The Great Victoria Desert is the largest desert in Australia, sprawling across the arid interior of Western Australia and South Australia. Between its many small sandhills it carries open woodlands of Eucalyptus gongylocarpa with mulga (Acacia aneura) and a hummock-grass understory of spinifex, chiefly Triodia basedowii, while pebble-strewn gibber plains and salt lakes stay nearly bare until abundant rains draw out ephemeral wildflowers. The climate is hot and dry, with low and irregular annual rainfall of roughly 200 to 250 mm, summer days of 32 to 40 degrees Celsius, and milder winters around 18 to 23 degrees Celsius. It is a global hotspot for reptile diversity, with over 100 documented reptile species, and the chestnut-breasted whiteface is recognized as its flagship bird. For gardeners in comparably hot, dry regions, the desert's hardy native Eucalyptus and Acacia are well suited to low-water, full-sun planting.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 28.4°S, 128.6°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
11a-12b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
11a-12b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.9°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Deserts & Xeric Shrublands
Realm
Australasia
Approximate area
163,358 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the deserts & xeric shrublands biome
Arid and semi-arid lands where low, erratic rainfall and high evaporation limit vegetation to drought-adapted shrubs, succulents, and sparse grasses. Day-to-night temperature swings are large, and life is finely tuned to water scarcity.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 52
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other deserts & xeric shrublands ecoregions to explore: