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Summer thundershowers, having blessed the eastern margin of San Diego County with welcome, if spotty precipitation of late, have triggered a minor growth spurt among certain kinds of vegetation. In the desert, for example, the spidery ocotillo can grow an instant crop of green leaves after a storm, only to drop them two or three weeks later if no further rain arrives. The distribution of green-leaved ocotillos tells not only where rain has recently fallen; it also indicates where the runoff has collected and remained for enough time to be absorbed by the ocotillo's root system. Various cacti may also benefit from the downpours; barrel cacti expand in girth by soaking up water, and the pads of the beavertail cactus plump up like overstuffed pillows.
Summer thundershowers, having blessed the eastern margin of San Diego County with welcome, if spotty precipitation of late, have triggered a minor growth spurt among certain kinds of vegetation. In the desert, for example, the spidery ocotillo can grow an instant crop of green leaves after a storm, only to drop them two or three weeks later if no further rain arrives. The distribution of green-leaved ocotillos tells not only where rain has recently fallen; it also indicates where the runoff has collected and remained for enough time to be absorbed by the ocotillo's root system. Various cacti may also benefit from the downpours; barrel cacti expand in girth by soaking up water, and the pads of the beavertail cactus plump up like overstuffed pillows.