Flora and Fauna
- See also: Category: Flora of the California desert regions
and also: Category: Fauna of the Colorado Desert
The habitats of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park are primarily within the Colorado Desert ecosystem of the Sonoran Desert ecoregion. The higher extreme northern and eastern sections in the Peninsular Ranges are in the California montane chaparral and woodlands ecoregion.
The park features: bajadas and desert washes; rock formations and colorful badlands, vast arid landscapes and dramatic mountains. The bajadas are predominantly creosote bush-bur sage with Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) and the palo verde-cactus shrub ecosystems with the Palo Verde tree (Parkinsonia microphylla), cacti, and Ocotillo. In the washes, Colorado/Sonoran microphylla woodlands can be found. These woodlands include such plants as Smoke Tree (Psorothamnus spinosus), Honey Mesquite (Prosopis velutina), and Catclaw (Acacia greggii).
Anza Borrego has natural springs and oases with the state's only native palm, the endangered California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera). Seasonal wildflower displays can be stunning in any plant community association in throughout the Park. The high-county to the north and east has Closed-cone pine forests, Manzanitas, and Oak woodlands.
The oases are prolific with wildlife of all types of fauna, especially for bird-watching. Throughout the park visitors may see Kit foxes, Mule deer, Coyotes, Greater roadrunners, Golden eagles, Black-tailed jackrabbits, Ground squirrels, Kangaroo rats, Quail, and Prairie falcons. In the reptile class Desert iguanas, Chuckwallas and the Red diamond rattlesnake can be seen – with care.
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