White Sands National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior White Sands National Monument Native Plants of the Northern Chihuahuan Desert

lthough the desert may seem an empty wasteland at first glance, a closer Alook will quickly dispel that illusion, as many things grow in the desert soil. In fact, many of the native plants that thrive in the arid landscape of White Sands have long been used by Native Americans for a variety of purposes.

The soaptree yucca uses stem The flower pods can be boiled or elongation to stay above the roasted like a potato. The leaf fibers advancing dunes. This yucca were used for the fabrication of rope, produces cream-colored blooms in matting, sandals, baskets, or coarse May. The yucca is a virtual “store” in cloth. The roots were chopped and the desert as American Indians used boiled to produce soap to wash hair, most parts of the plant. The young blankets, and rugs. flower stalks are rich in vitamin C. Soaptree Yucca Yucca elata

The hoary rosemary mint, an The plant has silvery hairs that cover aromatic shrub in the mint family, its leaves and stems to help prevent the is usually less than three-feet tall. plant from drying out. It produces pale Depending on the time of year, the purple to white flowers in clusters from plant will smell more like rosemary, April through June. American Indians mint, or a combination of the two. used the plant for seasoning foods. Hoary Rosemary Mint Poliomintha incana

The perennial purple sand verbena is April into May. Sand grains stick to a member of the Four o’clock family its oval hairy leaves, giving it a silvery and is often the only conspicuous appearance. The purple sand verbena wildflower in the heart of the dunes. was used by American Indians as a This low-growing plant produces mild sedative, which had a calming pale pink to purple flowers with effect and was useful in reducing white centers and blooms from late nervousness, anxiety, and tension. Purple Sand Verbena Abronia angustifolia

The tree cholla sprouts new plants Its fruits can be eaten raw or cooked from a parent, creating colonies but are fairly dry and tasteless. The of many plants of varying heights. flower budswere used by early Magenta flowers are followed Americans as a diuretic. A hair tonic by yellow fruit, which remain on was made from the roots that had the plant all winter and are often been soaked in water. mistaken for flowers. Tree Cholla Cylindropuntia imbricata

To learn more about White Sands, visit http://www.nps.gov/whsa The skunkbush sumac, also known and orange berries used by American as squaw bush or lemonade bush, Indians to make a tart lemonade-like forms pedestals by binding gypsum drink. The flexible stems of the plant sand grains into a compact mass were used for basketry and binding. around its roots, branches, and The branches contain tannin, which trunk. In the spring before the is useful in producing dyes. Crushed leaves appear, clusters of yellow and leaves were used as an astringent to white flowers make the plant stand treat stings, bites, rashes, and sunburn. out. The plant also produces red Skunkbush Sumac Rhus trilobata

The Rio Grande cottonwood cylinders for drums. Strips of the often appears stunted because branches and bark were woven into much of its trunk is buried by the baskets. The tree’s buds and flowers sand. A member of the willow are edible. The bark has purported family, its presence here indicates curative powers and was used for a dependable water source. Its treating bruises, strains, and sprains. wood is soft and valued for its A tea made from the bark is an anti- workability and texture. It was used inflammatory agent and mild diuretic. Rio Grande Cottonwood by American Indians for masks and Populus-deltoides ssp. wislizeni

Mormon Tea is a short, spiny, stick- American Indians. Early pioneers like shrub with thin green stems. used the stems to brew a weak tea The leaves are like tiny scales and for medicinal purposes. The plant grow only at the plant’s nodes, giving contains traces of ephedrine, which is it the appearance of a tiny bamboo- a stimulant and decongestant effective like plant. Small pale yellow flowers in countering symptoms of the appear in the spring. Both the stems common cold. The twigs were also and the roots are high in flavonoids used to dye wool. Mormon Tea/Longleaf Jointfir and were used as medicines by Ephedra trifurca

The claret cup cactus, also known The cactus can reach huge sizes with as strawberry hedgehog, is older individual plants growing up to primarily found north of the dunes five feet in diameter with more than in the Tularosa Basin. The claret 75 stems. The fruits of the claret cup cup cactus blooms in late spring cactus are some of the sweetest of any with gorgeous crimson chalices desert plant. The fruits are covered that give the plant its name. These with spines as they develop but shed bright flowers cover large clumps of the spines as the fruit ripens. Claret Cup Cactus the cactus, making it easy to spot. Echinocereus triglochidiatus

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert is the largest thunderstorms known as monsoons. of the four deserts in North America. The average rainfall at White Sands is More than 70% of it lies in Mexico. approximately nine inches per year. The rest is found in the United States, covering the majority of far west Winds can be severe with the greatest Texas known as the Trans-Pecos. velocities occurring in March and Finger-like projections cross into April. These winds are an important New Mexico. White Sands National factor in the formation and movement Monument is on the northern edge of of the gypsum sand dunes at White this desert within the Tularosa Basin. Sands. As previously mentioned, some plants, like the soaptree yucca, At 4, 235 feet, White Sands National the Rio Grande cottonwood, and the Monument lies within a high- skunkbush sumac have developed elevation desert with long, hot strategies to prevail in the unique summers and cool winters. Most of ocean of sand that lies in the diverse the area’s precipitation occurs in July Chihuahuan Desert. and August from intense and fast

Revised 07/19/2015