Photo by Stefano Paltera/American Solar Challenge. The University of Arizona solar car drives historic Route 66, "America's Mother Road," near Newberry Springs, Calif. during the American Solar Challenge Tuesday. The 2,300 mile solar-powered car race featuring 20 university teams driving from Chicago to Claremont, Calif. finishes July 23.
Pholisma sonorae (sand food) is a rare plant found in the deserts of southeastern California, Arizona, and El Gran Diesierto in Sonora, Mexico. This parasitic plant has a long stem that reaches about 6 feet below the surface where it attaches to the root of a nearby host plant such as desert buckwheat.