Known as the hottest and driest place in North America, Death Valley National Park has blossomed into a carpet of colourful wildflowers in a rare ‘super bloom.’
Thanks to heavy rain in October, Death Valley is experiencing the biggest display of lush wildflowers in more than a decade.
Some have dubbed this year’s floral event a ‘super bloom’ though park officials said it’s not an official term.
“I’m not really sure where the term ‘super bloom’ originated, but when I first came to work here in the early 1990s I kept hearing the old timers talk about super blooms as a near mythical thing–the ultimate possibility of what a desert wildflower bloom could be,” Park Ranger Alan Van Valkenburg said in a statement. “I saw several impressive displays of wildflowers over the years and always wondered how anything could beat them, until I saw my first super bloom in 1998.
“Then I understood. I never imagined that so much life could exist here in such staggering abundance and intense beauty,” Valkenburg said.
The national park extends from California and into Nevada. Death Valley typically receives less than five millimetres of rain annually.
The bloom started in late December and park officials said the ‘super bloom’ may have reached its peak last week.
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