Travel Photography > Photos tagged as white_sands
The plant at the top of this dune, with the twin 'rabbit ears' stalks, is a Yucca. The base of the plant is in the ground beneith the dune, it just keeps growing taller so the top stays just above the sand.
You can tell how big this sand dune is by comparing it to the RV on the left.
This is a close up of the playa (dry lake) bed, showing Gypsum crystals. Wind can pick these up to create sand dunes.
A playa is a dry lake bed. This is a small one in the Tularosa Basin.
Some plants are able to grab onto the sand as the dune moves and form a pedestal that allow it to survive. This is a Hoary Rosemarymint plant.
Mom climbed onto the sand. This section of the dunes are moving slowly enough that some plants can survive.
Mom actually managed to grab the camera from me for this.
In the heart of the dunes, the sand dunes are moving too fast for even the most adaptable plants to survive.
Here the front edge of the sands dunes are encroaching on desert grasslands.