Introduction
In late September and early October, 2011, Jane McGary, Diane Whitehead and Don Jones, and Eugene Zielinski made a trip to Chile to observe (and photograph) the flowering desert. We started in Santiago and drove as far north as the Taltal area, botanizing primarily along the coast but also visiting some inland areas.
2011 has been a special year for the flowering desert. Exceptional midwinter rains, and even some snow, practically guaranteed heavy blooming from the bulbs, annuals, perennials, and shrubs in the desert. We arrived in time to catch many bulbs at the peak of their bloom, although we were too early for several of the Alstroemerias.
It should be noted that the flowering desert does not occur every year. Chile's northern coast only gets rain every five years or so, and heavy rains only occur about every ten years.
Photographs by Eugene Zielinski.
Scenery
The images below roughly parallel our itinerary, starting at Santiago, proceeding north to Taltal, returning south to Illapel and Los Andes, and visiting Portillo before returning to Santiago for our flights back. Portillo, incidentally, is in the Andes near the Argentinian border; snow was still on the ground, so we didn't do any botanizing there. Both Reserva Nacional Las Chinchillas and Parque Nacional La Campana are interior sites. All other locations were along the coast.
Photos of the plants are organized into three parts:
Bulbs -
Annuals, Perennials, and Subshrubs - Trees, Shrubs, and Cacti
Click for map