466 



PLANT DISTRIBUTION 



make it a great center for the production of hogs, cattle, 

 and dairy produce. 



The Desert is largely characterized by a hot dry 

 climate. This term is used to cover a very wide range 

 of climatic and soil conditions, as well as for an equally 

 wide range of vegetation. In all regions, however, the 

 rainfall is scanty and therefore inadequate for the needs 

 of the vegetation types so far discussed. In some parts 

 the annual rainfall is not more than an inch or two 



Fig. 132. — Prairie VeRotation of the Eastern Part of the Grass- 

 land Ro^ion. The broad-leaved phint is rosin-weed. The daisy-like 

 plant is the purple cone-flower. Numerous grasses and other 

 herbaceous plants are also present. (Vestal.) 



and comes with great irregularity. Much of the soil is 

 stony, thin, or sandy, although here and there are valleys 

 with soil of great fertility needing only water to make 

 a veritable plant paradise. Many such valleys are now 

 irrigated and yield immense crops of cotton, melons, and 

 a great variety of other produce. The natural vegetation 

 varies from scrubby bushes (Fig. 133) on the Sage Brush 

 plains to the scattered cacti CFig. 134) of the more arid 

 parts. The cactus exhibits a curious adaptation to the 



