Gates of Lodore Trail Stop 9

Many of the monument's plants have special adaptations for life in the cold desert.

NPS Photo/Conrad Provan

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Like cacti, most of the plants here must conserve water in order to survive. Feel the leaves of this black greasewood. Their waxy surface helps to hold in moisture, just as waxed paper keeps food fresh. Both greasewood and its smaller cousin, shadscale saltbush, can absorb and store quantities of salt in alkaline soil that would kill many other plants.