Fig 1: “Desierto Florido” phenomenon in the super arid Atacama Desert (Photo Credit: iStock/abriendomundo)
Every few years, rain comes to the driest non-polar desert on Earth, the Atacama Desert. By “rain,” I do not mean the thundering “raining cats and dogs” downpour that has us running for cover. Instead, a mere 12 mm of rain, which would be considered moderate in other parts of the world, is enough to cover the Atacama with a carpet of wildflowers in a phenomenon known as “Desierto Florido” or “Flowering Desert” (Fig 1).
Fig 2: Cistanthe grandiflora, also known as “Pata de Guanaco” or “Guanaco’s foot (Photo Credit: iStock/Dr John A Horsfall)
The flowers responsible for painting the desert in a vibrant fuchsia hue belong to Cistanthe grandiflora, also known as “Pata de Guanaco” or “Guanaco’s foot” (Fig 2). For the uninitiated, guanacos are camelids native to South America and closely related to Llama. The plant gets its name from the resemblance of its flower petals to the soft foot pads of guanacos (Fig 3)!
Fig 3: Guanacos in the Atacama Desert, Chile (Photo Credit: iStock/Oscar Gutierrez Zozulia)
A flower in the wilderness and its connection to the beetroot in your fridge
What connection could possibly be there between the flower and the beetroot? Well, turns out that the pigment which gives Pata de Guanaco its vibrant fuchsia color is the same one that gives beetroot its trademark deep reddish-pink color. The pigment, betalain, is responsible for the highly variable colors and patterns of these flower petals, keeping in mind the preferences of varied species of pollinators! We will not be able to see this assortment of UV floral patterns, though. Also known as UV bulls eye, these patterns are visible only to pollinators such as insects.
Fig 4: Floral blanket of rare yellow Pata de Guanaco flowers covers the landscape in Atacama Desert, Chile. Purple Pata de Guanaco flowers can also be seen at a distance (Photo Credit: iStock/abriendomundo)
A role model for agriculture in a climate change-altered future
Betalain has functions beyond painting the petals in strokes of bright colors. A study of a closely-related species, Cistanthe longiscapa, showed that betalain also protects from the plant from drought and damage due to environmental stress – a key survival trait in the unforgiving environs of a desert. This plant performs photosynthesis in a highly water-efficient manner, a useful trait conferring resilience to conditions of high temperatures and drought. In a world where climate change is pushing us to higher global temperatures and water scarcity, this plant could show the way forward for optimizing water efficiency in agriculture.