Pholisma arenarium facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pholisma arenarium |
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Pholisma
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arenarium
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Pholisma arenarium is a very special flowering plant that belongs to the borage family. You might know it by its fun common names like desert Christmas tree, scaly-stemmed sand plant, or purple sand food. The root of this plant looks a bit like a loaf of bread and is actually edible!
About the Desert Christmas Tree
This plant is native to parts of Mexico, Arizona, and southern California. It loves to grow in many different places. You can find it in hot deserts, in areas with chaparral shrubs, and even on sandy dunes near the coast.
Pholisma arenarium is a perennial plant, which means it lives for more than two years. It's also quite fleshy, meaning it stores water. The plant usually grows in a compact, round, or oval shape. It can stand about 20 to 30 centimeters (about 8 to 12 inches) tall above the ground. Often, part of its stem stays hidden below the sandy surface.
How It Gets Food
One of the most interesting things about Pholisma arenarium is that it's a parasitic plant. This means it doesn't make its own food like most plants do. Instead, it gets its nutrients by attaching to the roots of other plants, usually shrubs. It's like a friendly food thief!
Some of the shrubs it gets food from include burrobush, Yerba Santa, California croton, rabbitbrush, and different types of ragweed. Because it takes food from other plants, Pholisma arenarium doesn't need chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the green stuff that helps most plants make food from sunlight. This is why Pholisma arenarium isn't green; it's usually brownish-gray or whitish.
What It Looks Like
The surface of the plant has hairy, glandular, and pointed leaves. These leaves are not like the flat, green leaves you usually see.
The flowers of Pholisma arenarium pop out between these leaves. Each flower is about one centimeter (less than half an inch) wide. The rounded part of the flower, called the corolla, can be a beautiful lavender, deep purple, or bright purple color. It often has a pretty white edge around it.
