Gold Butte National Monument, Nevada. At first sight you think there's not much life or vegetation in the Mojave Desert . Plants thrive no matter the environment. Southeastern Nevada, where dramatically chiseled red sandstone, twisting canyons, and tree-clad mountains punctuate desolate stretches of the Mojave Desert. Looking back on these photos it looks almost impossible that they were taken in the same spot. Such diversity of life and plants without moving more than 100 yards. The palm trees puzzled me the most by looking like it didn't belong there: growing out of a rock somewhere in the Mojave Desert and on top of that, thriving. After doing some research I found out its name and origins. Washingtonia Filifera palm tree is not a foreign, introduced specie like I initially thought therefore not exotic and certainly not tropical. There are 4000 species of palms worldwide but only the very ancient species like Washingtonia are found in the fossil record.