[put it in the Spikes'n Leaves catogory]
The main problems for a plant to grow in the desert:
Lack of water
Intense daytime heat
[snowflake] Freezing cold of the night

As we can see, being a plant in the desert is not an easy thing, as plants need
water and sunlight to grow well. So they need many special abilities to help them
survive. These following skills and abilities are used by many plants:
Short and long roots-- In order to search enough water for themselves, their roots
are sent very deeply into the ground, spreading as widely as
they could.

-- As it is so hot in the desert, the water the plants collected
must not be evaporated into the air. So besides of long roots,
the root cells must be able to hold water and pick up moisture
from the ground as it rains. Like the cacti, though it has
very short, they are very useful for they have cells like these.

[the pic'TreeCac to show the difference of roots]
The storeroom-- An air-tight, water-tight storage tank will be needed, which hides
beneath the skin of the trunk, or maybe in the juicy leaves, stems
which have ridges that can expand!
Teeny tiny holes-- Many desert plants have their leaves coated with a waxy layer which
have little holes called stomata, these are places where water vapour
go in and out. But some succulent plants have special photosynhesis
system that can work without stomata open when the climate is dry.

?What if the water is so little that there is a real urgency for water?

Some plants may have to drop their leaves or--like the cacti--to grow spines instead.
Those spikey leaves are so thin that they need less water and nutrients. To avoid the
urgency of water, some plants just spend most of their lives as dormant seeds, then
wait for the rain to come feed them.
DID YOU KNOW?
*The highest sand dune is in eastern Algeria, it was about 430m, which was as high as a
mountain!
*Some stone plants have leaves which look just like stones! This is because stones do not
attract grazing animals, so they will not be eaten in this diguise.

*