
Candelilla (Euphorbia antisyphilitica) - Look LEFT on the hillside - Candelilla thrives in limestone soils. Although candelilla looks like a clump of slender, spineless cacti, it is actually related to the poinsettia and castor-bean. Through "convergent evolution," plants have solved the problems of living in harsh deserts in many of the same ways. As succulents, both candelilla and cactus are able to store water in the stems; both are leafless to help avoid water loss; and both are covered with a protective, waxy coating that conserves water. The wax covering the candelilla plants is quite heavy, making it a useful ingredient in chewing gum, cosmetics, car wax, shoe polish, and many other products.
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Itineraries across USA

Acadia

Arches National Park

Badlands

Big Bend

Biscayne

Black Canyon Of The Gunnison

Bryce Canyon

Canyonlands

Capitol Reef

Carlsbad Caverns

Channel Islands

Congaree

Crater Lake

Cuyahoga Valley

Death Valley

Dry Tortugas

Everglades

Gateway Arch

Glacier

Grand Canyon

Grand Teton

Great Basin

Great Smoky Mountains

Guadalupe Mountains

Haleakalā

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes

Hot Springs

Indiana Dunes

Isle Royale

Joshua Tree

Kenai Fjords

Kobuk Valley

Lassen Volcanic

Mammoth Cave

Mesa Verde

Mount Rainier

North Cascades

Olympic

Petrified Forest

Pinnacles

Rocky Mountain

Saguaro

Shenandoah

Theodore Roosevelt

Virgin Islands

Voyageurs

White Sands

Wind Cave

Yellowstone

Yosemite

Zion