Desert Hiking - Plant Hazards

Never eat any plant, unless you are an expert at identification and know what you're doing. Dry, rocky areas may have stinging nettles, a broad, low plant with coarsely haired leaves. Contact may cause severe itching.

Poison ivy grows seasonally along streams and moister drainages in some desert areas. The oil found on the leaves and stems causes a severe skin reaction in many people. It has shiny, green leaves, which grow in groups of three. Avoid touching posion ivy plants as well as walking sticks or other items that you suspect may have been exposed to poison ivy. The oil can persist on inanimate objects. If you accidentally come into contact with poison ivy or suspect you have, wash the affected skin with water as soon as you can. This will deactivate the oil before the skin has a chance to absorb it. Calamine lotion can help relieve the itching if you do have a skin reaction.

Slow-growing desert plants have developed an interesting array of defenses to protect themselves and their precious moisture from animals, birds, and insects that would like to dine on them. Spines and thorns are some of the obvious features of cacti and cactus-like plants. Most spines are needle-like, and an encounter results in a simple puncture. Warm southern deserts, such as the Sonoran, have most of the cacti and thorny plants; the cold northern deserts, such as the Great Basin, have scratchy plants such as sage and only a few types of cacti.

Teddy bear cholla of the Sonoran Desert looks cute and cuddly. Its not. Each branch has thousands of slender spines, each with invisible barbs, which attach themselves to people so easily the plant is sometimes called jumping cholla. If a burr sticks to your skin or clothing, remove it with a pocket comb or a pair of sticks. Then use a good pair of tweezers to pick out the remaining spines. If the spines become deeply imbedded, the victim should seek medical attention. When walking though a cholla field, watch the ground carefully. Most species of chollas have fragile joints that break off easily. The ground around the plants is usually littered with fallen joints, and their spines retain their microscopic barbs until they decay.

Use care around plants with large, spine-tipped leaves such as the agaves and yuccas. The spines can cause deep puncture wounds if you accidentally stumble into them or grab one as a handhold. The edges of the stiff leaves often have hooked thorns that can cause nasty scratches or deeper wounds.

Some small cacti, such as the aptly named pincushion cactus, are small, straw colored, and tend to hide in grass. They are a particular hazard when scrambling up rocky areas.

Catclaw is a bush that sometimes grows in dense thickets. The sharp, curved thorns catch on clothing and skin, and have to be carefully peeled off. Long-sleeved shirts and pants help, but it's best to avoid the thickets altogether.