Photo of the Day 24

Giant Quiver Trees, South Africa, 1995

Photograph by Chris Johns

Giant quiver trees rise from a rocky hill on the boundary of South Africa's Richtersveld National Park. These towering aloe plants, which can reach 33 feet (10 meters) in height, have suffered from heavy overharvesting and habitat loss and are considered critically endangered, with only a handful of specimens remaining.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "A Place for Parks in the New South Africa," July 1996, National Geographic magazine)