Atacama Desert — Wildflower Bloom
899.00 د.إ
The Atacama Desert in Chile during the rare desierto florido phenomenon — the world’s driest non-polar desert carpeted in wildflowers after exceptional rainfall, stretching to the Andes horizon.
Description
The Atacama Desert between Copiapó and Vallenar in Chile is the world’s driest non-polar desert — receiving less than 1mm of precipitation per year in most years. However, following exceptional El Niño rainfall events — which occur approximately once per decade — dormant seeds germinate en masse, producing the desierto florido or flowering desert: a carpet of wildflowers covering the normally bare terrain. The most prolific bloomings are dominated by pata de guanaco (Cistanthe longiscapa), añañuca (Rhodophiala bagnoldii), and suspiro del campo (Nolana humifusa) — the first producing vivid pink flowers at ground level, the second brilliant red, the third pale purple. This photograph captures a blooming event from a hillside vantage point, looking east toward the Andes through a foreground of peak-bloom pink pata de guanaco stretching to the horizon.
