Ephemeral water sources only persist in winter-spring and should be considered nonexistent, except during rains, or winter, and standing water only lasts the longest in wetter and cooler years. The elevation of the mountains is such that there are no standing forests, only desert communities of vegetation. This section of the western Sonoran Desert, and local Yuma Desert is in the creosote bush scrub community. Desert ironwood, palo verde, catclaw acacia, saguaros, ocotillo, Anderson thornbush, smoketree, and creosote are some locally adapted tree/bush species. Brittlebush, saltbush, and bebbia are some common shrub forms.