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Glossary|
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Glossary |
| Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 |
Arizona is full of many different types of plants with over half of them are found in the desert. The plants in Arizona's desert do not need much water. One of these is the desert Palo Verde which is the state tree. The name "Palo Verde" means green stick. In the spring the desert Palo Verde is covered with beautiful yellow flowers.
Cactus plants come in all shapes, sizes and colors. The huge saguaro stores water during the rainy season. It is a slow growing plant that is only found in this region. The white blossom of the saguaro cactus is the state flower.
View
picture of Saguaro Cactus blossom
During the spring the desert comes alive with color. Golden Mexican poppies, blue lupines, purple owl clover, and other flowers only last a few weeks. Many people come to see the desert in full bloom.
Grasslands and Woodlands
While you are traveling from the desert to the mountains the temperature begins to drop. During this journey you will notice that the desert turns into the grassland of the high plateau. Here you will find shorter grass and sagebrush.
As you continue your journey you see the chaparral between the grasslands and the forests. In this area you will find small trees and thorny shrubs. Scrubs oak is found in the woodlands. The evergreen juniper can be used for fence posts.
Forests
Keep climbing higher and higher and higher. Soon you will reach the forests. Trees that grow way up north in Canada also grow here. In Arizona, every 1000 feet that you climb is like moving 300 to 500 miles towards the North Pole!
The main timber tree in Arizona is the ponderosa pine. Timber is wood that is used to make things. Can you think of some products that are made of wood! The largest ponderosa pine forest in the United States stretches from Flagstaff to the White Mountains.
Arizona has many different kinds of habitats, or places where animals live.
Mammals
There are many different mammals that make Arizona there home. Black bears, mountain lions, elf, deer, javalina, coyote and antelope live here. Buffalo and sheep live here too. Beavers like cooler climates, but they can live in any stream lined with aspen or cottonwood trees. They build dams and pond along the San Pedro River.
Birds
Many kinds of birds live in Arizona. Arizona's smallest bird is the hummingbird. The largest is the wild turkey. The wild turkey lives in the pine forests.
Desert doves and quails live in Arizona. The "coo kuk coo coooah" sound of the dove is pleasant to hear.. It is fun to see a mother quail dashing along a trail with her chicks. The cactus wren is the state bird. It makes its nest in the cholla cactus. Another familiar site in the desert is the long-legged roadrunner. This little bird can run almost twenty miles per hour. Unlike most birds, the road runner will eat snakes and lizards.
Fish
There are many kinds of fish in Arizona rivers and lakes. Bass, catfish, bluegill, trout, pike, and others make fisherman happy. Arizona's state fish, the Apache trout was named for the Fort Apache Reservation where it was found.
Reptiles
Reptiles are animals such as snakes, lizards, and turtles. Reptiles are cold-blooded. This means their body temperature is the same as the temperature around them.
Reptiles can survive in the desert because they stay in the shade or go under ground during the heat of the day. They hunt for food in the coolness of the early morning or night. This makes them hard to find if you go looking for them. During the cold months, reptiles hibernate. This means they crawl into a cave or hole and sleep all winter. There hearts beat slowly and their breathing almost stops.
Reptiles lay eggs. When the eggs hatch, tiny baby reptiles start their lives. Rattlesnakes, however, do not lay eggs. They give birth to live snakes.
For scientists who study reptiles, Arizona is a good place to work. There are nearly 100 different kinds of reptiles in the state. About half of them are snakes.
Snakes
Most of the snakes in Arizona are harmless. Only rattlesnakes and coral snakes are poisonous. That means that they can make people really sick if they bite them. Look out for rattlesnakes as you travel around. The can strike in a split second.
The coral snake is small. It has black, red and yellow bands on its body. people do not see this snake very often.
Lizards
Many kinds of lizards are found in the deserts and mountains of Arizona. The lizards are well adapted to living here. Their coloring blends with the landscape. Most of them have clawed toes. The toes help them run on the loose sand and to climb rocks.
Lizards eat bugs, spiders and other insects. One busy lizard can eat hundreds of insects in one day. All lizards are harmless except the Gila monster.
Don't ever pick up a Gila monster! The slow Gila monster is the only poisonous lizard in the United States. It stores fat in its tail for times when food is hard to find.
Learn more about the Gila monster
The chuckwalla lizard hides in a strange way. It races to a crack in a rock. There it puffs in air and wedges its body tightly in the rock. Native Americans used a stick to poke the lizards hide and pull it out. They ate the lizard's meat.
A horned lizard is sometimes called "horny toad". It has a thin, flat body. It has a circle of scaly horns behind its head that looks like a crown. The lizard hangs out near and dens, lapping up ants. If scared, it may hiss and squirt blood from its eyes.
Like birds, lizards of many kinds give a sense of motion to the quiet desert. They streak across the sands or along a backyard fence. When frightened, the dash off.
Learn more about Arizona's
animals
Find
out about Arizona's State Symbols
Now that you have finished learning about Arizona's Land and Animals you are ready to complete the activities for this section. Click on the Journal icon at the top of the page. When you are done you can continue to explore Arizona.
