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# Desert Nomenclature
- URL: https://www.jamesreeves.co/desert-nomenclature/
- Published: 2023-09-03T23:03:44.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-15T03:48:32.000Z
- Description: "Virga" is the name for precipitation that does not reach the ground.
- Author: James A. Reeves
- Tags: Notebook

*Virga* is the name for precipitation that does not reach the ground. It hangs across the desert like a torn curtain. When rain does fall, the unique scent of a desert storm comes from the oil released by the creosote bush, and this odor has a scientific name, [*petrichor*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrichor?ref=jamesreeves.co), derived from *pétros*, the Greek word for *stone*, and [*ichor*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichor?ref=jamesreeves.co), the mythic golden blood of the gods. In Mexico, the creosote bush is called *gobernadora* or “the governess” because its root system crowds out nearby plants. This is why they appear so evenly spaced apart. There’s a creosote known as “King Clone” in the Mojave Desert that is 11,700 years old. The Mojave is a [rain shadow desert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain%5Fshadow?ref=jamesreeves.co) because it is surrounded by mountains that absorb the damp winds from the Pacific and dry the air on the leeward slopes.