wotd: sylvan

sylvan \SIL-vuhn\, adjective:

1. Of or pertaining to woods or forest regions.

2. Living or located in a wood or forest.

3. Abounding in forests or trees; wooded.

noun:

1. A fabled deity or spirit of the woods.

2. One that lives in or frequents the woods or forest; a rustic.

Little of the desert experience is sylvan. In Arizona pretty much any grove of trees is a mesquite bosque, unless you're in a riparian area, then you've got your cottonwoods. But when we get good spring rains the desert is tranformed for a brief few weeks. Every shade of brown is cloaked with perceptible green. Shoots of green push up through the sand and pebbles underfoot, sometimes boasting tiny flowers of purple, yellow, or coral. Fairy duster brushes the air with its little red bristles. Last year's brittlebush growth crowns itself with fresh green. Soon the sacred datura will open its white flowers. A far cry from sylvan but for Tucson, spectacular.