Desert flowers of Chile

A nice cover from Chile ... 

When I received the envelope I thought the stamps were just usual flowers that grow in Chile . But then I found that they are desert flowers that grow in the arid and hot Atacama desert of Chile. 

The Atacama desert in Chile, widely referred to as the world’s driest desert,  experiences a truly breathtaking phenomenon once in every 5-7 years. After heavy rains in the region, thousands of colorful flowers bloomed to blanket its surface. The climate is so dry in the Atacama that scientists use it as a way to gain insight about what life and living conditions might be possible in Mars ,  according to Reuters. The stunning scene is referred to as Desierto Florido- Flowering Desert ! The phenomenon occurred last in September 2017 , which is when the stamps were issued. 

Perhaps the most iconic view of the flowering desert are the bright pink blooms that  line the Panamerican highway. These are the many thousands of blooming succulents we call the pata de guanaco or “guanaco’s foot” so named for the resemblance of the petals to the llama-like species’ soft foot pads. Droguett tells me that throughout the area, these are “like a carpet, like daisies or California poppies,” he says, referring to flowers that blur past our windows on long drives in central Chile.After the pata de guanaco, there is the trumpet shaped lavender/light blue and white nolana, commonly known as a suspiro (literally, “sigh”), which you may also recognize from gardens back home. Evening primroses and related plants also bloom, as well as several kinds of Alstroemeria such as the coronilla de fraile (literally: friar’s crown), the yellow lilies called Alstroemeria kingii, and the mouth-shaped, furred Aristolochia bridgesii, commonly called oreja de zorro or “fox’s ear” in Chile.

When the humidity dries up, and the flowers have lived out their life cycle, the desert will return to its customary tones of ochre, coffee, beige and cinnamon. Scrubby, flowerless bushes will predominate where before there was a riot of color. But before their final hurrah, the plants will leave behind seeds, bulbs and rhizomes, waiting for the conditions to be right for the next big bloom.

Really a fascinating phenomenon and also a fascinating cover from Chile ! 

This stunning scene is referred to as desierto florido or flowering desert, and it typically only happens every five to seven years. However, the last time was in 2015, when the region saw the equivalent of seven years of rain in 12 hours, the Weather Channel reported.