Many desert plants emerge through germination only after sufficient winter rains occur. At those times, the desert floor becomes blanketed with patches of color. The landscape is always dominated by woody plants including creosote bush, ironwood, palo verde, mesquite, and a variety of cacti including the giant saguaro and the more common beavertail. Biologists have recorded a total of 425 plant species that occur in the refuge.

The palms in Palm Canyon, however, are an enigma. Botanists do not know how palms became established in this steep, narrow canyon. There are perhaps 100 of this 30-foot oddity on the refuge, but the main grove of some 40 grow in a narrow side canyon. Discovered by a prospector in 1910, no one is exactly sure how they became established in this rugged environment. They are a probable descendant of palms growing in the region during the last periods of North American glaciation. They may have retreated to it as the climate became more arid. Or perhaps it is where birds or coyotes deposited the seeds that they ingested at other groves. Whatever the explanation, the canyon is a perfect niche, receiving direct sunlight for a short time at midday and retaining enough moisture for their survival.

Some of the seeds that are produced annually will lie dormant until conditions favor germination, producing tiny seedlings protected by the fronds that fall from the parent trees. The 40-foot adults don't look that tall from the trail. Closer views may reveal some trunks that are still blackened from a fire that raged in 1954. Some think that the fire helped the fire-resistant palms by destroying shrubs that had competed for scarce water.

Since palms do not produce growth rings, the age of these palms is not known. A guess is that they live for up to 150 years.

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