Hilaria rigida (big galleta grass) is a C4 bunchgrass in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of the southwestern United States. This photograph was taken at Agave Hill, a research area near Palm Springs, California, and shows a community dominated by intraspecific stands of H. rigida. This species can comprise up to 32% of the vegetation cover, which typically is about 50% of the ground surface.

With:
Park S. Nobel, Professor, Department of Biology
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Funded by the United States Department of Energy