2.3I - Vegetation

"The desert seems stripped of all vegetation.  However, when plants are spotted they are remembered and carefully observed.  The date palms were most memorable since they provided succulent food and shade.  One guide called the sweet fruit deglet nour, fingers of light.  We always kept numerous dates for midday refreshment and desserts.  Another prickly bush was quite memorable.  It had short, sharp thorns protecting its flowers in addition to a glistening resin that was poisonous to most animals.  One guide called it the desert apple because of its red hue.  We pulled one up to see its roots and found that they extended for twenty to thirty feet in many directions.  Despite all of these protections, we found small mites eating away the base of some desert apples near Tassili."

Click on the image on the right to see how the drawing should look.