Such plants consist of small, hard-leaved succulents, such as cactus. In the American Southwest, the plants are quite large giving the appearance of a woodland, consisting of saguaro cactus, prickly pears, and creosote bush. In the dry tropical areas, the thorntree semidesert consists of trees and shrubs adapted to a climate with a long dry season. These trees are also drought-deciduous , meaning they drop their leaves during the dry season and grow leaves during the few intermittent wet seasons. The dry desert consists of xerophytic plants that are widely dispersed over the ground which has many open areas.
Trees are completely absent.
Some regions of the dry desert consists of shifting sand dunes with no vegetation whatsoever. Animal species do inhabit this biome, and have made special adaptations that ensure their survival. For example, the kangaroo rat never drinks, getting its moisture from the food it eats. Insects and reptiles are common, but large mammals are not. This biome is located in the tundra climate zone, which is only in the Northern Hemisphere.