Desert Holly, Badlands

Desert Holly, Badlands
Desert Holly, Badlands

Desert Holly, Badlands. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Desert holly grows in desolate badlands of Death Valley National Park

In a world of rugged and tenacious desert life, the desert holly plant seems to stand almost alone, at least among plants that are large enough to make an easily visible contribution to the landscape. In almost any forlorn and sub-blasted spot where nothing else seems to grow you will find desert holly. And it won’t just be there, but will often give the appearance of being a healthy plant, as if there should be nothing unusual about growing out of nothing more than bare rock. There are often at least some green leaves, and when the light passes through the plant from behind, it can produce a warm glow.

I had seen this group of plants several times before when I visited this particular area where very little grows on a badlands terrain of colorful and varied soils. Nearby there are places where the dry and hard soil is white or red or even green and bluish, but this band of nearly black stands out. It is in a spot that where it is a bit awkward to stop and get out camera gear, so I have just passed by before—but this time I finally found a spot to pull over and walk back to this small dark gully with the desert holly plants arranged along its bottom.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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