"Scenes of "El Desierto Florido"

[Field of Pata de Guanaco] Akika in a field of Calandrina longiscapa ("Pata de Guanaco") one of the species most characteristic of the desierto florido. It often carpets entire hillsides with a rich purple color, as shown here. Landscapes like these may remain bare and lifeless for twenty years and then look like this for a few weeks.

[Zoe and Akika in Field of Cartuchos] Zoe looking at brown Argylia radiata ("cartuchos") with a background of Senecio brunonianus while Akika fools around.

[Akika and Zoe in field of Azulillos] Akika and Zoe running through a field of Pasithea coerulea ("Azulillo") with a smattering of senecio.  The lushness of the scene is deceptive and ephemeral. Except during the floración, this is a brown sandy desert with little vegetation other than the bushes in the background, which are hardly worth a glance.

[Tonya pointing at purple huillis] Tonya pointing at Leucocoryne purpurea (Purple Huilli) near Guanaqueros

[Akika with huillis] Akika proud of the L. purpurea that she really shouldn't have picked.

[Zoe smelling huillis] Zoe smelling a patch of L. purpurea

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