1.
This part of Arabia can be inhospitable and very hot during the
long summer months. However, the natural vegetation springs into
action during the cooler wet season, normally from November to
April. To see the remarkable natural greening of the land is an
amazing sight during this period, when some of the countryside
is carpeted with a rich growth of flowering annual plants.
Most people are totally unfamiliar with the great beauty and variety
of flowering plants that occur in central and eastern Arabia.
Annual rainfall over much of this region averages only around
100 mm/year, but occasional wetter years with up to 250 mm of
rainfall occur. The wetter years, especially, trigger rapid and
dramatic changes in the landscape. Over a period of just a few
short weeks, the central deserts can become quite green; almost
reminiscent of an East African savanna. In the eastern coastal
lowlands, scrub-covered limestone outcrops are transformed to
an almost Mediterranean appearance, with vegetation that includes
flowering Ochradenus and Rhanterium shrubs. With most rainfall
occurring between November to April, the annual spring flowers
normally peak from January to March.
The 1997/98 winter season was one of the wettest on meteorological
record, especially in the Eastern Province and so this period
provided an ideal opportunity to explore in search of wildflowers.
My travels to photograph wildflowers have taken me to several
interesting locations. The area near Tumair, northwest of Riyadh,
is one of the most productive for wild flowers in beautiful scenery.
The attractive hills and wadis are a delightful sight when transformed
by masses of flowering plants and green vegetation. I often use
28 & 35 mm wide-angle lenses to capture images of flowering plants
in their natural settings.
There are two basic types of flowers, annuals and perennials,
each with distinct survival strategies. Annuals grow anew each
year from seeds which germinate in the wetter months. The complete
plant life cycle of germination, growth, flowering and setting
seed is completed within the cooler months. Consequently, annuals
tend to have bigger flowers and larger, greener leaves, since
they do not have to survive the hot and arid conditions that prevail
over most of the year. In contrast, perennials usually have smaller
flowers and their leaves are often hairy, woolly or waxy. They
normally have extensive root systems and some have bulbs or tubers.
The foliage of the perennials helps in preventing desiccation
and their extensive root systems can tap deeper moisture. Many
are also poisonous or unpalatable to livestock, although a dominance
of such plants in an area can be an indicator of over-grazing.