tumbling sand, gravel, and rocks during the flooding event. They must then quickly send down roots deep enough to be able to tap into deep underground water reserves, in order to survive the dry period after the flooding. Common dominant species of the desert dry wash include smoke tree ('' Psorothamnus spinosus''), desert willow (''

Chilopsis linearis ''Chilopsis'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants containing the single species ''Chilopsis linearis''. It is known commonly as desert willow

''), catclaw (''

Senegalia greggii ''Senegalia greggii'', formerly known as ''Acacia greggii'', is a species of tree in the genus ''Senegalia'' native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, from the extreme south of Utah south through southern Nevada, southeast Cal ...

''), cheesebush (''

Ambrosia salsola ''Ambrosia salsola'', commonly called cheesebush, winged ragweed, burrobush, white burrobrush, and desert pearl, is a species of perennial shrub in the family Asteraceae native to deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico ...

''), and waterweed (''

Baccharis sergiloides ''Baccharis sergiloides'' is a species of ''Baccharis'' known by the common name desert baccharis.Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd ed., 2013, Distribution The plant is native to the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico, ...

'').

Gallery

File:Vegetation on the bank of a dry desert wash.jpg, Dry wash bank vegetation File:The view above the desert wash called Red Rock Wash.jpg, Looking at Red Rock Wash File:Bankside vegetation at Red Rock Wash in the Red Rock Canyon NCA.jpg, Vegetation on dry wash bank File:Streambed of Red Rock Wash in the Red Rock Canyon NCA.jpg, Desert wash streamed. File:Dry Desert Stream Bed at Red Rock Canyon NCA.jpg, Dry desert wash stream bed File:Shoulder of Red Rock Wash in Red Rock Canyon NCA.jpg, Dry desert wash shoulder File:Red Rock Wash At Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.webm, Red Rock Wash At Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area File:A Wide Dry Desert Wash at Red Rock Canyon NCA.webm, A Wide Dry Desert Wash at Red Rock Canyon NCA

References

{{reflist Biomes Deserts and xeric shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands in the United States . Plant communities of California .