Deserts can seem desolate, but they hold many treasures.
The desert's flora is sparse, it's fauna is scarce in the daylight hours and it's ground is dry and dusty; yet, there are more products provided by just the U.S. deserts alone to list in the context of an article. On the short list: rocks and minerals; plants, especially medicinal plants; alternative energy, and last but not least, sand.
Rocks
Like the desert is many places, a geode stone is very plain on the outside, but it holds hidden beauty.
The types of rocks in the desert are varied and useful in many ways: in landscaping, in rock collection displays and in products such as jewelry.
A few of the well-known types are: turquoise, obsidian, petrified wood, topaz and several varieties of the crystal quartz, including milk quartz, the white rocks seen in so many landscapes, and the semi precious gem amethyst.
The geode is one of the more interesting desert rocks. These spherical shaped rocks are rather ugly on the outside, but when broken open, reveal layers of agate and crystals.
Minerals
The desert products silver and turquoise are frequently used in Southwestern American Indian jewelry.
Minerals that come from the desert include gold, silver, zinc, copper, calcium, borax, uranium and many more. Besides its iconic use in nuclear power plants and bombs, uranium is used in radioactive shielding and was once used for color in orange, ceramic Fiestaware. Borax has many applications including water softening, glassware, ceramics and pharmaceuticals.
Food
Mesquite grows along side Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran desert.
Among the more well-known food products found in the desert are dates and prickly pears. The latter is a cactus that grows in all Southwestern deserts and is seen in many supermarkets with its green, paddle-like stems. The fruit can be eaten once the thorns are removed, and its products range from jellies to health drinks.
Most of the dates grown commercially in the United States' are harvested in California's irrigated Coachella Valley, an extension of the Sonoran Desert.
The sweet nectar from the agave plant is used in syrups and other food products. Sage, an aromatic culinary herb, is also a gift of the desert.
Mesquite trees not only provide shade for smaller plants and withstand strong desert winds with their deep roots, but they also provide nutritious food, most commonly in the form of flour milled from their pods.
Medicinal Plants
Aloe vera is one of the desert's many medicinal plants.
Desert plants used medicinally by American Indians and individuals interested in herbs abound; shelves of books are devoted to these plants. Some are used commercially, such as aloe, used in topical and edible products, and wild licorice, a common ingredient in throat lozenges.
Alternative Energy
The high ratio of sunshine to rain that makes a desert a desert brings solar energy to many homes. Much controversy surrounds solar plants in the desert. For example, the building of what was slated to be the world's largest solar energy plant has been stalled due to environmental issues raised (at time of this publication) regarding wildlife habitat, particularly of the desert tortoise, which is protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Alternatives suggested including building smaller solar arrays on rooftops.
Desert winds generate energy for single-family homes and public utilities. Wind farms are scattered throughout the Southwestern deserts.
Sand
Sand from the desert is used in glass, concrete, bricks, textured paint, sandbags and cleaning and polishing products to name a few. It's also used in the arts, such as sand painting, and in landscaping.
Tips: If you want to break open a geode, place it first in a sock to keep sharp fragments contained; then place on a hard surface such as a concrete driveway. Tap with a hammer until it breaks.
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